CIA Boss had to hold meetings to reach conclusion that China is fine. No comment on Cadre by General Mandarin

It must have taken a lot of leg work to figure out the the Cadre is shaky and that the 21st century is up for grabs. That is what he Torch knows. Watch the Torch cross China, General Mandarin. That is the contest.

China Not 'Inevitable Enemy'
Of U.S., CIA Director Says
Associated Press
April 30, 2008 3:47 p.m.
WASHINGTON -- China is likely to be a political and economic competitor by the middle of the century but should not be treated as an "inevitable enemy" of the U.S., CIA Director Michael Hayden said Wednesday.

He warned, however, that China would likely be viewed as an adversary if Beijing uses its growing global influence in support of its own narrow interests at the cost of peace and economic stability. Gen. Hayden's comments came in a text prepared for the Landon Lecture at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan.


"If Beijing begins to accept greater responsibility for the health of the international system -- as all global powers should -- we will remain on a constructive, even if competitive, path. If not, the rise of China begins to look more adversarial," he said.

China's military buildup, which is intended both to counter U.S. military capabilities and to intimidate an independence-minded Taiwan, is as much about projecting an image of strength and "great power status" as it is to gain a tactical or strategic military advantage, he said.

"After two centuries of perceived Western hegemony, China is determined to flex its muscle," Gen. Hayden said.

He also predicted continued tension between the U.S. and Europe, an old alliance now strained by different views about terrorism.

"It is not yet clear when or if the United States and Europe will come to share the same views of 21st-century threats -- as we did for the last half of the 20th century -- and then forge a common approach to security," Gen. Hayden said.

The U.S. considers itself a nation at war, in pursuit of terrorists wherever they are, he said. "In much of Europe, terrorism is seen differently: primarily as an internal, law enforcement problem, and solutions are focused more narrowly on securing the homeland," Gen. Hayden said.

Sharp population growth over the coming decades, particularly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, will strain resources, increase immigration and could result in an increase in violent extremism and civil unrest, he said.

The populations of Afghanistan, Liberia, Niger, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are expected to triple in 40 years, and those of Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Yemen will more than double, he said.

Demographic changes, a rising China, and the evolving trans-Atlantic alliance will shape American security and foreign policy through the middle of this century, Gen. Hayden said. He called on Americans to learn the languages and cultures needed to meet the new challenges, in the same way the U.S. developed its Soviet expertise during the Cold War.

"Large parts of the world -- including those that will hold more sway in the future -- do not share all of our ideas," Gen. Hayden said. "While we cherish and live our own values, we must know and appreciate those of others."

Copyright © 2008 Associated Press

Cadre tries red flags, flower girls to offset the handful of passionate protesters: Cadre learns nothing.

The Cadre uses soft power of patriots in Hong Kong, where it dominates the government. But the negative of the Tibet protesters get equal time and lenty of live action photos. Ten thousand waving red flags, fourteen protesters, are seen as equal in the web eye. The Cadre studies and learns little. It cannot see. It argues. What is this thing, liberty? Can we own it? Is it patriotis? What is its origins?

Torch Arrives in Hong Kong
After Officials Deport Protestors
Associated Press
April 30, 2008 11:39 a.m.
HONG KONG -- The Olympic torch returned to Chinese soil Wednesday after a turbulent 20-nation tour, landing in the bustling financial center of Hong Kong, where officials deported at least seven protesters before the flame's arrival.


Associated Press
Police officers stopped protester Leung Kwok-hung, center, at an Olympic flame welcoming ceremony in Hong Kong, Wednesday.
A marching band and flag-waving children in red and white tracksuits greeted the torch at the airport, where it arrived from Vietnam. The flame was driven to a welcoming ceremony at a cultural center, where five pro-democracy activists tried to disrupt the event. Holding a banner that said, "Human rights are universal rights," the protesters were blocked in the street far from the venue by a dozen police with their arms linked together.

"We demand that the Chinese communist regime lives up to the promise it made in 2002 [when it was awarded the Olympics] to improve human rights in China," said lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, the protest's leader. He was heckled by a few elderly onlookers who accused him of stirring up trouble. One asked him, "Do you consider yourself Chinese?"

BEIJING 2008

Read complete coverage of the Olympics and China's efforts to prepare for the Games, and track the torch's route.
• Protests Over Relay Cause Rift Between Beijing, Seoul
About 3,000 police planned to guard the torch Friday during its relay through this former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule 11 years ago.

