British police arrest 30 in torch protests
The British police arrest 30 pro-Tibet protesters in order to keep them away from the Beijing Olympics flame overnight, making sure that the torch went a high security tour of London.
The pro-Tibet demonstrators held up banners and had their faces painted in the colours of the Tibetan flag, shouting of “Tree Tibet” around the streets. Two demonstrators were arrested as they attempted to extinguish the torch, and one was pushed to the ground as he tried to seize the flame from a British TV presenter taking part in the relay. Police were on bikes and running alongside the flame escorted each member of the relay. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy said that its ambassador to Britain, Fu Ying, had run without trouble in London’s Chinatown.
The torch will heads for Paris later today and French authorities have also prepared massive security for the relay which has sparked protests since it was lit in Greece a week ago at the start of its 136,765 kilometre, 21-country journey to Beijing.
maggie Said,
May 11, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
Very good pics! It must be a bit discouraging to read negative things about your country. However, you have to realize that’s the way the western press is, negative. Whenever the press is looking for stories they look for things that are different or bad. They feel it’s their duty to point out anything that’s not good. That’s very different from the Chinese press which usually prints positive things. So if something isn’t quite right, they will point it out. People are curious about China because they know so little about it, and what they do know is based on the past. As the writer of the article says, “It will also be for an opportunity to see China, spit-shined for the Olympics, perhaps. It will be a chance to see a country revealing itself for the first time.” Many people will be seeing China in a different way and right now they are all curious to know what they will see. I remember before the Greek Olympics many were predicting that the stadium wouldn’t be finished in time, that the traffic would be terrible, etc. You must have noticed many articles are writtn criticizing the U.S., our president and many other things about our culture. Our own newspapers write critical things about our own government. That is the duty of the American press. So don’t think China is the only country in the world that is being criticized. As some French protesters said, “We protest anything in the world that’s not right (in their opinion). So, don’t worry, I am sure Beijing will have a great Olympics and though there may be criticism of some things there will be praise for other things and I am sure the world will enjoy watching the games in Beijing.
Hope you have a great summer. Why not blog about your experiences volunteering. It could make history some day!
See you in the fall.