Tension follows Olympic torch into China
A girl poses for a picture taken by her family in
front of a poster...
Thu, May 1 08:08 PM
By James Pomfret
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tension and anger burned on
despite the return of the Olympic torch to China on
Thursday after a five-continent tour dogged by
protests over Beijing's crackdown on rioting Tibetans.
Hundreds of Chinese demonstrated in front of outlets
of French supermarket chain Carrefour, which has
become a target of national disgust over the chaotic
torch relay in Paris.
Three Tibetan activists barred from travelling to Hong
Kong, where the first leg the torch's three-month
China tour will be held on Friday, warned the flame
would reignite unrest when it passes through Tibet in
June.
"Tibetans will do everything in their power to protest
during the torch relay," said Lhadon Tethong,
executive director of Students for a Free Tibet and
one of the three activists put on a flight from Hong
Kong earlier this week.
"Clearly the Olympic torch relay is already resulting
in more repression inside Tibet and increasing the
climate of fear that Tibetans were already being
subjected to," she added in a live webcast with the
two others.
Buddhist monk-led protests erupted into the worst
unrest in Tibet for two decades in March, in which
Beijing says at least 18 innocent civilians were
killed.
The rioting and immediate crackdown threw a spotlight
on the Himalayan region at an awkward time for China's
Communist Party leaders, who are counting on the
Beijing Olympic Games in August to underline their
country's modernity and prosperity.
In a sign that tensions remain high with less than 100
days to go before the Games, state media reported this
week that a police officer and a suspected riot leader
had been shot dead in a gunbattle in an ethnic Tibetan
part of western China.
MIA FARROW ALLOWED IN
China has blamed Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the
Dalai Lama, for plotting the unrest in the remote,
mountain region that Chinese troops entered in 1950.
The Nobel Peace laureate denies the charges, and
insists he does not want independence.
Hong Kong authorities deported half a dozen activists
this week ahead of the latest leg of the Olympic torch
relay, on Friday, possibly because they feared a
repeat of disruptions by protesters in London, Paris
and San Francisco.
But actress Mia Farrow was allowed into Hong Kong on
Thursday to give a speech expected to criticise
China's ties with Sudan, another issue that activists
believe is a raw nerve they can hit ahead of the
Beijing Games.
"We ... thought it was entirely likely that we'd
arrive at the airport and be put on a plane going back
to where we came from," said Jill Savitt, executive
director of Dream for Darfur, a New York-based
advocacy group, who travelled with Farrow.
But she said Farrow and herself were "graciously
welcomed" in the end, after immigration officials
explained that any disruptions to the torch relay
would be unwelcome. Farrow speaks to the Hong Kong
Foreign Correspondents Club on Friday.
CARREFOUR PROTESTS
The official Xinhua news agency said hundreds of
people demonstrated outside Carrefour stores across
mainland China on Thursday, denouncing the idea of
Tibetan independence and voicing support for the
Beijing Olympics.
"We're here because of what happened in Paris where
there were violent protests. We're here to show the
outside world has a misperception about China, that
Chinese people are united and firm, but you can see
that we're not at all violent," said one protester,
who would only give his family name, Lan.
The French retailer has become the focus for an
outpouring of Chinese nationalism and indignation
after the chaotic torch relay in Paris, which saw
pro-Tibet protesters try to snatch the flame away from
a wheelchair-bound athlete, Jin Jing.
Much of China's hopes and pride have been invested in
a group of mountaineers who are planning to take a
special Olympic flame to the world's highest mountain,
Everest.
However, the climbers were held up at advanced base
camp on the Chinese side of Everest on Thursday,
awaiting better weather before heading to the
8,848-metre (29,030-foot) peak.
"Normally there is a three to four day window of good
weather in the first week of May," said Sun Bin, the
project manager and a former national climbing
champion. "We want to try to catch this window to try
and summit."
As part of efforts to create a relatively smoke-free
Olympics, authorities broadened regulations against
smoking in public places to include sports venues,
parks, public transport and schools. Restaurants and
hotels are exempted.
(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and
Nick Mulvenney at Everest Base Camp, China)
("Countdown to Beijing Olympics" blog at
http://blogs.reuters.com/china )
(For in depth coverage of the Tibet unrest, click
http://in.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/tibet )
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