The relay, which follows a global tour marred by protests against Beijing's human rights record and its recent crackdown on protests in Tibet, is a high-stakes event for the local government. Officials have asked everyone to wear red to show their support.

Henry Tang, the city's No. 2 ranking leader, said in a speech that Hong Kong, which will host the Olympic equestrian events, has a great responsibility to ensure the "dignified, smooth and orderly progress" of the flame. "It has been 44 years since we last welcomed the Olympic flame to our city," he said.

Even before the torch arrived, authorities were busy deporting at least seven protesters who were considered a threat to the relay. It wasn't the first time Hong Kong has blacklisted and deported activists when they arrived for major events. The city used the same tactic when it hosted a World Trade Organization meeting in 2005.


Associated Press
Students in Hong Kong greet the Olympic flame with cheers and red flags.
Human-rights groups accused the government of squashing free speech to avoid the political embarrassment of any demonstrations involving the torch. Although Hong Kong is part of China, it is supposed to enjoy a wide degree of autonomy and greater freedom under a "one country, two systems" model of governance.

The deported activists included three pro-Tibet protesters who were kicked out of the city as they arrived at the airport Tuesday. A fourth activist, an organizer for an independent Chinese writers' group, also was turned away on Tuesday. Three Danish activists were deported over the weekend.

Copyright © 2008 Associated Press

Torch sheds light on Saigon: Ho Chi Minh City shrugs: what to make of a Cadre fiasco? Is that the same cadre that attacked the north in '75?

Olympic Torch Marks Last Stop
Of International Tour in Vietnam
Associated Press
April 29, 2008 11:25 a.m.
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -- The Olympic torch was paraded through the streets of Vietnam's largest city to cheers from thousands of onlookers Tuesday, marking the final leg of an international tour that has been dogged by protests against China.

Many of the supporters were flag-waving Chinese citizens either working or studying in Vietnam. "Beijing! China!" they chanted as if it were a soccer match as the flame passed through downtown Ho Chi Min City. Security along the route was tight and there were no immediate signs of protesters.


Associated Press
The torch was carried through downtown Ho Chi Min City, formerly known as Saigon.
Earlier in the capital, Hanoi, police detained several people after they unfurled an anti-China banner and shouting "Boycott the Beijing Olympics" in a market, two witnesses said. They spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were afraid of getting into trouble with authorities in this communist country. Police declined comment.

Vietnam has assured its communist ally and giant northern neighbor it wouldn't allow demonstrators to disrupt the parade. Students had threatened to protest China's claim to the disputed Spratly Islands.

Scores of Western tourists along with ordinary Vietnamese, some with children on their shoulders, jostled to get a view of the torch as it was carried past famous landmarks in the city formerly known as Saigon. "I don't know about the protests in other countries, but as far as Vietnam is concerned, we are happy to welcome this torch," said Vu Thi Van, a 61-year-old lady who was carrying an Olympic flag.

BEIJING 2008

Read complete coverage of the Olympics and China's efforts to prepare for the Games, and track the torch's route.
At many of its 18 stops, the relay has been beset by protests against China's human rights record and a recent crackdown in Tibet following anti-government riots. Large groups of patriotic Chinese have also turned out, in some cases clashing with protesters.

The torch arrived in Vietnam late Monday from North Korea, where tens of thousands of citizens were mobilized to celebrate the relay in Pyongyang in the flame's first visit to the authoritarian nation. China and Vietnam fought a border war in 1979, but relations between the two communist countries have improved greatly in recent years.

From Vietnam, the flame will travel to the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau before heading to the mainland, including the restive Tibet region and to the top of Mount Everest, and finally to the Games themselves in Beijing in August.

On Tuesday, Students for Free Tibet spokeswoman Lhadon Tethong said that two fellow activists were detained and questioned at Hong Kong's airport and that Hong Kong officials were trying to put one of them on a return flight to New York. Hong Kong Immigration Department spokeswoman Ho Tse Bing-yee declined comment.

Copyright © 2008 Associated Press

The astute B Ramen identifies the plans of the Cadre's strike force, the Neo Red Guards

The Torch on Mt. Everest. Confronting the deep irony that at the beginning of the next phase of the Tibet struggle for freedom returned, the Torch will be paraded to t he highest point on the planet and waved at the heavens. The cadre is without poetry.

