Olympic Torch comes to Paris

[luckyluc]

Just reading from Le Monde

"Le président de la République a déclaré, mardi 8 avril à Cahors, au lendemain des manifestations à Paris lors du passage de la flamme olympique, qu'il déterminera les "conditions" de la participation de Paris à la cérémonie d'ouverture "en fonction de la reprise" du dialogue entre la Chine et le dalaï-lama. (AFP)"

Sarko will decide the level of participarion of France to the Opening Ceremony according to the dialogue between China and the dalai-lama.

[joan1]

Anne, very good points, interesting how some people like to only look at the Olympics as something completely seperate from politics, ( and it should be,) but we all know its not serperate..

I still cannot imagine why the IOC picked China, if we only look at it from the point of view what is best for the athletes,, air that is clean enough to breath should be high on the list of requirements.

And as for " Free Tibet" ,, it is definately not my main reason for being so dead set against the Chinese government.. it is the way they deal with their own citizens,, the track record of abuses, as Truffaut pointed out, how would you like to be Jewish, gay, or even disabled , in such a nation!? And how about the " One Child" policy that gave the government the power to force women to have abortions, sometimes even after the baby would have been viable, it is disgusting. The corruption the everyday average Chinese citizen has to endure,, watch a few documentries,, one I saw was called "China Blues" it was about a jeans wear factory, employing girls as young as 14 ot work 15-18 hour days, and not get paid for months on end, and they had NO recourse but to continue to stay and work as they would recover NO money if they returned to their villages..
and then there are the poorest of the poor subsistance farmers displaced by the Guilan( sp?) damm project, they were supposed to be rehoused,, ha, about 10 of them got shiny new show homes, the rest get nothing, and the China actually take tourists off the river cruise boats and tour them through the " show" homes to show them how happy the villagers are.. it is stomach turning,,

sorry for rant.

[sandy]

Did you have the chance to see the Olympic torch passing through Buenos Aires yesterday? I still don't know if we are the most civilized country of the world, or the most indifferent country of the world, but the ceremony was really very nice and without incidents.

[phread]

the Chinese gov't is forcing all factories within a 240km radius of Beijing to shut down now until the Olympics are over. This in an effort to reduce the pollution.

And that toilet situation, for any one who has been to Beijing, well it is terrifying. We are talking Horror film proportion nightmares.

[cybee]

I read yesterday a Chinese commentary regarding the torch relay through France. Interesting as to how the Chinese try to "educate the public" (or is there another term for that? ):

See: news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/11/content_7958777.htm

Entitled: Commentary: Paris slaps its own face

It reads in part:

BEIJING, April 11 -- Some French media seemed quite excited about what happened during the Olympic torch relay in Paris a few days ago. Le Figaro ran a headline story titled "The torch's fiasco in Paris", while the top story in La Libération reads as "Give China a slap in the face", describing the "fiasco" in a kind of schaden-freude. Hysterical excitement can be seen in their descriptions.
...
Some French media players claimed Paris is a free city and everyone has the right to assembly and demonstrate without government intervention. However, the actions by some extremists to attack the torchbearers, grab the torch and even try to extinguish the flame can no longer be called legal or non-violent protests. Chinese people are seriously disturbed and hurt by the chaotic scene in which an extremist tried to grab the torch from a weak disabled Chinese girl, named Jin Jing, in her arm wheels. Is this the civil French government’s behavior? A slap on China's face, or a slap on France's face?
...
We Chinese translate France into "fa guo", which literally means a country that honors the rule of law. The translation itself shows Chinese respect for that country. However, from the joy of headline stories, the editors, reporters and lawmakers who are educated by the French civilization suddenly lost ability to tell right from wrong, and chose adamantly to side with the law-breakers and the criminals.
...

[annettecinca]

Cybee--very amusing article!