The Torch makes news wherever it runs. Even the opinion "smoothly" is now a headline. The cadre is over its panic. Now comes the blame. Notice the Torchgoons in blue and white on all sides of the runner. Torchgoos are the latest job classification on Planet Earth. Look for a Torchgoon IPO at Shanghai.
Torch Run Goes Smoothly in Bangkok
Associated Press
April 20, 2008 6:02 a.m.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's capital was awash with Chinese flags Saturday as the Olympic torch relay was run through the city's streets to great fanfare and little dissent.
The successful run, with no disruptions by demonstrators protesting China's recent crackdown in Tibet, was in contrast to the chaos that accompanied the torch's earlier visits to cities including London, Paris and San Francisco.
Associated Press
Eighty runners took part in the relay.
Heavy but not heavy-handed security was deployed along the Bangkok route, with about 2,000 uniformed and plainclothes police on special duty.
But except at one hot spot where pro-Tibet demonstrators and their pro-Beijing rivals parked themselves, the authorities had little to do except direct traffic and the mostly festive crowds.
Protests triggered by China's crackdown on anti-government riots in Tibet have dogged the torch on its way to the Olympics' opening ceremony in August in Beijing. The growing criticism of China's human rights record made this year's Olympics one of the most contentious in recent history.
Although Thailand has an active human rights community, several factors favored the torch receiving a warm welcome here. Since Thailand began disentangling itself from its Cold War pro-American stance in the mid-1970s, its governments have entertained increasingly warm relations with Beijing. The ethnic factor is also favorable. Most of Bangkok's political and business elite have some Chinese ancestry.
Whether the run goes as smoothly in the torch's next two stops, Malaysia and Indonesia, remains to be seen. Both countries have lingering problems with prejudice against their minority overseas Chinese populations, and the tensions occasionally erupt into violence.
BEIJING 2008
Read complete coverage of the Olympics and China's efforts to prepare for the Games, and track the torch's route.
Thai officials took their lead from Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who told his compatriots Friday that they should be proud to be hosting the torch. "Whoever tries to destroy the flame is crazy and unreasonable," he told reporters. "Why would anyone protest in Thailand? Why don't they protest in China?"
Police were instructed to keep a cautious watch for provocative anti-China signs or banners, and officials warned that any foreign activists who tried to disrupt the relay could be deported. At the relay's starting point in Bangkok's Chinatown a sole dissenter was glimpsed -- a Western woman who carried a picture of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader. Some members of the crowd shouted for her to "get out," but she wasn't harmed.
From a stage next to a large, red, Chinese-style gate, Thai dignitaries and the Chinese ambassador delivered brief speeches as athletes stood ready with the torch. Many in the festive crowd waved Chinese and Thai flags. Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin handed the lit torch to a sportswear-clad colleague who set out through the streets, followed by many of the onlookers. Eighty runners took part in the relay. They included Thai weightlifter Pawina Thongsuk, who won an Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.
A coalition of human rights and other activist groups staged a loud but peaceful protest in front of the U.N.'s Asian headquarters along the relay's route. "We are not here to disrupt the torch relay, but the Olympics is an event for peace and humanity. We want the Chinese government to respect the spirit of the Olympics by stopping human rights abuse in Tibet," said Pokpong Lawansiri, coordinator of the Free Tibet Movement.
The hundred or so protesters waived placards and chanted "Free Tibet" and "Shame, shame, Hu Jintao," referring to China's president. They were countered by an equal-sized, mostly Chinese-speaking crowd across the street yelling pro-China slogans. Some in the crowd following the torchbearers also jeered the pro-Tibet group. "I am glad it wasn't violent, but I think we did get a message across to the Chinese government that their crackdown on the Tibetans was not acceptable," said Narisa Chakrabongse, an environmental activist who had been named one of the torchbearers but withdrew in protest.
The torch left Thailand for Malaysia, where officials said they didn't expect any trouble for Monday's run there. But in Indonesia, where the relay will be held Tuesday, officials said the flame's route will be shortened from a planned 10-mile course down a main street in the capital, Jakarta, to a jog near the city's main sports stadium.
In the Australian capital of Canberra, organizers have shortened the route for the run next Wednesday because of security concerns, as both pro-Tibet and pro-Beijing groups were planning rallies.
After Canberra the torch will be taken to Japan, South and North Korea and Vietnam before making its China entrance when Hong Kong hosts the relay on May 2.
Copyright © 2008 Associated Press
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