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China’s state-run media has urged citizens to contain their “patriotic zeal”, after an outburst of anti-West sentiment on the internet.
Xinhua news agency said the fervour should be “transformed into concrete actions to do one’s own work well”.
It comes after a slew of anti-West campaigns on the web – among them a call to boycott French products.
Some websites even list the names and addresses of pro-Tibet campaigners and invite users to post abusive messages.
Bloggers and commenters on web forums have reacted strongly against perceived anti-China bias in the Western media since protests broke out in and around Tibet last month.
The pro-Tibet rallies that accompanied the Olympic torch’s procession through Paris sparked an outcry among Chinese web users – and a call to boycott all French goods.
The Xinhua commentary, carried only on its Chinese edition, praised the boycott demands as an “unadorned expression of patriotic zeal and a sincere demonstration of public opinion”.
But it balanced the praise with a warning not to challenge the government’s policies of opening to foreign investment.
“Thirty years of reform and opening up have created a China miracle… but we must be crystal clear that for China that has endured so much, the future road will not be all smooth-going.”
China has made similar efforts to rein in outbursts of public anger in the past.
In April 2005 it called for calm after destructive anti-Japan protests triggered by the publication of a controversial history textbook – protests which initially appeared to have tacit official support.N
TOKYO (AFP) — Monks at an ancient Japanese Buddhist temple on Friday pulled out of hosting a ceremony for the protest-marred Olympic torch relay because of China’s crackdown in Tibet.
Organisers of the Japanese leg of the global tour have been forced to change the starting point after Zenkoji Temple said it would no longer welcome the torch, which has been dogged by protests since it was lit in Greece last month.
“Tibetan religious leaders stood up but (China) is cracking down on them,” Shinsho Wakaomi, a senior official at the temple, told a press conference in the city of Nagano, host of the 1998 Winter Olympics.
The temple, which rang bells for the opening ceremonies for the 1998 Nagano Games as well as for the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, had “fondly accepted” an invitation last year to host the ceremony on April 26, another temple official told AFP.
“But the situation has changed,” the official said. “Monks here are very concerned” about what happened in Tibet.
Zenkoji, which was built in the seventh century and draws six million visitors every year, said it had received many phone calls urging it not to host the ceremony on April 28.
Local government official Kunihiko Shinohara said he was “shocked” by the temple’s move.
But he added: “We respect the decision by Zenkoji and will change the starting venue.”
Japan, which has said it opposes letting China send guards to protect the Olympic torch when it arrives, has already cancelled a public celebration linked to the relay due to security concerns.
Japan’s government steered clear of the latest controversy, saying it was a matter for the Nagano authorities and the International Olympic Committee.
“It is not a matter in which the government would intervene,” top government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura told reporters.
The torch, whose journey before the Beijing Games in August has turned into a public relations headache for China’s leaders, arrived in Thailand on Friday from India, where many protesters were arrested.
A crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet has put the spotlight on China’s heavily criticised record on human rights and triggered demonstrations at many of the torch’s stops, notably London and Paris.
The three corporate sponsors of the Japanese leg — the local arms of Coca-Cola, Lenovo and Samsung — said Friday they would not send advertising vehicles to accompany the relay although they denied any link to Tibet.
Coca-Cola had intended to send a sales promotion car with the red corporate logo but has now abandoned the plan, a company spokesman said.
“We were told that the motorcade will be very long due to security reasons, which will reduce the effectiveness of our promotion activity,” he said, adding that the decision was “nothing to do” with Tibet.
Lenovo said its decision not to mobilise a promotion vehicle was made in March “due to budgetary reasons.”
Tibetan exiles in India say more than 150 Tibetans have been killed in China’s crackdown on the protests against its rule of the Himalayan region. Beijing says Tibetan “rioters” have killed 20 people.
The temple’s decision to refuse the Olympic flame came during a visit to Japan by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who on Thursday rebuffed Japanese pressure on Tibet, reiterating that Beijing sees it as an internal matter.
Tibetan Protester Chased by Police in Kathmandu, Nepal.
[From Phayul.Com] Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement march to Tibet pause to pray for the well-being of the Tibetans inside Tibet.
The Chinese authorities of Ngaba “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” (‘TAP’) have indefinitely closed down the school run by Taktsang Lhamo Kirti Monastery, in retaliation for Tibetan protests.
Over one hundred Tibetans, including monks and lay people, have been arrested for protesting by the Chinese security forces in Rebkong County “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture”. The Chinese security forces severely beat every one at the scene irrespective of age or status. Over 80 Tibetans, including monks and lay people, were arrested and taken away to the County Public Security Bureau Detention Centre.
