Beijing abruptly shut the door yesterday on most foreign media seeking to cover the Olympic torch’s ascent of Everest after journalists objected to last-minute changes to travel and reporting plans.
China plans to take a special high-altitude Olympic torch to the summit of the world’s tallest peak next month and had invited world media to cover the event as a triumphant symbol of Beijing’s hosting of the Olympics.
But last-minute Chinese changes to coverage arrangements called for a rapid and tightly controlled trip of about three days through riot-hit Tibet to the Mount Everest base camp.
Reporters objected, saying that ascending too quickly to the camp’s elevation of 5,150m could cause severe health problems.
After foreign media requested a more paced trip, Games organizers set a sudden morning payment deadline yesterday for air tickets to Lhasa.
The situation descended into farce when the Olympic official charged with collecting payment refused to accept fees from several international news agencies present.
The payments of some foreign media had been accepted earlier.
Meanwhile, a Chinese primary school teacher and a beautician have filed a suit against CNN in New York over remarks they say insulted the Chinese people and are seeking US$1.3 billion in compensation — US$1 per person in China, a Hong Kong newspaper said.
The case against the Atlanta-based cable channel, its parent company Turner Broadcasting and Jack Cafferty, the offending commentator, comes after 14 lawyers launched a similar suit in Beijing alleging that Cafferty’s remarks earlier this month violated the dignity and reputation of the Chinese people.
Cafferty said the US imported Chinese-made “junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food” and added: “They’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years.”
CNN said Cafferty was expressing an opinion about the Chinese government.
In New York, beautician Liang Shubing and Beijing teacher Li Lilan said Cafferty’s words insulted all Chinese people and “intentionally caused mental harm” to the plaintiffs, the Ta Kung Pao newspaper reported yesterday.
China on Thursday reassured foreigners they were welcome at the Beijing Olympics in August and guaranteed their safety after a wave of anti-Western protests.
In related developments, in Canberra, a sea of red Chinese flags welcomed the Beijing Olympic torch relay yesterday, as thousands of Chinese supporters attempted to drown out emotional pro-Tibet protests.
Shortly after fireworks exploded in the pre-dawn darkness in celebration of the torch, raucous chanting between the two groups began.
Thousands of Chinese, mostly students, who had taken overnight buses to Canberra, turned out to support the relay.
Relations between Australian police and the torch’s blue-and-white tracksuit-clad Chinese escorts appeared strained.
Police on several occasions pulled one of the Chinese away from the torch, determined that the so-called flame attendants, who were described as thugs by a London Olympic official, would not have a security role at the event.
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