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SEATTLE (Reuters) – The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, said on Friday he did not support a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Asked on NBC “Nightly News” whether he wanted the world to boycott the Olympics this summer, the Dalai Lama replied, “No.”
Asked if he wanted the United States and other world leaders to boycott the opening ceremony in support of Tibet, he replied, “That’s up to them.”
“It is very important to make clear, not only just the Tibet case. But in China proper, the report of human right is poor. And their freedom, also very poor,” the Dalai Lama said.
Asked what his message to China was, he said: “My main point is: We are not against you. And I’m not seeking separation.”‘
China blames the Dalai Lama for orchestrating monk-led protests in Tibet last month that later turned violent as part of a campaign for independence.
The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, denies involvement.
[Epoch Times]
Athletes ran and rowed the Olympic torch through the streets and docks of Buenos Aires on Friday as police kept small groups of pro- and anti-China protesters apart along the eight-mile route.
Chinese guards running in formation around the torch deflected at least one water balloon thrown at the flame from crowds of flag-waving protesters in front of the pink presidential palace.
Activists protesting China’s rule of Tibet have pledged peaceful demonstrations but said they would not try to put out the torch during its Buenos Aires relay.
The torch, touring the world ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, has been a magnet for protests over China policies, in particular its crackdown last month on unrest in Tibet.
In Buenos Aires, Olympic medalist Carlos Espinola, a yachtsman and windsurfer, was the first of 80 people scheduled to carry the torch on the Argentine relay.
After the first stretch through the streets of a riverside neighborhood, torchbearers carried the flame onto a shell and rowed it down the Puerto Madero docks, which are lined with expensive restaurants and bars.
Before the relay started, despite some shouting between pro- and anti-China groups, there were no clashes and police moved quickly to keep the two sides apart.
[Sri Lanka Daily Mirror]
BEIJING: China bluntly told the world Olympics chief Thursday to keep out of politics, in a tart exchange on human rights following days of protests that have shadowed the Olympic torch around the world.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the Games were in “crisis” following the demonstrations, and urged China to respect its pledge to improve its rights record before the event begins in August.
China fired back that Rogge should keep politics out of the Olympics, which Beijing hoped would showcase its much-touted “peaceful rise” to power — but which have instead become a public relations nightmare.
Separately, China’s Ministry of Public Security said it had cracked a terrorist group in its Muslim-dominated northwest that was plotting to kidnap foreign journalists, tourists and athletes during the Olympics.
A taciturn Rogge, in a visit to the host country, admitted he was “saddened” that these Olympics, dogged by protests over Tibet and calls for a boycott, were not simply a global celebration of sport.
It was “not the joyous party that we had wished it to be,” Rogge said in Beijing, nevertheless insisting that the torch relay — disrupted by protests in Greece, London, Paris and San Francisco — would go on.
He also told a news conference that China — under fire over a crackdown in Tibet and a host of other issues — had promised that winning the right to host the Games would lead to an improvement in human rights.
“We definitely ask China to respect this moral engagement,” he added.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters that Rogge’s view of a “crisis” might have been exaggerated, and made it clear China would not engage in a discussion on its human rights performance.
“I believe IOC officials support the Beijing Olympics and adherence to the Olympic charter of not bringing in any irrelevant political factors,” she said.
“I hope IOC officials continue to adhere to principles of the Olympic charter.”
When asked later Thursday whether tension had surfaced between Rogge and the Chinese authorities, IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said: “No, not at all.”
”Relations are very good,” she said.
Attention to China’s rights record intensified last month when protests in Tibet against Chinese rule of the region erupted into violence and spread to other areas of the country.
Exiled Tibetan leaders say more than 150 people were killed in the ensuing crackdown by China.
Beijing insists its security forces have killed no one while trying to quell the protests, but that Tibetan “rioters” killed 20 people.
However China sealed off the areas to foreign reporters and other independent monitors, and global rights groups have said they fear those detained could face torture.
Beijing has repeatedly blamed the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, for the unrest — and insists calls for a boycott should be ignored.
The Dalai Lama, on a visit to Japan, said China had the right to host the Games but blamed Beijing for the unrest, saying there was no freedom of speech in his homeland.
“They really deserve” the Olympics, he said. “In spite of the unfortunate events in Tibet, my position has not changed.”
