What a Difference of a Month Makes! -- China feels the heat after dismal
Olympic relay

-- Micky's humble opinion: Authors view on "The Olympics are hugely
popular among ordinary Chinese" is a facade that the Chinese government
want others to believe. IMHO, "The Olympics are hugely popular among
ordinary Chinese" is because the Chinese government needs the Olympics
to to boost the Chinese nationalism, in order to further legitimize the
communist regime after the Tiananmen Massacre. The truth is that the
most popular "sport" in China is a four person playing table top tile
game called "Mahjong", Sports or sportsmanship are remotely alien in
most Chinese people's psych. The conflict appeared from torch relay just
proved how much had the west mis-read the Chinese in the past 20 years.
Chinese may be surprised or angered by the reaction from the west, but
the Chinese government had never hide it's resentment towards the "past
wrongs" of the west, only western observers had conveniently overlooked
China's longstanding hostility towards the west, which is glaringly
obvious in most Chinese history text books and writings in China's
official media. --

Financial Times FT.com

ASIA-PACIFIC
China

China feels the heat after dismal Olympic relay

By Geoff Dyer and John Thornhill

Published: May 1 2008 19:36 | Last updated: May 1 2008 19:36

Just over a month ago, a smiling Chinese President Hu Jintao launched
the Olympic torch relay at a televised ceremony in Tiananmen Square,
hailing it as the “journey of harmony”. Liu Qi, president of the Beijing
games’ organising committee, went even further, proclaiming: “The
burning Olympic flame will spread the message of peace and friendship
and unite all people under one world, one dream.”

As the torch returns to Chinese territory this week for the Hong Kong
leg of the relay, the image of Olympic harmony has been shattered.
Coming a few weeks after riots in Tibet were quashed by the Chinese
military, the torch relay was disrupted by demonstrations in numerous
world cities. In turn, those prompted angry nationalist counterblasts
from many Chinese at home and overseas.

http://www.ft.com/torch
The torch’s global journey

http://media.ft.com/cms/c4799440-17ab-11dd-b98a-0000779fd2ac.jpg
Olympic torch relay

Chart the torch’s 136,000km tour with our interactive map and photo
galleries

The Olympic torch has long been a symbol, but the added symbolism this
year has been clear: attitudes to China are hardening in many countries,
while resentment of the west is increasing within China. This is
happening among the populace while policymakers in Beijing and capitals
elsewhere ponder the tensions that the inexorable rise of China will create.

The events surrounding the torch have helped to drive a wedge between
China and large parts of the rest of the world that could make it harder
for the west to accommodate China’s increasing importance