B.Raman, C3S Paper No. 150 dated April 29, 2008
As the olympic torch reaches the culmination stage of its world run in Vietnam, a special lantern lit from the same flame has been taken to the base camp of Mount Everest on the Tibetan side of the Himalayan mountains for being taken to the top of the Everest. A team of 30 journalists — 19 Chinese and 11 representing foreign media— was also taken from Beijing to the camp on April 28,2008, to cover the event. A team of Chinese mountaineers has been acclimatising itself at the base camp before starting the climb. The Chinese have not announced when the climb will start and when the final climber or climbers with the lantern will reach the summit, but it is expected to be before May 10,2008. Previously, the Chinese were planning to make this a high-profile event. However, in view of the continuing unrest in the Tibetan-inhabited areas, they have now been treating it in low key.

2.The torch, which has reached Vietnam after being taken to Japan, South Korea and North Korea will be taken across China covering all provinces. It is expected to reach Lhasa on June 19,2008. It will first be taken to the Potala Palace, the historic residence of the Dalai Lamas. It will be received by the Chinese Communist Party nominee as the Panchen Lama. Thereafter, it will be taken across some areas of Tibet. In the expectation that by then the situation in Tibet would have returned to normal, the Chinese have been mobilising members of the Han Chinese community in Tibet and other provinces of China to assemble at Lhasa to give a big welcome to the arrival of the torch in Lhasa and to greet its reception in the Potala Palace by the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama. There is a possibility that one or two important leaders of the Chinese Government may also go to Lhasa to be present on the occasion.

3. If the situation in Tibet improves by then, the Chinese are likely to remove the restrictions on the visits of foreign journalists and tourists to Tibet so that they could see the big welcome being planned for the torch. Worried over the possibility of fresh demonstrations by Tibetan youth and monks on the occasion, only carefully vetted members of the local Tibetan community will be allowed to participate in the function.

4. There are conflicting signs from Beijing regarding the reported willingness of the Chinese for a fresh dialogue with a representative of the Dalai Lama.While the only incomplete indictors on the subject have come from the Xinhua news agency, the government-controlled media have kept up their campaign of demonisation of the so-called Dalai clique and the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), which is repeatedly and virulently projected as a terrorist organisation. While the Western countries have welcomed the reported Chinese willingness for a fresh dialogue, the Dalai Lama has not reacted enthusiastically . He and his advisers seem to suspect that it is a tactical move to deflect international pressure and to lower the temperature in Tibet.

5.On April 25,2008, the Xinhua circulated the following report: “China’s central government department will meet with Dalai’s private representative in the coming days, Xinhua learned from official sources on Friday.In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai’s private representative in the coming days,” an official said. “The policy of the central government towards Dalai has been consistent and the door of dialogue has remained open,” he said. “It is hoped that through contact and consultation, the Dalai side will take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks.” It is interesting to note that the Chinese do not call His Holiness as the Dalai Lama. They insist on referring to him only as Dalai in order to underline that they do not recognise him as the leader of the Buddhist religion in the Tibetan-inhabited areas of China.

6. Subsequently, the US-funded Radio Free Asia reported as follows: “Kalsang Gyaltsen, the Dalai Lama’s special envoy in Europe, has acknowledged that he was contacted by Chinese authorities about the proposed talks but has given no details. The exile Tibetan prime minister, Samdhong Rinpoche, suggested the time wasn’t right for renewed discussions. “We feel it will require normalcy in the situation in Tibet for the formal resumption of talks, and we are committed to take all steps including informal meetings to continue in bringing about this situation,’ he said in a statement.“It is our position that for any meeting to be productive it is imperative for the Chinese leadership to understand the reality and acknowledge the positive role of His Holiness the Dalai Lama rather than indulging in a vilification campaign that is even contained in this same Xinhua report,” Samdhong Rinpoche said.

7. Western Governments have been under contradictory pressure from their human rights activists and business houses. While the human rights activists have been urging that they should keep up the pressure on China on the Tibetan and other issues, the business houses, which have invested heavily not only in the Chinese economy, but even in the Olympic Games itself, have been urging that the Dalai Lama should be advised to tone down his campaign against the Chinese and keep the TYC under control. They are against any action against the Olympics or before the Olympics, which might be seen by the Chinese people as an attempt by the West to humiliate China and its people.

