The Olympic flame approached the final destination of its long and sometimes contentious global tour yesterday, greeted by rapturous crowds, tight security and two small protests in the Chinese capital.
The torch will tour Beijing for three days before ending up at tomorrow’s opening ceremony for the games and will be carried by a diverse crowd, including Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei (楊利偉), movie director Zhang Yimou (張藝謀) and basketball superstar Yao Ming (姚明).
The route was tightly guarded by police and military, and at least one Chinese-language newspaper carried a police announcement on its front page reminding relay spectators to cooperate with mandatory security checks and not to bring dangerous goods. Police said ceremonies marking the start and finish of the relay each day are closed to the public, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.
In Tiananmen Square crowds were small and strictly controlled in ordered lines. The only people allowed in were media and organized groups of supporters, mostly from major Olympic sponsors, who shouted “Go China! Go Olympics!” and waved corporate flags.
Three US Christians staged a protest on the fringes of the square against repression of religion and forced abortion in China, a US-based spokesman said.
The three unfurled a banner saying “Jesus Christ is King” in English and Chinese, said Rob Schenck, the US-based spokesman of the Christian Defense Coalition.
“Their principal statement is against the brutal repression of religious rights in China as well as human rights. Forced abortion is one of these,” Schenck said.
The protest ended when the three, two men and one woman, knelt down and prayed aloud, he said.
At this point, plainclothes police seized the three and drove them away in a van, Schenck said.
China’s one-child policy, in place since about 1980, has been a target of intense foreign criticism, partly because its implementation is suspected of having caused large numbers of forced abortions.
Earlier yesterday, four foreign activists were led away by police after unfurling pro-Tibet banners outside the Beijing National Stadium, where the Olympic opening ceremony will take place.
Two men from Students for a Free Tibet climbed a light pole in front of the so-called “Bird’s Nest” and put up the banners at dawn, said Lhadon Tethong, the New York-based group’s executive director. The other two — a man and a woman — provided support from the base of the poles, she said.
“We express our strong opposition,” said Sun Weide (孫維德), spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee. “In terms of assembly and demonstrations, China has related laws and regulations. We hope that foreigners will respect the related Chinese laws and regulations.”
Sun said the demonstrators were “persuaded to leave” by police. The four were not arrested or taken to a police station, he said.
“We’ve done this action today to highlight the Chinese government’s use of the Beijing Olympics as a propaganda tool to whitewash their human rights record on Tibet,” protester Iain Thom said from his perch about 15m off the ground, the group’s Web site said.
Tethong’s group identified the protesters as Thom, 24, of Scotland; Lucy Marion, 23, of England; Phill Bartell, 34, of Bridgewater, New Jersey; and Tirian Mink, 32, of Portland, Oregon.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS