Oympic Torch In Tibet Warms Chinese Hearts

If the Chinese state television CCTV had not announced that the images were being broadcast from Tibet, the average viewer could have thought the Olympic flame was being carried through a typical Chinese city in the mountains. The Olympic torch was carried by Chinese athletes and the spectators were also Chinese. There was not a Tibetan in sight.

The image of the Olympic flame being carried through the Tibetan capital Lhasa had a high symbolic value. The riots which broke out in Lhasa and other towns in March damaged the image of a harmonious society which China's leaders like to project to the outside world.

The riots demonstrated that many Tibetans are unhappy with Chinese rule and also brought into question the competence of the central and regional authorities. It took several days before the governor of the province took measures to quell the disturbances.

Treason
One Chinese blogger wrote: "Why are the Tibetans so angry? How is it that after all these years we have been unable to win their hearts?" He was immediately deluged with angry responses from other bloggers who more or less accused him of treason.

Since the Chinese "liberation of Tibet" enormous efforts have been made to modernise a region which was "languishing under the mediaeval conditions which prevailed under the Buddhist lamas". A lot of money goes to the region, unlike the Chinese the Tibetans are allowed more than one child, and they enjoy autonomy and freedom of religion. So what are they complaining about?

The Olympic flame
- In ancient times the Olympic flame would burn for the duration of the games
- The practice was revived during the 1928 Games in Amsterdam
- The Nazis introduced the Olympic relay in 1936
- The Olympic relay to Beijing is the longest ever: 137,000 kilometres
- Protests began during the lighting ceremony on 24 March
- The protests are in opposition to Chinese rule in Tibet
- In Paris the flame was extinguished thrice on 7 April because of protests
- Heavy-handed measures by Chinese security guards have been condemned
- The flame arrived in China on 4 May; the mountain city of Golmud is the next stop
- The flame will arrive in Beijing on 8 August, the day the Games begin

Blessings of Chinese rule
In order to emphasise the blessings of Chinese rule CCTV's Olympic network interrupted its live broadcast of the Olympic relay for a special report on life in Tibet. Everything Tibetan was old - the monasteries, monks, clothing and old buildings. The images of the Chinese authorities and people portrayed modernity - highways, a high-speed train, shopping malls and shiny new buildings.

What the viewer did not get to see were the countless security checkpoints which had to be passed to arrive at the Olympic torch relay. CCTV did not broadcast any images of the large number of police officers and soldiers in Lhasa.

"Tibetan enthusiasm"
The official newspaper the Tibet Daily wrote that the rioting in March and the crackdown on protestors had not in the least dampened the Tibetan people's enthusiasm for the Olympic Games and the "holy Olympic flame". On the contrary, the paper wrote, their enthusiasm had increased. However the images relayed by CCTV failed to show any enthusiastic Tibetan crowds.

Beijing has declared the Olympic flame "holy", not only because of the Olympic ideal but also because the relays through the minority provinces of Tibet and Xinjiang are meant to emphasise the harmony and unity of Chinese society. Which is why nothing is being left to chance.

*RNW Translation (fs) - By Erwin Tuil* Radio Netherlands

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