8. In the debate in Chinese web sites, there have been references to what is described as the asymmetric soft power enjoyed by the West by virtue of its perceived control of the global media. There is anger over what the Chinese people see as the exaggerated focus on the versions of His Holiness and a black-out of the versions of the Chinese Government. There have also been allegations of mischievous coverage by TV channels such as the BBC and the CNN. It is pointed out that when violence broke out in Lhasa on March 14,2008, with widespread attacks on the members of the Han community and their property by the Tibetans, the Western TV channels showed visuals of the action being taken by the Nepalese and the Indian police against Tibetan refugees demonstrating in Kathmandu and Dharamsala without specifying that these visuals were from Nepal and India and not Tibet. Such projection tended to create a wrong impression in the minds of the viewers that these scenes were from Lhasa.

9. The Chinese have sought to counter the soft power of the Western media through the soft power of the patriotic response of the Chinese people and the overseas Chinese diaspora. After being on the defensive for some days in the wake of the determined anti-Chinese campaign mounted by the Tibetan diaspora in co-ordination with their Western supporters, the Chinese went on a patriotic offensive by mobilising hundreds of the overseas Chinese in South-East Asia, Australia, Japan and the two Koreas to welcome the Olympic torch and to counter the demonstrations by Tibetans and their supporters. The overseas Chinese community in Europe also held patriotic demonstrations to condemn the attacks on the torch in London and Paris.

10. Similar demonstrations were organised in China itself particularkly against the French and the French super market chain called Carrefour. There were calls for an economic boycott of the French. This had an immediate impact on the French. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France rushed two special emissaries to Beijing to soothen Chinese sensitivities. While continuing to call for a resumption of the dialogue between the Chinese and the Dalai Lama, the French have conceded that the conditions imposed by the Chinese for this are reasonable.

( The writer, Mr B.Raman, is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )

Cadre rants, stamps foot, threatens: Heroes walk out of the court: Torch rocks

Here is the simple point. The cadre does not speak the truth. The cadre has no court system that follows credible evidence and credible testimony. The cadre lacks law and order. The cadre is a riot on its own. Tibet is a conquered country. The 200 people who attended this trial are witnesses to a tireless trope. Without law, there is only the cadre.

Chinese Court Sentences 17
For Role in Tibetan Violence
Associated Press
April 29, 2008 7:31 a.m.
BEIJING -- A Chinese court sentenced 17 people, including six monks, Tuesday to jail terms ranging from three years to life in prison for their roles in deadly riots in the Tibetan capital last month, state media reported.

The Intermediate People's Court of Lhasa announced the sentences at an open session, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.


Two men, including a Buddhist monk identified as Basang, received life sentences, Xinhua said. Basang led 10 people, including five other monks, to destroy local government offices, burn down shops and attack policemen, Xinhua said. Of the five monks, two were sentenced to 20 years, and the other three to 15 years in jail.

The other man who received a life sentence was identified as Soi'nam Norbu, a driver for a Lhasa real-estate company who joined in the mobs that burnt vehicles, smashed police stations and assaulted firefighters during the riot, Xinhua said. He was convicted of arson and disrupting public services, the court said.

No details were given on the 10 other people sentenced. "I believe competent authorities ... will handle them according to the law in a fair and just way," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said when asked about the trial.

China's state broadcaster reported that 200 people attended the trial, the first since the mid-March riots.

The massive anti-government protests that turned violent in Lhasa on March 14 were the largest challenge to Chinese rule in the Himalayan region in nearly two decades. China has said 22 people died in the riots while Tibet's government-in-exile announced Tuesday that it believes at least 203 Tibetans were killed in the ensuing crackdown.

The estimate was compiled from a combination of the government's own sources, Tibetan exile groups and official Chinese media. It was impossible to independently verify the information. Access to Tibet and surrounding provinces where protests broke out have been closed to foreigners since the unrest.

Xinhua said the Lhasa violence left seven schools, five hospitals and 120 homes torched and more than 900 shops looted. Total damage was more than 244 million yuan ($35 million).

China's response to the riots has drawn attention to the government's human rights record and other policies, as the communist country prepares to host the Olympic Games in August.

Rights groups and pro-Tibetan supporters have protested against the Olympic torch relay at several stops around the world, causing massive disruptions in some cities.

After weeks of international pressure by the U.S. and the European Union, China announced last week it would be willing to begin talks with representatives to the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet whom Beijing has blamed for fomenting the unrest. No specifics were given on when or where a possible meeting would occur. On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry's Jiang said that "specifics of the contact and consultation have still yet to be further discussed."

