The Chinese Shame of a Fearful "Olympic Host" -- Chinese officials urge
Xinjiang residents to skip torch relay

Chinese officials urge Xinjiang residents to skip torch relay
Reuters
Published: June 16, 2008

URUMQI, China: The authorities in the troubled far-western Chinese
region of Xinjiang are telling people who want to watch the Olympic
torch as it passes through the area to stay at home and tune in to the
television instead.

Spectators, who in other parts of China have thronged streets to glimpse
the torch, were also banned from climbing trees or gathering on bridges
under which the flame will pass, state media said Monday.

The steps are a measure of the sensitivity that surrounds Xinjiang, an
oil-rich border region that is home to the Muslim Uighur people, some of
whom Beijing blames for attacks agitating for an independent state.

"Considering that too many people will cause a lack of safety, we are
recommending that everyone watches on the television from home," the
official Xinjiang Daily quoted the Communist Party chief of the region's
sports administration, Li Guangming, as saying.