There were protests in London today as the Olympic torch made it’s way through the city:
LONDON, England (CNN) — Protesters scuffled with police and made attempts to grab the Olympic torch and douse it with a fire extinguisher on Sunday as its arrival in London triggered angry demonstrations over China’s human rights record and recent unrest in Tibet ahead of this year’s Summer Games in Beijing.
Hundreds of police officers were guarding the 31-mile relay and flanking torch-bearers in an effort to prevent pro-Tibet campaigners from further disrupting the event. At least 30 people have been arrested for public disorder offences, the Metropolitan Police said.
Crowds were lining the route across the city, with many waving Tibetan flags and “Free Tibet” banners.
Others carried signs reading: “Stop the killing in Tibet”, “No Olympic torch in Tibet” and “China talk to Dalai Lama,” the UK’s Press Association reported.
Amid chaotic scenes, police officers grabbed a man in west London as he tried to snatch the flame from torchbearers.
Moments afterwards, a second man released a cloud of foam from a fire extinguisher in an apparent attempt to douse the flame.
In a statement, the two men, Martin Wyness and Ashley Darby, said the relay was a propaganda campaign to cover China’s “appalling human rights record,” PA reported.
“Our protest is not directed at the Chinese people whatsoever but instead at the brutal Chinese regime that rules them,” they said.
I suspect that these protests will only increase in the coming months.
April 6th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I sympathize as much as anyone with the plight of the people of Tibet. However, it is a very sad commentary that pro-Tibet protestors have made it their goal to politicize the Olympic Games by stagining violent protests against the games. The games are for the people of the world not one political faction to air their views. As much as it pains me to say it, I believe the young people of Tibet have brought the latest problems upon themselves by staging VIOLENT protests against the Chinese government. They have savagely killed, in the most gruesome manner, Chinese citizens who are only shopkeepers and only trying to make a living. How would they feel if the Chinese Han population attacked shops in other parts of China just because they were owned by Tibetans? I think the shoe would be on the other foot then. Violence begets violence and they are reaping as they have sown. I think that the Dalai Lama is correct in calling for an end to violence and I hope that the young people of Tibet who have started this violence will stop and pursue peaceful means to achieve their desired results. Any intelligent person, including the Dalai Lama, knows that China will never give up Tibet. The most they will ever achieve is a more autonomous relationship within China and even that will be in jeopardy if they do not stop the violence.
April 6th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
If this scene happened in China, this would be reported by western media as “Police brutally crackdown on peaceful protests”
April 6th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I find it interesting that these protests are coming from the country that in the not to distance past controlled the largest empire the world has ever seen. Does anyone remember Tibet’s neighbor fighting for independence from British rule. Or how about the war in the Falkland Islands, waged to protect territory thousands of miles away from Great Britain. Even today, as the protests occur, Northern Ireland is still part of Great Britain. This reminds me of the Bible verse “let he who casts the stone have no sin upon his hands.”
April 6th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
It is interesting that CNN reported details on the names and the slogans of these Tibet fighters. However, CNN never reported what the other hundreds of pro-Beijing demonstrators’ message. This is kind of biased report by CNN has been very consistent anytime there is something going on against China’s interest. CNN should go to hell!
Looking at the criminal intent of thest Tibet fighters during these protests, I really believe the Chinese government is doing the right thing to put down the criminal riots inside Tibet. The Chinese government is putting these criminals to trial. Right thing to do!
Before CNN or these Tibet fighters talk about the brutal regime in Beijin, they should take a look at the even more brutal ruling of Dalai Lama of his own Tibet people before he was driven out by the Chinese army 50 year ago. Majority of these Tibet Fighters are the sons and daughters of the old Tibet elites who were all part of the brutal Dalai Lama regime.
April 7th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Maybe I’m cynical, but it isn’t a unique thing to use the olympic games for political communication (see for example Moscow and L.A. games in the ‘80-s). Giving the right of hosting to China was largely a political gesture as well, recognizing China among the great powers, if in exchange China will be nice to those who are not satisfied with her current governance. Sadly, Tibetan monks thought this their opportunity to unreveal China’s methods keeping things in order - if they expected any reasonable change, they were naive. They won’t accomplish anything this way, only bring suffering to their countrymen.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
In reviewing these comments I am again astonished at how shallow the history eduction of Americans really is. Apparently nobody remembers the tens of thousands of Tibetans that were murdered in the initial occupation of Tibet, and the confrontation with India that followed as India halted the chinese troops at their border. Tibetans have been suppressed ever since to a degree that is intolerable for an American. There is no right to free speech, there is no right to freedom of movement or commerce. This is a totalitarian, Han-centered government bent on crushing all Tibetan religion and ethnicity. To suggest that Tibetan monks brought this on themselves is just a jaw-droppingly ignorant statement.
The chinese now wield power because we gave it to them. They could depress our bond markets overnight a send us into an economic tail-spin if it wouldn’t hurt them in nearly the same degree. They threaten our state governments with lawsuits on a regular basis (recently in Maryland, where they are trying to force Maryland legislature to accept lead-covered children’s toys from China) - threatening letters directly from Bejing via fax in English and Chinese!!
I have only to conclude these the above posts (particularly “david” - it’s obvious) are placed by agents of the chinese government, whose agents can log on here and write these insane comments (Tibetan criminals? With sticks and flags? Yes, it’s good to beat down unarmed people! Great!) This is a communist propaganda machine now active in our very own country. Astounding, really.
Blogmaster - you should check the IP of these blogs for their source and advertise it. Trust me, they wouldn’t let you talk on their boards.