The sentences came a day after Tibetan authorities announced the reopening of the Sera Monastery, which was closed after last month's riots, Xinhua reported. "Monks have been taught legal knowledge in recent days and the monastery has resumed normal religious activities," Tenzin Namgyal, deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee, was quoted as saying.

Other monasteries that were closed will be reopened soon, he said.

Chinese authorities have increased patriotic education classes that require monks to make ritual denunciations of the Dalai Lama, accept the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, and pledge allegiance to Beijing.

The protests, initially led by Buddhist monks, started peacefully on March 10, the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. They became violent four days later as Tibetans attacked cars and shops run by Han Chinese, China's majority ethnic group.

Police and armed troops surrounded Lhasa's three main monasteries -- Sera, Drepung and Ganden -- along with the sacred Jokhang temple during the demonstrations. They were then closed off as authorities investigated which monks had been involved in the unrest.

Copyright © 2008 Associated Press

AWSJ comments. Talk blunt to Cadre: Free Tibet!

The WSJ Asia team weighs in. Remind what Mary Kissel editor of editorial page AWSJ said two weeks back, Only thing cadre listens to is blunt talk. Free Tibet! Torch talks blunt. The Dalai Clique gains, but softly. Others can speak louder now.

China Offers Tibet Talks
With Envoy of Dalai Lama
By SHAI OSTER in Beijing, PETER WONACOTT in New Delhi and JAMES T. AREDDY in Shanghai
April 26, 2008; Page A1
China's surprise offer to meet with representatives of the Dalai Lama raises new hopes for detente between the bitter adversaries, but also poses a challenge for leaders on both sides: How to placate younger generations convinced that there's no room for compromise.


Associated Press
China has been under intense international pressure to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who met with U.S. Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky in Ann Arbor, Mich., earlier this week.
China on Friday said it would meet with a private representative of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, whom Beijing has accused of masterminding deadly protests that shook Tibet in March. It would be their first meeting since last year, and it comes as China is working to avoid letting international criticism over its handling of Tibet interfere with the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

It isn't yet clear when a meeting might occur, at what level the two sides would meet -- or even if the Dalai Lama's side will agree to talks. A Dalai Lama spokesman said they hadn't received official word of the offer by Friday evening in northern India, where the Tibetan government-in-exile is based.

Still, it's the clearest sign yet of a possible rapprochement since the Tibet crisis began in Lhasa on March 14. By that date, what had begun as peaceful protests by Buddhist monks had spiraled into full-fledged violent rioting by Tibetans against ethnic Chinese individuals.

China's government says about two dozen people, mostly ethnic Han Chinese (the country's majority ethnic group) died. Tibetan exile groups say more than a hundred Tibetans were killed in the ensuing crackdown.

CONFLICT IN TIBET


Associated Press
Find complete coverage of the conflict in Tibet, including a timeline of the Dalai Lama's relationship with China and the latest news and a history of Tibetan resistance.
China has been under intense international pressure -- including from the U.S. -- to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet after a failed uprising against China in 1959.

That pressure has been particularly intense given the fast-approaching Olympics. This month's Olympic torch relay has been beset with anti-Beijing protests around the world. Foreign leaders including French President Nicolas Sarkozy have threatened to boycott the Games' opening ceremony to protest Chinese policies in Tibet.

All of this has threatened to transform the Olympics into a moment of international discord instead of a source of national pride for China. Beijing in recent years has become increasingly conscious of its international image, and has solicited the advice of Western public-relations agencies on how to handle the Olympics and other sensitive issues.

"We can clearly notice the change of the government's attitude towards the Dalai clique, from the formerly tough condemnation, to a milder stance," said Li Hongbin, a history professor at Central University for Nationalities in Beijing, using the government's term for the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Word of the proposed talks came via the state-run Xinhua news agency. Citing an unnamed official, it said: "In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks," China's government "will have contact and consultation with Dalai's private representative in the coming days."


Tibetan exile marches in India
The Bush administration, which has been pressing for talks, called it a good first step. "We would urge that there be some immediate follow-up to these statements of intent," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on Friday.

There is little so far to indicate that new talks would achieve more than six previous rounds of negotiations, held between 2002 and 2007. Envoys of the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama made little progress on Tibet's links to China -- such as agreeing when it was, and wasn't, historically part of the country, for example -- or steps to broaden Tibet's autonomy under Chinese rule.