Pro-Tibet groups, human rights activists and other campaigners have shadowed the flame from the moment it was lit in Greece on March 24, starting its 20-country, 137,000-kilometre (85,000-mile) journey across the globe.
Protesters severely disrupted the torch relay this week in London and Paris, where officials had to extinguish the flame several times.
There was no major trouble in San Francisco after organisers shortened the course for the only US leg and switched the route, disappointing thousands who hoped to see the flame before its next stop in Buenos Aires.
“The Olympic torch relay will continue in all sorts of weathers to spread the Olympic spirit …,” Jiang, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, told Xinhua news agency.
Some activists have said they fear that, rather than improving the situation, China is using the Games to justify cracking down even harder on critics at home.
China’s security chiefs said Thursday that they had broken two terrorist groups in its heavily Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang, where there have lately also been reports of protests against the government.
By BILL CORMIER, Associated Press Writer
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentine runners relayed the Olympic torch past fenced-off protesters on Friday, as hundreds of China supporters in red windbreakers tried to reverse weeks of bad publicity for the host of the Summer Games.
Activists opposing China’s human rights record unfurled banners and promised “entertaining surprises” but pledged to keep their demonstrations peaceful after protests marred stops in London, Paris and San Francisco.
Hundreds of spectators cheered as Chinese delegates wearing Argentina’s blue-and-white lit the torch from a lantern that has carried the flame from the site of the ancient Olympic games in Greece.
Mayor Mauricio Macri held the slender aluminum torch aloft, then passed it to three-time Olympic windsurfing medalist Carlos Espinola, who jogged into Buenos Aires streets flanked by Chinese bodyguards. Heavyset police from Argentina’s navy huffed to keep up.
A sea of about 500 China supporters in red windbreakers handed out by organizers waved banners and denounced what they called political interference in the ceremony.
“We are here to celebrate Olympics!” said Shao Long Chen, a 19-year-old Chinese immigrant. “It’s a great source of pride for us that the Olympics are being held in Beijing and that the torch is passing through Buenos Aires.”
As for the pro-Tibet protesters nearby, he said: “They’re using sports to deliver a political message, and that’s not right.”
BUENOS AIRES, April 11 (Reuters) – Argentine police kept small groups of pro- and anti-China activists apart as they gathered along the route of the Olympic torch before it was due to start its relay through Buenos Aires.
A small group of pro-China activists crossed the plaza at the obelisk monument along the down-town route to shout and wave flags at another group of activists opposed to China’s human rights record and rule of Tibet.
Police quickly separated the two groups, but there were no clashes. The city has braced for possible violence after intense protests in San Francisco, Paris and other cities where the torch relay has been held.
The torch was scheduled to begin its run through the city at 2:15 p.m. local time (1715 GMT), being carried past the pink presidential palace, then past the obelisk and other city landmarks.
“It’s not China that is organizing the Olympics, it’s the the Communist Party, to show a harmonious country, to say that all Chinese are happy, that they respect human rights. But it’s exactly the opposite,” said Alberto Peralta, who was among the pro-Tibet group.
Argentine pro-Tibet activists have promised to carry out nonviolent “surprise actions” during the day, but said they will not try to snuff out the flame as protesters in London and Paris did.
Around 1,500 Coast Guard officers, 1,200 police and 3,000 city workers will stand guard as Argentine athletes and personalities carry the torch through the capital.
So far there seems to be little action. The relay is scheduled to start at 1.15EST which is in just a couple of minutes. Scouring the web and news channels throws up little information other than a few tidbits regarding the ‘alternative torch relay’ arranged by human rights protesters, and the gathering of Falun Gong protesters.
I’ll keep updated as best I can.
[TimesOnline]
Athletes who display Tibetan flags at Olympic venues — including in their own rooms — could be expelled from this summer’s Games in Beijing under anti-propaganda rules.
Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that competitors were free to express their political views but faced sanctions if they indulged in propaganda.
He accompanied those comments with an admission that the Games were in “crisis” after pro-Tibet protests engulfed the Olympic torch relay.
Mr Rogge’s call for Beijing to abide by its promise to address human rights was given short shrift by Beijing, which bluntly told him to keep politics out of the Games.
The question of what will constitute propaganda when the Games are on in August and what will be considered opinion under IOC rules is one vexing many in the Olympic movement. The Olympic Charter bans any kind of “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda” in any Olympic venue or area.
