Torch Protests In Europe

Tonight World Have Your Say talked about the recent torch protests. I was pleased to be on the show again… But as the discussion went on, I started to get intimidated. There was a really impressive range of guests, including an Olympic torchbearer, a girl who was arrested for protesting, a Thai Buddhist who backed out of carrying the torch out of solidarity for Tib3tan Buddhists, an Olympic historian, and, uh, me. I write a blog about the Olympics.

Over the last few months, my posts have gone from weird Olympics trends and fun pictures of the Fuwa, to depressing posts about boycotts and protests and censored news. I still have high hopes for China and Beijing, but I’m getting more worried every day that the Olympics will be a disaster for everyone involved.

I’m sad that protests and political demonstrations are marring the celebration of the Olympics, but China wants to be a first-world nation, and this type of criticism is part of that. Whether China acts on foreign criticism is a different matter entirely, but the “nothing to see here” style of censored journalism forces political or social interest groups away from the written word into protests in the street.

The torch goes on to San Francisco, California tomorrow, and I expect much wilder demonstrations in the US than in the UK and in France. I really wonder how China will handle it.

Crossposted to Beijing Olympics Fan!

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0 Responses to Torch Protests In Europe

  1. threegee says:

    China drew on thousands of years of history and taught the world how to have a people’s uprising. I guess it seems less funny now that they are on the other side.

  2. Charlie Blockhead says:

    Congratulations!!! You have been nominated for a 2007 Best Of Blog Award!! Especially designed to bring attention to lower profile bloggers, The BoB’s as we like to call them are currently taking nominations in over 20 different categories. To find out more about how your site has a chance to become one of this year’s Best Of’s and how to nominate other bloggers, visit us at http://www.thebestofblogs.com. Remember voting begins May 5th so make sure you pass the word to your friends, family, and faithful followers.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    It’s never ok for outsiders to criticize China… or insiders either.

  4. Kevin says:

    I missed your show again! Where’s the podcast?

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