The Dalai Lama has stopped short of calling for Tibet's independence. He has said Tibet could use China's help in modernizing its economy, as long as it safeguarded the culture and language. The Dalai Lama also wants China to widen the "autonomous region" of Tibet to include other Tibetans in neighboring Chinese provinces so they could share the same geographic zone.

The mere prospect of new talks raises acute complications for both sides. Beijing must shield itself from criticism at home that it is ceding ground to the Dalai Lama, who -- partly because of China's own government propaganda machine -- has become the subject of intense public anger in recent weeks.

For the Dalai Lama, failure could erode support for his moderate "Middle Way," which stresses greater autonomy for Tibet, as opposed to outright independence. Unsuccessful talks could also mean the 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate loses one of his last real chances to push his agenda.

One sign of the distance still separating the two sides came in Friday's brief Xinhua report. It suggested that full negotiations might eventually be possible, but only if the Dalai Lama and his backers agree to "take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games."

The Dalai Lama has denied doing any of those things.

Several members of the exiled Tibetan government expressed optimism that China's offer signaled a more accommodating stance. "The Chinese leadership seems to have realized there is deep resentment to its policies in Tibet," said Tenzin Taklha, joint secretary in the Dalai Lama's office in Dharamsala in northern India.

The Dalai Lama has repeatedly called for a resumption of talks. But the Tibetans also have their requirements. The Dalai Lama's aides have said that political conditions in Tibet would play a role in the timing of any talks. "The ongoing repression in Tibet must stop," said Thubten Samphel, secretary for the department of Information and International Relations for the Tibet government-in-exile.

Those statements reflect, in part, a need to placate younger members of the Tibetan exile community. Many younger Tibetan groups -- led by the Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest organization of exiles with more than 30,000 members -- have sharply differed with their spiritual leader's acceptance of China's sovereignty over Tibet. They advocate outright independence to safeguard their culture, language and unique school of Buddhism.

Tsewang Rigzin, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, said he and others were awaiting more information about the talks before deciding how to respond. Dialogue, he said, "has been a waste of time." His organization has spearheaded anti-China protests in several countries, including the U.S.

Meanwhile, China's government has fueled public hatred of the Dalai Lama within its own borders with statements vilifying what it calls the "Dalai clique." The public anger has boiled over into street protests and calls for a boycott against western companies.

In a sign of the strong sentiment, some people in China viewed Friday's offer to talk with the Dalai Lama as caving to international pressure. Wu Hao, a 26-year-old Beijing-based blogger whose recent calls for boycotts of Western goods gained widespread attention, said, "Every single Chinese should be angry and should condemn this."

--Juliet Ye in Hong Kong and Loretta Chao in Beijing contributed to this article.

Write to Shai Oster at shai.oster@wsj.com, Peter Wonacott at peter.wonacott@wsj.com and James T. Areddy at james.areddy@wsj.com

History lesson from the IOC: Sure the cadre is an imperialist colonialist bully and thief: but it is new to the planet!

Mr. Rogge is so foolish that all that works is to quote him. Give China time. It is not China that will change, but the government. Today the government is the cadre. It is a thief. No learning curve. The Torch approaches Japan. Liberty looms.


Olympics chief tells west not to hector China
By Roger Blitz in London and Richard McGregor in Beijing
Published: April 25 2008 09:41 | Last updated: April 26 2008 02:29
The west must stop hectoring China over human rights, the Olympics chief has warned, even as Beijing on Friday showed the first signs of bowing to international protests by saying it would hold talks with aides to the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader.

“You don’t obtain anything in China with a loud voice,” said Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee. This was the “big mistake of people in the west”.


“It took us 200 years to evolve from the French Revolution. China started in 1949,” he said, a time when the UK and other European nations were also colonial powers, “with all the abuse attached to colonial powers”.

“It was only 40 years ago that we gave liberty to the colonies. Let’s be a little bit more modest.”

Mr Rogge was speaking to the Financial Times ahead of Beijing’s announcement on Friday that it would resume talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese government has previously blamed for triggering last month’s violent protests in Tibet.

Pro-Tibet protests have since overshadowed the Olympic torch relay in Europe, the US, India and Australia, which has in turn provoked a backlash in China against the west and calls to boycott foreign goods.

Xinhua, China’s official news agency, quoted an unnamed official saying the government hoped the Dalai side would “take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, plotting and inciting violence and disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games”.