This includes the opening and closing ceremonies, the medal podiums and the Athletes’ Village.
Addressing concerns about free speech, Mr Rogge described the scenario of a Spanish athlete doing a lap of honour in the Olympic stadium with Spain’s national flag and his provincial flag as “perfectly legitimate”.
He said: “We have had many examples of mixed flags where the athlete is proud of that. Is there a will to demonstrate propaganda or is it a desire to demonstrate joy in his victory?”
The IOC did not specify whether a Chinese athlete or a foreign competitor of Tibetan origin flying the Tibetan flag would be regarded as patriotic or propagandist. A spokeswoman said that there had been no discussion internally or with the Chinese authorities about use of the Tibetan national flag. Asked whether athletes would be allowed to hang the flag in their rooms, she said: “The village is an Olympic venue so it falls under the same rules and regulations of any venue which would mean that anything in there would be judged on whether it was a provocative propaganda initiative.”
[From the Hindustan Times]
Just as in San Francisco, the security operation began as soon as the torch, the symbol of the Beijing Games, arrived at Buenos Aires international airport on Thursday. It was whisked away on a bus escorted by dozens of police cars and motorbikes.
A senior official in Argentina’s sports ministry, Francisco Irarrazaval, said the torch and the flame were taken to a central hotel where its 140-strong traveling entourage would be staying.
He said he believed the torch would run into a lesser storm of protest against China and its role in Tibet than in earlier legs, noting that “Buenos Aires is a city less compromised by the Tibet issue.”
While Argentina’s status as a democracy meant “it’s permitted to protest,” he stressed the relay was above all “a sporting event.”
It is the first time the Olympic torch has ever been to Argentina, and it will carried on its 13-kilometer (eight-mile) course through the capital by 80 athletes, celebrities and Games sponsors representatives.
Authorities hope to avoid the violent scuffles seen in the relay legs in London and Paris, and the bizarre scene in San Francisco on Wednesday, when a massive police presence and sudden route change made the torch all but invisible to the public.
April 11 (Bloomberg) — The Olympic torch world tour moves to the streets of Buenos Aires today and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon became the latest world leader to say he’ll miss the opening ceremony of the games in Beijing.
Protesters against China’s alleged human rights abuses vowed to peacefully press world leaders for a boycott of the ceremonies. Mayor Mauricio Macri said 5,000 police officers and volunteers will help protect the torch’s 13-kilometer (8.1-mile) relay route through the Argentine capital. The torch’s arrival in Buenos Aires, its only stop in South America, is a “moment of pride” for the entire country, he said.
China’s crackdown on unrest in Tibet and its links to the government of Sudan led protesters in London, Paris and San Francisco to seek to disrupt the flame’s 137,000-kilometer, 21- city tour. International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge called the protests a crisis, adding that the IOC had weathered bigger storms. He said the 1972 Munich games, in which he was an athlete, were “the biggest crisis ever” for the IOC.
“We’re going to undertake some `surprise’ actions across Buenos Aires, but these will be done peacefully,” said Jorge Carcavallo, an organizer with the Free Tibet group, which will join a counter “Human Rights Torch” relay. “We will not try to snuff out the torch.”
Scheduling Conflict
Ban won’t attend the opening ceremony because of a scheduling conflict, conveyed to the Chinese some months ago, spokeswoman Marie Okabe said yesterday in New York. The European Parliament has urged EU leaders not to attend. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has already decided not to go and Czech Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said he would be “glad” if European politicians don’t go. U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will attend the closing ceremony.
Hillary Clinton has urged President George W. Bush not to attend the games and Barack Obama, Senator Clinton’s rival to become the Democrats’ presidential nominee, said the president should consider skipping the opening ceremonies.
The torch’s journey has become a focal point for demonstrations against China’s human rights record since a crackdown on protests in the Tibet region last month. The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, called yesterday for an investigation into the clashes between Chinese troops and protesters that may have killed hundreds of people.
“We’re in favor of human rights here, in China and every other country but we shouldn’t transform an event that tries to unite different cultures and promote dialog and youth sport into a political act,” Macri, the former president of the Boca Juniors soccer team, said April 8.
The relay in Buenos Aires is scheduled to begin at 1.15pm EST.
