Tibet-China-Olympics Update: April 18, 2008
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on April 18, 2008
Japanese Buddhist temple withdrawn from Olympic torch route
(via Tricycle Blog)
A famous Buddhist temple in Japan has been withdrawn from the Olympic flame relay over security concerns and anger at China’s crackdown on Tibetans. The Zenkoji temple in the city of Nagano said it had received 1,000 letters from across Japan calling for it to withdraw from the April 26 procession after the crackdown in predominantly Buddhist Tibet, where monasteries were raided and monks arrested. The temple was due to be the starting point of the flame’s passage through Japan, taking runners through the city for 11.5 miles (18.5km).
Chinese police raid Tibetan monastery
(via Agam’s Gecko)
Armed police raided a monastery in northwest China and detained dozens of Tibetan Buddhist monks on Thursday, following anti-Chinese protests in February, according to a Beijing-based source. They took away four fifths of the monastery’s inhabitants — around 200 people — and dozens more lay locals, some of whom had tried to prevent police from detaining the monks.
Olympic sponsors scale back plans for torch relay
(via Tibet Will Be Free - UK)
Three of the biggest global sponsors of the Beijing Olympics have scaled back their plans for next week’s Japanese leg of the torch relay amid mounting fears of violent anti-Chinese protests, The Times has learnt. In the first sign that the commercial side of the Olympics has been affected by the various anti-Chinese demonstrations around the world, Coca-Cola, Samsung and Lenovo have not exercised their right to run a logo-festooned vehicle along with the relay as the Olympic flame makes its way through Nagano.
508 Tibetan Protestors arrested in Nepal
508 Tibetan protestors were arrested and detained in the Nepalese Capital of Kathmandu yesterday (April 17) after a series of demonstrations staged by Tibetans in different groups near the Chinese Embassy in Baluwatar, calling for ‘Free Tibet’ and urging the United Nations to send fact finding delegation. Ten people were injured in the protest and were later attended to in a medical facility. All the detainees were released around 11 PM. Over 200 Armed Police Force personnel were deployed at the Chinese Embassy to curb any Pro-Tibet movement.
China state media seeks to contain nationalist anger
Chinese official media have sought to temper nationalist calls for boycotts of foreign businesses accused of supporting Tibetan independence, urging angry citizens to focus on economic development. Chinese Internet sites have been awash with calls to stop buying French-made goods and to stop shopping at Carrefour stores after Tibet protesters in Paris disrupted the Beijing Olympics torch relay. Following earlier prominent state media reports, Chinese officials and citizens have also vented outrage at a commentator on CNN television who spoke of Chinese “goons” and “junk”.
Scores arrested in India after torch relay ends
Scores of Tibetan demonstrators were arrested Thursday as thousands of police and soldiers defended the Beijing Olympic torch on a suffocating run through the Indian capital. The heart of New Delhi was almost totally sealed off for the most sensitive leg of the protest-hit global relay to date, with security personnel far outnumbering the schoolboys and other select onlookers allowed to watch.
China steps up crackdown in Tibet
China is intensifying its crackdown on Tibet after the largest anti-Chinese protests there in almost 50 years. But many monks have refused to fly the Chinese flag on monastery roofs, sources in China and India say. In addition to reports from remote Qinghai province this week that authorities have arrested Tibetan feminist and writer Jamyang Kyi, Tibetans say five other Qinghai Tibetan community leaders are in custody as well. All are residents of Machen [in Chinese, Maqin] county in Golog [Goulou] prefecture, and all are now being held in the provincial capital, Xining, sources said.
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