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Torch watch: Chinese out in force; others stay away
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The Olympic Torch Relay got underway in Canberra this morning amid massive security and a major display of Chinese nationalism from the thousands of students bussed in for the event. The official torch lighting ceremony itself was a rather lacklustre affair. Either there were massive withdrawals from the guest list or organisers vastly over-catered on chairs, leaving the smoking ceremony, national anthems and sundry speeches to be performed in front of rows and rows of empty seats. Crowds were kept fifty-odd metres away behind barricades.
Most Chinese students — the majority carrying or wearing flags, and frequently directed by marshals in white t-shirts — were more interested in chanting at and berating anti-China protestors, with at least one being arrested when he tried to jump the barricade to get at Tibetan independence supporters who were marching along the back of Reconciliation Place. Only a booming rendition of the Chinese national anthem got their attention briefly back to proceedings. The occasional individual who advanced into the students clutching a Free Tibet placard was met with what appeared to be a prepared tactic of being surrounded by large Chinese flags. Otherwise, the two sides were kept well separated by the AFP. The infamous torch attendants - one of whom was reportedly later manhandled by a zealous AFP officer - kept a low profile, with only two joining in the vast throng of police officers surrounding the torch as it set off around Canberra. First stop was a trip across Lake Burley Griffin from the back of the ceremony venue - escorted by a small armada of police boats. Despite it being clear for weeks that Chinese students, most likely organised by the Chinese Embassy, were flocking to Canberra for the event, organiser Ted Quinlan admitted today they hadn’t been prepared for it, expressing surprise at “a well-coordinated plan to take the day by weight of numbers.” It was well-coordinated, and it was a huge success. You don’t have to go to China to see Chinese nationalism at work. Our capital city will do just fine. |
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14 Comments
Let me get this straight.
Visitors from China where there is precious little freedom of speech, are using Australian free speech to criticise western relative free speech reporting of affairs in Tibet, where there definitely isn’t free speech. The Chinese who don’t have freedom of assembly at home, are using Australian freedom of assembly to protest against supporters of Tibet, where protests have been violently suppressed by the Chinese government which claims in its censored and controlled press that Tibetans have wonderful Human rights.
Meanwhile the leadership of the Chinese communist party, which encourages laissez faire capitalism, says that China which invaded Tibet in 1951, owned Tibet because it used to belong to the Chinese emperor.
Have I lost something here?
And we are all spewing hate at the Chinese here because? It was Tibetan protestors who initiated the violence in England where they bravely managed to attack a girl in a wheel chair so why are you racist clowns all picking on the Chinese for daring to be proud of their nation holding the Olypmic Games.
At least they were not squealing out the ultra-nationalist “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi,” or doing the ultra embrassing chicken dance.
And who said they were visitors - we have 600,000 Chinese people who are citizens. And China did not invade Tibet in 1951, the took further control in 1959. But Israel invaded and cleansed Palestine in 1948 and displaced 800,000 people and we invaded Iraq in 2003 where 1 million are dead, 4.5 million are homeless and 9 million are starving.
Can we can the bloody hypocrisy once and for all and look in the mirror.
Is that a fishing net of red herrings, or what? Palestine? How exactly do you do “violence” to an inanimate torch? In the Sydney 2000 Olympics we Sydney siders embraced the Aboriginal protest movement. The City Council gave a central public park space up, with a bit of cajoling and pressure, but they did. Lots of adverse and shaming stories about our warts. We took it all in our stride. Why even bother making excuses for the manipulative dictatorial control of China Inc head office? Of course most of their diaspora on student visas etc (50K I read once) are trusties and sheep. Derr. That’s exactly the problem. The coverage today said these brave souls were shouting “liars” at the Uygurs and Tibetans. Most people in open free press western countries know who the liars are in my humble opinion and it’s not the Tibetans as their environment is totally trashed by the parasitic so called ‘motherland’. Lets not talk about arms to Zimbabwe, Burma, NK, Taiwan, Hong Kong ….
