p2pnet - rss feed: ‘Secret’ San Francisco torch relay
p2pnet news | Freedom:- The San Francisco portion of the 21-country Olympic torch relay was supposed to have been part of the run-up to the Olympics slated to be staged in Beijing at the end of the summer.
Instead, it became another focal point in the worldwide protests against human rights violations in China, as it continues its militarily attacks on Tibet.
And in the midst of it, the Dalai Lama has called for a “thorough” investigation.
‘ … helmet-clad officers with batons ‘
The San Francisco relay had to be hidden out of sight for fear protesters would turn it into another massive public demonstration, as they’d already done in Paris, France, and London England.
“It was an Olympic-sized fake-out,” says the San Francisco Chronicle.
“If we had started down that (original) route, I guarantee you would have seen helmet-clad officers with batons pushing back protesters,” the story hasSan Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong saying.
Everyone had, “anticipated a noisy, politically charged experience, perhaps even as dramatic as the demonstrations in London and Paris,” but, ” the city pulled a fast one, which was evident from the moment the first runner emerged from AT&T Park and ducked into a cavernous warehouse on Pier 48 instead of heading up the Embarcadero as planned.
“Before the crowds could fully react, the torch runners soon emerged mysteriously two miles away on Van Ness Avenue and started a low-key trot northward into the Marina.”
‘Secrecy, lies, misinformation’
Gavin Newsom (right), “runs San Francisco the way the premier of China runs his country - secrecy, lies, misinformation, lack of transparency and manipulating the populace,” the Chronicle quotes board of supervisors president Aaron Peskin as saying.
“He did it so China can report they had a great torch run.”
The Dalai Lama said he supports China’s hosting of the Summer Olympics, “but insisted Thursday nobody had the right to tell protesters demanding freedom for Tibet ‘to shut up’,” says the Associated Press.
“We are not anti-Chinese. Right from the beginning, we supported the Olympic Games,” he said in Tokyo on his way to Seattle for his first visit to the US visit since the protests began.
“I really feel very sad the government demonizes me. I am just a human, I am not a demon.”
The Dalai Lama has meanwhile, “called for an investigation into China’s handling of protests in his homeland, criticized restrictions on free speech and offered to attend the Beijing Olympic Games if the situation improves,” says Bloomberg News, going on:
“The international community should look into accusations that clashes between Chinese troops and protesters killed hundreds of people, the Dalai Lama told reporters near Tokyo’s Narita airport. Authorities shouldn’t treat non-violent protesters as criminals, he said.
“I appealed to the international community to carry out a thorough investigation,” he says in the story.
“As far as we know, at least a few hundred people were killed in the Tibetan area.”
‘ … handle protestors “severely” ‘
Riots broke out in Lhasa March 14 and spread to Tibetan- inhabited provinces of western China, including Gansu and Sichuan, says Bloomberg News, adding:
“The protests were the largest since pro-independence demonstrations in 1989 prompted President Hu Jintao, then the Communist Party head in Tibet, to impose martial law.
“China’s government put the death toll from the Lhasa riots at 22. Most of the people killed were ‘innocent civilians’ burned to death by rioters, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency. The violence left 382 civilians and 241 police officers injured, it said. The government has blamed the riots on the Dalai Lama’s ‘clique’ and said it will handle protestors ’severely’ when the Olympic torch is paraded through Tibet.
“I feel sad for the people in mainland China who have to rely on what the government says,” the Dalai Lama said. “Please help me tell mainland China that the Dalai Lama really is not that bad.”
Brazil is the next stop for the relay.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
worldwide protests - Online seats for San Francisco Olympic relay, April 9, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle - Torch leaves S.F. after surprise route shift, April 10, 2008
Associated Press - Internet, media stars line up for Yahoo, April 10, 2008
Bloomberg News - Dalai Lama Asks for International Tibet Investigation, April 10, 2008
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April 10th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I feel sad for the people in west europe and USA who chose to rely only on what the media and the Dalai say.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:33 am
We made a mess in London, We made a mess in Paris, We made a mess in San Francisco,
Now we will make a mess in Buenosaire. I believe that they will be no international Torch Run after that.
As far as the fascist clique in Bejin is concern they should all be terminated.
April 10th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
“I feel sad for the people in west europe and USA who chose to rely only on what the media and the Dalai say.”
At least they have the freedom to say it.
Cheers!
April 10th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
The point of the Olympic Games is to foster peace, mobs are really not helping.
April 10th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
“I feel sad for the people in west europe and USA who chose to rely only on what the media and the Dalai say.”
Yes, we should absolutely listen to a country that kills more prisoners than anywhere else in the world and sells their organs to wealthy westerners as opposed to a man whom advocates nonviolence and peace.
We should definitely take moral and political cues from the Chinese government.
:scoff:
April 11th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Why is a woman police chief in San Francisco? Guess the women are tougher than the cheesy poofs there, eh?