Students plan mass torch 'defence' in Australia
source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/students-plan-mass-torch-defence/2008/04/15/120802518...
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- fernandez_is_go
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As the Beijing Olympics and torch relay dramas play out, the wave of protest is rearing up further in advance as the torch travels the globe. The Age newspaper in Australia reports that thousands of Chinese Australians are being asked to converge on Canberra next week to rally and defend the Olympic torch against pro-Tibet protesters.
"There was also uproar in Australia after International Olympic Committee deputy president Kevan Gosper said Chinese security officers would help defend the torch in Canberra in the event of "really serious trouble." Prime Minister Kevin Rudd slapped down Mr Gosper's suggestion, saying Chinese officials would be on a bus trailing the torch and would have no security role — a situation confirmed by the Australian Federal Police and local Olympic officials.
Plans to mobilise Chinese support for the torch in Australia follow an outpouring of anger among Chinese nationals and ethnic Chinese around the world over images of pro-Tibet protesters in London and Paris "attacking" the torch, which they see as a symbol of China's re-emergence in the world.
The sentiment was expressed in central Melbourne last weekend when an estimated 4000 people rallied in support of China's rule of Tibet."
It will be very interesting to see how the incalculably enormous Chinese diaspora responds to the image of China that has been so stridently reinforced in the media over this games build up. Let's just hope that the protests and counter-protests remain peaceful.
"There was also uproar in Australia after International Olympic Committee deputy president Kevan Gosper said Chinese security officers would help defend the torch in Canberra in the event of "really serious trouble." Prime Minister Kevin Rudd slapped down Mr Gosper's suggestion, saying Chinese officials would be on a bus trailing the torch and would have no security role — a situation confirmed by the Australian Federal Police and local Olympic officials.
Plans to mobilise Chinese support for the torch in Australia follow an outpouring of anger among Chinese nationals and ethnic Chinese around the world over images of pro-Tibet protesters in London and Paris "attacking" the torch, which they see as a symbol of China's re-emergence in the world.
The sentiment was expressed in central Melbourne last weekend when an estimated 4000 people rallied in support of China's rule of Tibet."
It will be very interesting to see how the incalculably enormous Chinese diaspora responds to the image of China that has been so stridently reinforced in the media over this games build up. Let's just hope that the protests and counter-protests remain peaceful.
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- tags:
- China, Human Rights, Tibet, Olympic Torch Relay
