Today comes news that the three main sponsors of the Olympic torch relay have decided to pull out, at least in the case of the Japanese leg of the tour.
The tortured history between Japan and China is well known and one hopes that nationalist sentiment on both sides will not obscure the real human rights concerns in modern China. That is certainly how the Chinese government seem to prefer to deal with things and it is alarming to see extreme Chinese nationalist sentiment expressed on blogs and websites in growing quantity.
It should be clear that those who express worries about human rights in China are not anti-Chinese. In fact this is completely the opposite as the biggest enemy of the Chinese people (in terms of citizens killed and locked up) remains the Chinese government.
Anyway it is pleasing to see commercial realities start to turn against the Beijing Olympics. The main sponsors of the relay, Coca Cola, Samsung and Lenovo have all pulled out of the Japanese leg of the trip.
As the only thing that seems to prevent serious critcism of the Chinese regime is economic fear and dependency it is encouraging that the worldwide protests are at least in some cases starting to create economic negatives for those who are seen to be too closely supporting the Chinese Government.
Showing posts with label Samsung. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samsung. Show all posts
Friday, April 18, 2008
Saturday, April 05, 2008
London set to welcome "Flame of Shame" and China works on clearing the route further along its journey
The headline from today's "Times" should give anyone considering cheering the flame along the streets of London tomorrow, pause for thought:
From The Times
April 5, 2008
"Exclusive: Chinese police kill eight after opening fire on monks and Tibet protesters
'They cried long live the Dalai Lama – then the firing started"
It is certain some people will turn out to cheer. The friends and families of those selected to carry the torch accross London are obvious "supporters". Shoppers and tourists passing by will take photographs. However there seems no mass urge to welcome this torch. It is certainly not in the popular imagination here.
Then of course there will be the protestors, rallying from around Britain and beyond. The Police have promised a robust approach to anyone who disrupts the flame's journey. They even have Chinese interpreters working with them to identify posters or banners that are insulting in Mandarin. One wonders if people will get arrested for holding an "insulting" anti-Chinese Government poster written in Mandarin when last year it seemed more or less fine for extreme islamists to walk through London with posters saying "Behead those who insult Islam", "Massacre the Unbelievers" etc. No hint of double standards by the Metropolitan Police here !
One imagines a few Tibetan student groups (largely peaceful Buddhists), intellectuals and others concerned about human rights in China will be an easy crowd for 2,000 police to deal with compared to Islamists who are quite prepared to cheer those who attempt to blow up passenger planes.
However overall the hope has to be that in London town, free speech is still allowed to some extent so the protestors will get their opportunity to be heard. If protestors can be seen and heard in Istanbul, Turkey surely this should be permitted in London ?
Samsung, the Korean electronics giant, put out several full page adverts in London papers yesterday promoting their sponsorship of the flame and encouraging people to watch "history in the making" in London. No sign of them backing down but then I read about a corruption probe at the highest levels of the company so I imagine worrying about sponsoring a tainted flame is lower down their list of priorities at the moment.
It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow in London. For anyone looking at this page for information on the London protests, you are best looking at the Free Tibet page.
Will I be protesting ? I am not really the street protest type ! (although I did recently make it to the Chinese Embassy one Monday evening). However I guess I will either be "boycotting" or if I can make it away from home commitments (a trip to Heathow Terminal 5 (!) with my Mother-in-Law and looking after our ever more mobile 9 month old son being the main ones this weekend) for a little bit, I will go to "boo" it at Canary Wharf or the Dome on its final leg.
On the one hand I realise this is rather futile but on the other this is all about symbolism. The flame really doesn't matter a hoot with its pseudo pagan lighting in Greece. All it does say is this flame has travelled around the world before reaching the Olympics in China. In some way this can be interpretted as the world giving support to the Beijing Olympics and by association the Chinese Government. The fact it will be travelling through suppressed Tibet is more significant. If protestors in London and elsewhere open a few more eyes to the dreadful abuses in Tibet and indeed across China for those who want to speak their mind, then not all will have been in vain.
I hope London proves it is still a City of free speech and gives the flame a rowdy but peaceful arrival. Part of me would like to see someone pour a bucket of water over it from an upper storey of a building as it passes by. However that probably won't happen. I think London will probably settle for a mixture of cheers, boos, slogans and apathy !
Never mind, it is off to Paris next- a City that really knows how to protest !
From The Times
April 5, 2008
"Exclusive: Chinese police kill eight after opening fire on monks and Tibet protesters
'They cried long live the Dalai Lama – then the firing started"
It is certain some people will turn out to cheer. The friends and families of those selected to carry the torch accross London are obvious "supporters". Shoppers and tourists passing by will take photographs. However there seems no mass urge to welcome this torch. It is certainly not in the popular imagination here.
Then of course there will be the protestors, rallying from around Britain and beyond. The Police have promised a robust approach to anyone who disrupts the flame's journey. They even have Chinese interpreters working with them to identify posters or banners that are insulting in Mandarin. One wonders if people will get arrested for holding an "insulting" anti-Chinese Government poster written in Mandarin when last year it seemed more or less fine for extreme islamists to walk through London with posters saying "Behead those who insult Islam", "Massacre the Unbelievers" etc. No hint of double standards by the Metropolitan Police here !
One imagines a few Tibetan student groups (largely peaceful Buddhists), intellectuals and others concerned about human rights in China will be an easy crowd for 2,000 police to deal with compared to Islamists who are quite prepared to cheer those who attempt to blow up passenger planes.
However overall the hope has to be that in London town, free speech is still allowed to some extent so the protestors will get their opportunity to be heard. If protestors can be seen and heard in Istanbul, Turkey surely this should be permitted in London ?
Samsung, the Korean electronics giant, put out several full page adverts in London papers yesterday promoting their sponsorship of the flame and encouraging people to watch "history in the making" in London. No sign of them backing down but then I read about a corruption probe at the highest levels of the company so I imagine worrying about sponsoring a tainted flame is lower down their list of priorities at the moment.
It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow in London. For anyone looking at this page for information on the London protests, you are best looking at the Free Tibet page.
Will I be protesting ? I am not really the street protest type ! (although I did recently make it to the Chinese Embassy one Monday evening). However I guess I will either be "boycotting" or if I can make it away from home commitments (a trip to Heathow Terminal 5 (!) with my Mother-in-Law and looking after our ever more mobile 9 month old son being the main ones this weekend) for a little bit, I will go to "boo" it at Canary Wharf or the Dome on its final leg.
On the one hand I realise this is rather futile but on the other this is all about symbolism. The flame really doesn't matter a hoot with its pseudo pagan lighting in Greece. All it does say is this flame has travelled around the world before reaching the Olympics in China. In some way this can be interpretted as the world giving support to the Beijing Olympics and by association the Chinese Government. The fact it will be travelling through suppressed Tibet is more significant. If protestors in London and elsewhere open a few more eyes to the dreadful abuses in Tibet and indeed across China for those who want to speak their mind, then not all will have been in vain.
I hope London proves it is still a City of free speech and gives the flame a rowdy but peaceful arrival. Part of me would like to see someone pour a bucket of water over it from an upper storey of a building as it passes by. However that probably won't happen. I think London will probably settle for a mixture of cheers, boos, slogans and apathy !
Never mind, it is off to Paris next- a City that really knows how to protest !
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