The announcement of the talks coincided with a visit to Beijing by a Brussels delegation led by José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, who met Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, on Friday.

Mr Barroso welcomed the news of the talks, as did the White House and other western governments.

Mr Rogge also told the FT the IOC always believed awarding the 2008 Games to Beijing would “open up China”, and that in time this would happen.

“The Games we believe, over time, will have a good influence on social evolution in China, and the Chinese admit it themselves,” he said.

Mr Rogge questioned whether media attention on Tibet would be as strong if the Games were not taking place in Beijing. “I wonder if Tibet would be front page today were it not that the Games are being organised in Beijing. It would probably be page 4 or 5,” he said.

Mr Rogge said China had given significant ground to the IOC by opening access to foreign media for the Olympics, which he expected to be extended beyond 2008 and believed would be a key factor in the social evolution of the country. China had also responded to IOC concerns about pollution in Beijing and child labour, he added.

“We have been able to achieve something. I am not quite sure that heads of government have achieved much more than we have done,” Mr Rogge said.

The Games would continue to be awarded to cities with the best technical bids, and were for the benefit of athletes rather than for international political evolution, but “if at the same time they can bring something for the region of the country, yes, fine”.

South Korea, he pointed out, was a military dictatorship when it was awarded the 1988 Games, and became a vibrant democracy soon after staging them. “The Games played a key role, again by the presence of media people,” he said.

Cadre loses face paint. Neo Red Guard plans counter. Meanwhile, Dalai Clique grins. Torch the Liberator!

Cadre gulps. "The relevant department of the central government will have contact..." The cadre is strangled by poor reading habits. It speaks in rubbishy memo think. Torch onto Japan.

China to Meet
With Representative
Of Dalai Lama
By SHAI OSTER
April 25, 2008 12:30 p.m.
BEIJING -- China, in an abrupt shift, announced that it will meet with representatives of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader Beijing had accused of masterminding deadly antigovernment protests in Tibet.


Associated Press
l.
"In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai's private representative in the coming days," an unnamed official was quoted as saying by China's state-run Xinhua news agency Friday afternoon.

The official went on to say "the policy of the central government towards Dalai has been consistent and the door of dialogue has remained open."

An official at Xinhua confirmed the report, but declined to say which government agencies would be holding the talks.

China has been under intense international pressure to resume dialogue with the exiled religious leader, who has been based in northern India since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959.

In a statement issued Thursday from Hamilton, N.Y., the Dalai Lama said he supported talks. "The best way forward is to resolve the issues between the Tibetans and the Chinese leadership through dialogue, as I have been advocating for a long time," he said. "I have repeatedly assured the leadership of the People's Republic of China that I am not seeking independence. What I am seeking is a meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people that would ensure the long-term survival of our Buddhist culture, our language and our distinct identity as a people."


The unrest spread to other large areas of Tibetan settlements in neighboring provinces and has posed one of the greatest challenges to Beijing's rule in decades. The Chinese government has struggled to regain control in those areas, which have remained closed off to independent observers and Western media.

Chinese authorities say about two dozen people, mostly Han, were killed in the Lhasa riots. Tibetan exile groups allege more than 100 Tibetans were killed in the following crackdown. Neither figure has been independently confirmed because the regions have been sealed off to outsiders by the government.

Over the past few weeks, China's government has vilified the "Dalai Clique," its term for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, accusing them the group of plotting the violent protests to seek independence and trying to disrupt the Beijing Summer Olympics. The Dalai Lama has repeatedly denied those claims and called for a peaceful resolution.

The standoff has turned the Olympic Torch relay into a battle between supporters of Tibet and China as it traveled around the world. In China, homegrown nationalists have launched protests against alleged Western media-bias and foreign retailers accused of sympathizing with the Tibetans.


Associated Press
China has been under intense international pressure to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who met with U.S. Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky in Ann Arbor, Mich., earlier this week.
Shortly before the Xinhua statement, the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he was hopeful of "positive developments soon" after meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

In its short statement about resuming the talks, the Chinese official said: "It is hoped that through contact and consultation, the Dalai side will take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks," according to Xinhua.

Word of the talks was apparently news to the Dalai Lama Friday afternoon. "We have no information about any meeting with the Chinese," said Tempa Tsering, the Dalai Lama's representative in New Delhi. Asked whether he would be told about such a meeting, Mr. Tsering said: "I should be informed, yes." He said the Dalai Lama was on his way back to India from a trip overseas.

