China Eyes Tibet Torch Relay
Sun Herald
Sunday June 22, 2008
THE Beijing Olympic torch began passing through Tibet's capital, Lhasa, yesterday in a three-hour display of Chinese national unity that organisers hope will wipe aside memories of deadly independence riots there three months ago.
Hand-picked spectators cheered the torch as the latest leg of the relay started shortly after 9am local time in front of Norbulingka, the former summer residence of the exiled Dalai Lama. Under tight security, the relay started when Tibetan mountaineer Googbu held the flame aloft below the towering Potala Palace. Lhasa's Communist Party boss, Qin Yizhi, said at a public ceremony: "We are convinced the Beijing Olympic Games' torch relay in Lhasa will further inflame the patriotic spirit of the people." He added the relay would also help "smash the scheming of the Dalai Lama clique". The torch has never been far from controversy and never more so than in its run through the streets of this city which is 3650 metres above sea level. Police and troops lined the streets, watching the residents chosen to cheer on the torch. Groups of students from Lhasa University waved Olympic banners, the Chinese national flag, as well as the hammer and sickle banner of the ruling Communist Party.But some students seemed hesitant in giving an answer when asked of the meaning of the torch passing through Tibet. For many exiled Tibetans and human rights groups, the Lhasa torch relay serves as a reminder of China's overbearing influence. Human Rights in China executive director Sharon Hom said: "This provocative decision, with the blessing of the International Olympic Committee, could aggravate tensions and undermine the fragile process to find a peaceful long-term solution for Tibet and the region." But for many Chinese, outraged by the March unrest and then the protests against China's rule in Tibet that dogged the international stage of the torch relay, the Lhasa stop of the torch is a moment of vindication. Chen Tao, a Han Chinese student who was cheering on the relay, said: "The torch is a symbol of China and Tibet is an inseparable part of China." Baima Chilin, a vice chairman of Tibet's Government, said supporters of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, wanted to upset the passage of the torch through Lhasa, where protests and riots challenged Chinese control in March. But he said he was sure the torch relay would not be troubled by protest, and called the relay a symbol of ethnic unity."People of all ethnic groups in Lhasa greet the Olympic torch relay with immeasurable joy," he said. The rings of security surrounding the torch were a constant reminder that even the government fears such joy is not universal. The Lhasa relay has been drastically shortened from the 27 kilometres first planned, to nine kilometres. Dekyi Drolkar, of the regional sports authority, said it would have 156 torch-bearers, including 75 ethnic Tibetans and 77 Han Chinese. Matt Whitticase, of the London-based Free Tibet Campaign, which supports self-determination for the region, said making phone calls into Lhasa had become increasingly difficult as authorities sought to clamp down on potential protest around the torch.
© 2008 Sun Herald