I’ve lived in the inner city near Sydney’s Chinatown for many years, and I’ve never before seen mobs of local Australian-Chinese bearing the Chinese flag with rabid fervour - I imagine many Australian-Chinese immigrants/refugees have their own reasons for not being overly enthusiastic about a flag which for many would represent a totalitarian regime from which they have fled - What we saw today in Canberra was a rent-a-crowd of predominantly visiting Chinese students, and I’m sure the Chinese embassy found very convincing ways to “persuade” these kids to commandeer the torch relay with a crass display of faux nationalism and in some cases downright censorship as they were choreographed to obliterate camera shots with their flags. In contrast the Tibetan protestors conducted themselves mainly peacefully and with dignity. The Chinese government has reduced the Olympics to a farce.
Dear Incitatus, if the line does not continue from the emperors, then where does it start? By your reckoning the whole of the U.K. is fair game and ripe for revolution. This won’t happen of course because the CIA and its proxy N.E.D. is not pushing for it, so no ‘colour’ revolutions. But the Scots got a very good case, not to mention the Irish. Do some unbiased research and you may conclude that the Tibetans who are protesting now are fighting for a ruling class that will never return. And rightly so. No religious freedom in Tibet? Then how come we see so many monks burning shops and attacking passer-bys?The current system in Tibet is not perfect but it is far better then serfdom.
Yeah Sean but for the last olympics and the next we have been occupying two nations who are not even close to us let alone liable to be part of us.
If Australian athletes had been attacked for having children in concentration camps you would have raved about that wouldn’t you? In a racist sort of way because we have the right to decide who comes here don’t we?
Marilyin, in my critisising the behaviour of the Chinese government, I’m in no way turning my back on our own crimes of the past decade, with all our illegal war activity, and cruel internment facilities. Human rights abuse sucks, wether it be perpertrated on the Tibetan plateaux, or in the deserts of the middle-east, or middle-Australia. It’s just that today, the focus happened to be on the outrageously manipulative behaviour of the Chinese government. And notice I direct my criticism to the regime, not the people.
I was at the start of the Flame Festival in Canberra this morning. The number of Chinese bused in was amazing but the authorities did a good job of keeping them apart - Chinese on the western side and Tibet supporters on the east. The way the Chinese ran to congregate at the sound of a drum made it clear that it was orchestrated.
I love the Chinese people, who are mostly considerate, logical and feeling but I hate their Government.
We cannot separate sport from politics and should boycott the Beijing Olympics.
Marilyn and Goy
I really have no idea how you make your logical somersaults. Goy I didn’t mention religious freedom in Tibet. I was talking about free speech. Marylin. Racist nationalists are dangerous whether they be Cronulla yobbos, Israeli police or Chinese sports fan.
I was talking about how people from a country which denies freedom of speech and freedom assembly used the same in my country to attack their critics.
Do either of you work for the Chinese embassy?
In terms of control and coordination by China Inc machine why not trust the sincere warnings of Chinese embassy defector here Chen Yonglin. He should know …http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1387174.htm
But what I most hope is that there is some real two way communication especially at the grassroots level. Not shouting but some real discussion. I can’t believe out of diverse 1.3 billion people of diverse language groups and culture that Beijing head office can really crush the vitality and independent thinking of most of those people. I do hope so.
Dear Incitatus: far as I know no” Attack” has taken place. But if you are saying people shouldn’t show their opposing points of view because their country of origin has a supposed lack of freedom of speech then you are on very thin ice indeed. Yes, you did not mention religion but you did go on about “suppression” which in the current media reporting equals supposed religious suppression in Tibet. And no, I don’t work for the Chinese. Think you need to go there to see for yourself. You may be amazed by what goes on in talk back radio there.
Thanks INCITATUS: you’ve lost me.
When westerners go overseas they like to try things they’re not allowed to do at home. That’s why the Chinese are such enthusiastic protestors. The thrill of the forbidden.
I didn’t see any Chinese protestors at the torch relay. As Tom McL points out, those bused in Chinese students were under the “control and coordination” of the Chinese Govt. machine, ie pawns in a propaganda exercise. Interesting that the Chinese Govt. couldn’t get away with these blatant tactics in any other western countries through which the torch has passed, but they assumed they could get away with it in the Australian capital. Makes Australia look like a compliant theatre for Chinese Govt. propagada indulgence, and that’s pretty embarrassing.