Entries Tagged as 'Tibet'
9 April 2008 · Comments Off
A couple of thoughts that have been bouncing around my head, given how much news coverage there has recently been on the Olympic Torch and related pro-Tibet protests.
First, in the Olympic Torch relays I’ve been aware of (from ‘84 on), the torch has been portrayed as a symbol of the ideal of the world coming together in peace and good sportsmanship.
This year, for the first time, I’ve been hearing folks recall that the torch relay was originally developed as an element of Nazi propaganda associated with the ‘36 Olympics.
How come when the U.S., or Australia, or South Korea, or any other country hosts the Olympics, the torch relay is symbolic of peace, but when the PRC gets the Olympics, it’s a resurrection of Nazism?
Haven’t the pro-Tibet/pro-Darfur/anti-China protesters ever heard of Godwin’s Law?
Second, don’t I remember hearing China promise that these would be the Green Olympics?
Seen in Wired:
If people are looking for another reason to be pissed at China, how about this: By the time this pyro parade is over, it will have produced about 11 million pounds of carbon emissions.
Tags:
Actuarial Musings · China · Olympics · Sports · Tibet · Torch Relay
7 April 2008 · Comments Off
While reading about the challenges the Olympic torch relay faced in Paris, a comment in the Washington Post caught my eye:
But the relay team struggled at a slow pace as it followed the banks of the Seine and looped back toward the Trocadero across the river from the Eiffel Tower, where pro-Tibet demonstrators pelted the torch bearer—a wheelchair-bound ping pong player—and his assistants with bottles of juice, fruit and other projectiles.
Um…while I agree that China’s policy towards Tibet (and many ethnic minorities, for that matter) is atrocious, and their implicit support for the Darfur massacres is heinous…dudes, is belting a wheelchair-bound torchbearer really the right way to get your message across?
Flying Tibetan flags, waving “Save Darfur” signs…those would be acceptable ways to get the message across, in the faint hope that the semi-openness Beijing is allegedly honoring for the Olympics permits the message to get through. Asking political leaders to take the PRC to task, or even campaigning to permit athletes to add Tibetan or Darfur-oriented flair to their uniforms…that would be fine too.
But throwing stuff at a wheelchair-bound torchbearer?! The only thing that will be effective in doing is arming China with material to show what rabble Tibetan supporters “really” are.
Tags:
Politics · China · France · Olympics · Sports · Tibet
