April 10 — The Olympic torch is being flown to Buenos Aires from San Francisco as pressure grows on world leaders to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing games because of Chinese human rights abuses.
The route of the torch relay was altered in San Francisco yesterday to avoid demonstrations against Chinese rule in Tibet that disrupted its passage through London and Paris.
The 19-city journey has become a focal point for demonstrations against Chinese human rights abuses since a crackdown on protests in the Tibet region last month. The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, called today for an investigation into the clashes between Chinese troops and protesters that may have killed hundreds of people.
“I appealed to the international community to carry out a thorough investigation,” the Dalai Lama told reporters near Tokyo’s Narita airport. “As far as we know, at least a few hundred people were killed in the Tibetan area.”
China blames the Dalai Lama for instigating the biggest protests in Tibet in almost 20 years and says his supporters are trying to sabotage the Beijing Games. “I am sure the Dalai clique will plan something to try to disrupt the torch relay in Lhasa,” Qiangba Puncog, chairman of Tibet’s regional government, said yesterday. “Life will proceed as normal” in the Tibetan capital, he said.
Darfur Conflict
China’s dealings with the government of Sudan, which is fighting a violent conflict with rebels in its southern region of Darfur, have also drawn attention. Before the San Francisco leg of the torch relay, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama issued a statement in which he joined calls for President George W. Bush to consider a boycott of the opening ceremonies of the Beijing games.
“If the Chinese do not take steps to help stop the genocide in Darfur and to respect the dignity, security, and human rights of the Tibetan people, then the president should boycott the opening ceremonies,” Obama said. “A boycott of the opening ceremonies should be firmly on the table, but this decision should be made closer to the games.”
Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama’s rival to become the Democrats’ presidential nominee, said April 7 that Bush should boycott the games.
In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s office said he is sticking to a plan to attend the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, while sending his sports minister to the opening celebrations.
British Voters
About 43 percent of British voters don’t want Brown to attend the games, according to a YouGov Plc poll for Channel 4 News published late yesterday. YouGov surveyed 1,387 adults April 8-9 after protesters disrupted the passage of the torch through London.
In Brussels, the European Parliament voted 580-24 to call on European Union government leaders to consider boycotting the opening ceremonies unless China gets back into negotiations with the Dalai Lama.
The non-binding resolution floated “the option of non- attendance” to pressure China to talk to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. The EU assembly also called for the immediate release of Hu Jia, a Chinese human-rights activist sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison this week.
London police arrested 37 people during the torch procession April 6. The next day in Paris, the torch was extinguished and relit at least once and then bused across the city as activists demanding independence for Tibet blocked the runners.
In San Francisco yesterday, police cleared about a dozen protesters who lay down in front of the vehicle carrying the torchbearers toward the Golden Gate Bridge.
Closing Ceremony
A closing ceremony near the waterfront was canceled and took place at San Francisco International Airport before the torch began its flight to the Argentine capital, said California Highway Patrol Officer Shawn Chase.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom defended altering the route. “We decided not to create major problems out in the street and decided to do this in a way that would be safe,” Agence France-Presse cited him as saying in a local radio interview. “We could easily be having a conversation about people being arrested or people being injured.”
Buenos Aires plans to have 1,200 police and almost 4,000 city workers and volunteers on hand to help protect the torch during its tour through the Argentine capital, according to Mayor Mauricio Macri.
Mainland China
The relay, which started April 1, will cover 137,000 kilometers (85,000 miles) before arriving back in mainland China on May 4. The Free Tibet Campaign is demanding the International Olympic Committee ensures the torch doesn’t pass through Tibet as scheduled from June 19 to 21.
Thirty-five heads of state and royal family members attended the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, in addition to then British Prime Minister Tony Blair. President George W. Bush wasn’t present, though his father, former President George H.W. Bush, was there.
The organizers will reconsider holding international torch relays for future Olympics games, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee said, CNN reported.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Deen in London at markdeen@bloomberg.net
