The Portrait of a Face-Losing "Olympic Host" -- China loses propaganda
battle over 2008 Olympic torch relay

China loses propaganda battle over 2008 Olympic torch relay

By Travis Lupick
Publish Date: April 8, 2008

This morning (April 8), the Associated Press quoted International
Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge saying that he was “deeply
saddened” by demonstrations against the 2008 Olympic torch relay, and
that the IOC’s executive board would discuss cancelling the rest of the
relay at its next scheduled meeting on April 11.

Demonstrations against China’s human-rights abuses and its treatment of
Tibet have dogged the torch relay since the Olympic flame was first lit
in Olympia, Greece, on March 24. There, Chinese officials struggled
through speeches while activists shouted in protest.

Two weeks later in San Francisco, a massive pro-Tibet banners was hung
from the Golden Gate Bridge even before the torch’s arrival on April 8.

A 22-year-old UBC student, Alexandra Taub, was arrested for her alleged
role in the incident, Students for a Free Tibet’s national coordinator
Tsering Lama told the Straight from San Francisco. At press time, Taub
remained in custody, Lama said.

The Olympic torch touched down in San Francisco under tight security and
a veil of secrecy. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that its only
welcome party was a heavy police and media presence, which Beijing
officials must have preferred to an angry mob.

The torch is scheduled to travel through downtown San Francisco tomorrow
(April 9), when it is expected to be met with heavy protests.

On April 6, London’s leg of the relay was characterized by scuffling
between demonstrators and police. Several attempts to douse or snatch
the Olympic torch were made and several times, the torch was hurried
onto a bus when things got too hairy. Approximately 35 demonstrators
were arrested in the mess, according to the Daily Telegraph.

On April 7 in Paris, the next major stop for the torch, things looked
even worse for Beijing. There, pro-Tibet demonstrators succeeded in
cutting short the relay. As in London and Olympia, police clashed with
protesters and again on numerous occasions, the torch was extinguished
and hustled onto a bus for safe (and speedy) transport.

France 24 reported that scuffles broke out as soon as the torch left its
starting point at the Eiffel Tower―where demonstrators had already
managed to hang a large pro-Tibet banner―and a ceremony scheduled for
City Hall later that day was cancelled.

Through it all, Beijing has kept its head up. Despite two PR disasters
in a row and a third expected tomorrow in San Francisco―North America’s
only stop for the torch―China has vowed that it will continue its relay
to the very end.

Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Organizing Committee, told
reporters on April 7 that the relay disruptions should be blamed on
“Tibetan separatists”, the Guardian reported on its website. Weide
called the demonstrations “blasphemy” and charged that the “despicable
activities” of pro-Tibet activist ran against the spirit of the Games.

The Olympic torch is scheduled to be carried through China’s Tibet
Autonomous Region sometime between May and August 2008, when the flame
will be carried through mainland China.

In related news, U.S. Democratic presidential-hopeful Hillary Clinton
joined Democratic speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in calling for U.S.
President George W. Bush to boycott the Beijing Olympics’ opening
ceremonies.

On April 4, Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined other world leaders in
announcing that he would not be attending the opening ceremonies. Harper
told reporters that “high level government representation” from Canada
would attend the event, and insisted that his absence was not a boycott
or demonstration.

See also, Tibet supporters prepare for San Francisco Olympic torch relay.
Source URL:
http://www.straight.com/article-140078/how-china-losing-propaganda-battle-over-2008...