Posts Tagged ‘Beijing’

Protests Hit Nagano Relay

The Japan leg of the Olympic torch relay is underway, and there are reports of minor disturbances:

• Not long after the 8:30AM start of the relay, a Japanese protester threw something at the torch runner. Police blocked it and arrested the man.
• Around 9:00AM, a protester dashed into the road and was tackled by the police.

Update: Here’s a slightly better video of the few disruptions that took place during the relay and some news links.

The man being carried away by police while screaming “free Tibet” was a Taiwanese citizen. The four other protesters arrested were Japanese. There were also incidents in which Chinese students were injured in attempted attacks on pro-Tibet protesters:

At least four people were injured in the scuffles in the mountain resort of Nagano, where more than 85,000 people packed the streets including Chinese students who turned the town into a sea of red national flags.

After relative calm elsewhere in Asia, the torch met at least hundreds of protesters here ranging from Buddhist monks and pro-Tibet demonstrators to nationalists, who provocatively waved Japan’s old imperial flag.

Protesters threw trash, an egg, a tomato and flares as the torch was paraded through the streets despite more than 3,000 police guarding the route, who had raised security to a level usually accorded to Emperor Akihito.

[...]

China is killing Tibetans, who are a very peaceful people, so I hate the Chinese government,” said Hisakazu Hattori, a 21-year-old student.

Another protester, Mitsuru Ishikawa, said he feared China’s rise.

“China wants to conquer the world. I’m afraid that China will conquer Japan in the near future,” Ishikawa said.

Furious Chinese supporters in turn surrounded demonstrators waving Tibetan flags. In one brawl the Chinese charged with flagpoles and were kicked by anti-Beijing demonstrators until police intervened, witnesses said.

At least four Chinese were injured, none of them seriously, said the fire department of Nagano, the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics some 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Tokyo.

Mainstream international media coverage of the relay

• Protesters jeer Olympic torch in Japan (CNN-IBN)
• In pictures: Olympic torch in Japan (BBC)
• Torch supporters, protesters mark Japan relay (Reuters)

If NTV’s report is to be trusted, the Chinese media’s coverage of the Nagano relay was 100% positive. A heavily edited video of portions of the relay that did not have any Tibetan flags in the background was shown and there was absolutely no mention of protests.

Irene has kindly brought to our attention a YouTube video and 2-channel archives that give a firsthand account of the relay from the perspective of Japanese protesters:

It wasn’t the total chaos that some had predicted, but protesters seemed to have made a bigger impact in Japan than in the other countries the torch passed through in the last week. The torch travels to South Korea tomorrow, where North Korean defectors have vowed to interrupt the relay in protest of China’s repatriation of refugees to the North where they often face execution.

Zenkoji Temple May Not Host Torch Relay Opening Ceremony In Nagano

More problems for the Nagano torch relay:

Zenkoji Temple, designated as the starting point for the Nagano leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay, is considering withdrawing from hosting an opening ceremony for the event, sources familiar with the situation said Thursday.

Officials at the Buddhist temple have apparently informed Nagano city’s committee which is in charge of organizing the March 26 torch relay that the temple is considering whether or not to host the opening event, the sources said.

The move came in the wake of the disruptions during the Olympic runs in London, Paris and San Francisco caused by demonstrators protesting against China’s recent crackdown in Tibet.

The torch relay in the central Japan city that hosted the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games is scheduled to start at Zenkoji Temple at 8:30 a.m. and about 100 people are to run a total of 18.5 kilometers.

Opening events, including a torch-lighting ceremony, are planned at 8 a.m. at a special event space which is to be set up between the temple’s main building and a gate standing near the building.

The sources said the torch-relay organizing committee is also considering changing the relay route or cutting it short.

It is also being reported that Coca-Cola Japan has withdrawn its sponsorship of the Nagano relay.

Update: The rejection has been made. There will be no opening ceremony at Zenkoji Temple. [hat tip to John K]

Japanese Royals Will Probably Skip Beijing Olympics

It is being reported that Japan’s royal family will probably decline an invitation to attend the Beijing Olympics:

The Japanese government thinks it is not a good time for a rare royal visit because of the unrest in Tibet, a recent health scare over Chinese-made “gyoza” dumplings and a spat over disputed gas fields, the Sankei daily said.

“We were planning not to ask royals to go even before the gyoza incident (surfaced in January). It is all the more true now that the Tibetan unrest occurred,” it quoted an unnamed government official as saying.

Japanese authorities have confirmed at least 10 people suffered pesticide poisoning after eating tainted dumplings imported from China.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao invited Emperor Akihito and other royals to the opening ceremony of the August Olympics when he visited Japan last year.

The emperor told Wen then that the government decides on the royal family’s foreign trips, a palace spokesman said.

I can see the Tibet situation as a reason not to attend, but why the gyoza incident?

Japanese Manufacturer Boycotts Beijing Olympics

As protests are being held around the world over China’s crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators, the Japanese media has reported that a Japanese shot put manufacturer is boycotting the Beijing Olympics:

Summary

• The news report begins with footage of pro-Tibet protests being held in Washington, DC. The protesters are appealing to President Bush and some support a boycott of the Olympics.
• Next we are introduced to Masahisa Tsujitani , a manufacturer of shot puts who has decided to boycott the Beijing Olympics. Tsujitani’s shots have been used in the last three summer Olympic games, and a few of the shot putters who used them won medals.
• Tsujitani is boycotting the Beijing Olympics because he was appalled by the behavior of Chinese soccer fans during the 2004 Asia Cup (this footage is blacked out in the video, since the network cannot include it in internet broadcasts). He says that issues like poisoned dumplings and Tibet did not factor into his decision. Apparently many people have been pleading with Tsujitani to permit the use of his shots at this summer’s Olympic Games, but he has refused.
• The clip ends by showing a course in proper cheering manners being conducted by the Chinese government. Classes of about 400 people are being taught non-rude ways in which they can support their athletes.