The Olympic Torch Relay Campaign

The article from http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56145

The Olympic Torch Relay Campaign

2008/04/08

LHASA/BERLIN

(Own report) – Conference reports and the research of a Canadian journalist reveal that a German Foreign Ministry front organization is playing a decisive role in the preparations of the anti-Chinese Tibet campaign. According to this information, the campaign is being orchestrated from a Washington based headquarters. It had been assigned the task of organizing worldwide “protests” at a conference organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (affiliated with the German Free Democratic Party – FDP) in May 2007. The plans were developed with the collaboration of the US State Department and the self-proclaimed Tibetan Government in Exile and call for high profile actions along the route of the Olympic Torch Relay and are supposed to reach a climax in August during the games in Beijing. The campaign began already last summer and is now profiting from the current uprising in the west of the People’s Republic of China that is receiving prominent coverage in the German media. The uprising was initiated with murderous pogrom-like attacks by Tibetan gangs on non-Tibetan members of the population, including the Muslim Chinese minority. Numerous deaths of non-Tibetans provoked a reaction of the Chinese security forces.

According to the research by a Canadian journalist, a conference organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNSt) gave the impetus to the current anti-Chinese Tibet campaign that violently forced the interruption of the Olympian Torch Relay in Paris last Monday.[1] The conference was the fifth “International Tibet Support Groups Conference,” that was held from May 11 – 14, 2007 in Brussels. According to FNSt information this conference was supposed to do nothing other than the four preceding conferences [2] – “coordinate the work of the international Tibet groups and consolidate the links between them with the central Tibetan Government in Exile.”[3] The German foundation, which is largely state financed, began the conference preparations in March 2005, and coordinated its plans with the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in the self-proclaimed Tibetan Government in Exile in Dharamsala, India. More than 300 participants from 56 countries, 36 Tibetan associations and 145 Tibet support groups were represented at the conference.

Roadmap

After several days of consultations the conference ended with a concerted “plan of action”. The paper is entitled “Roadmap for the Tibet Movement for the Coming Years” covering four areas of interest: “political support for negotiations”, “human rights”, “environment and development” and “the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing.” The results of the conference are directed to the Tibetan people as well as “their supporters around the world.”[4] Rolf Berndt, a member of the FNSt’s executive council in Brussels, declared that the Olympic Games “are an excellent opportunity” to publicly promote the cause of the “Tibet Movement”.[5] The conference participants agreed to make the Olympics the single focus of attack for their activities for the next 15 months.[6] They hired a full-time organizer for their campaign, who has since been directing the worldwide Tibet actions from their Washington headquarters.

State Department

‘A slap in face’ to Paris

The article from Anti-CNN

It seems that what happened in the torch relay in Paris has stirred a flurry of controversy in some French media. “Fiasco of torch relay in Paris”, declared the headline of the daily newspaper Le Figaro. Another French newspaper, Liberation, talked about China’s “rout” in a satirical tone.

Is this the newspaper distinguished long for its professionalism and objectivity? Is this the nation which advocates civility and tolerance?

Surely, Beijing is the city that will host the Olympics; China is the country to host the Olympics. But, the French people should remember that this time Paris, as part of the torch’s route, is responsible for the Paris leg. The Paris City Hall and French Olympic Committee were meant to host to this event this time. However, the event, which should have been a joyous occasion, descended into chaos and turned out to be a pity. How can some French be unabashed enough to take delight in the scuffles?

According to French media and the opinion of various political leaders, in Paris, every citizen has a right to assemble, demonstrate, and protest. However, as many people pointed out: by trying to grab the torch and extinguish the flame, the pro-Tibet extremists were not expressing a legitimate form of demonstration and protest. They not only violated other people’s freedom, but also trampled upon the spirit of Olympics, which should be respected by people all over the world. Remember, in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, it clearly states that freedom means the right to do everything which does not harm others.

CNN’s Interview to a torch carrier

CNN’s Interview to a torch carrier
A human rights activist explains why she will carry the Olympic torch in San Francisco.