Beijing and the representatives of the Tibetan government in exile held six rounds of talks between 2002 and mid-2007. A major stumbling block of talks has been the definition of Tibet, which Beijing sees as the region it calls the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The government-in-exile considers Tibet a larger area where Tibetans have traditionally lived and which includes parts of other Chinese provinces.

Write to Shai Oster at shai.oster@wsj.com

Dalai Clique busy

Tibetan Youth Congress refutes China’s “baseless and fallacious” allegations
Phayul[Thursday, April 24, 2008 23:56]
By Phurbu Thinley

Tibetan Youth Congress president called the Chinese Communist Party government the “real terrorist” responsible for killing more than 1 million Tibetans since China’s occupation of Tibet in 1949

Dharamsala, April 24: The largest Tibetan non-governmental organization in exile, devoted to restoring Tibet’s lost independence, on Thursday rebuffed Chinese news reports accusing it of planning to launch suicide attacks to achieve its goals.

“The Tibetan Youth Congress vehemently rejects baseless allegations by Communist Chinese Party,” said Tsewang Rigizin, the president of the Tibetan Youth congress, at a press conference here today.

"Relying on these baseless allegations, the Chinese Communist Party hopes to hijack our non-violent struggle and weaken the Tibetan independence movement," he said.

Mr Tsewang was referring series of articles lately published by Xinhua, the state mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party alleging TYC of planning “suicide attacks” to struggle for Tibet’s independence and calling a “terrorist organisation”.

“TYC strongly rejects these allegations as baseless and fallacious,” he added.

“We have never planned any suicide attacks. I have always maintained that violence is not an option for us” he said reacting to Chinese media report last week quoting him of telling an Italian newspaper that suicide bombers could be used to win Tibet's independence. Chinese media have also blamed TYC was behind the recent riot that broke out in Lhasa last month.

"I am not quoted correctly. I never said that we would plan suicide attacks or resort to violence,” Mr Tsewang said.

He said he had already written to the Italian news reporter about the allegation, and said he was yet to receive any reply on that.

"In the last 38 years of TYC’s existence, we have always campaigned for Tibet's independence based on the historical truth and non-violence and have never resorted to any terrorist activities or suicide attacks to achieve our goal of Tibet's independence," he said of the youth congress, which was founded in 1970.

“Since the inception of TYC in 1970, our main goal is to regain Tibet’s independence and restore the dignity of the Tibetan people and we will continue our non-violent struggle until Tibet is independent,” Tsewang said.

TYC leader instead blamed the Chinese Communist Party as the the “real terrorist”.

“History clearly shows that Chinese Communist Party is the real terrorist,” Tsewang said claiming over 1 million Tibetans have been killed since China occupied Tibet in 1949 and for the brutal crackdown on peaceful Tibetan demonstrators in the latest unrests across Tibet.

Tibetan Youth Congress headquartered in Dharamsala, the seat of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, has over 30000 members with more than 80 regional chapters worldwide.
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Olympics are politics

Beijing Olympics: Political Battleground?
By Leta Hong Fincher
Washington
24 April 2008
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A wide range of political groups is using the 2008 Beijing Olympics as an opportunity to pressure the Chinese government to change its human rights practices. Some argue that the Olympics should be separate from politics. But analysts say the Olympics have often been used for political purposes in the past. VOA's Leta Hong Fincher has more.

Former Olympic swimmer Nikki Dryden is a member of Team Darfur, a coalition of some 300 athletes seeking to raise awareness about the violence in Darfur and China's ties with Sudan.

"When China decided to host the Olympic games, they made a promise, a global promise to the sporting community that they would uphold the values of the Olympic games,” Dryden said. “Those values are to promote peace and human dignity. That's not happening in Darfur."


Olympic protester
Whether the cause is Darfur, Tibet or China's overall human rights record, a wide range of groups is using the Beijing Olympic Games as a platform for protests against the Chinese government.

Demonstrators in France, the United States and other countries have disrupted the Olympic torch relay. The anti-Chinese protests have sparked an outpouring of nationalistic anger in China. China's foreign ministry says the Olympics should be free of political interference.

"What we have seen is not protest, but cruel and violent attacks on the Olympic flame, which belongs to the whole world," says Chinese spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

In the United States, all three presidential candidates have called on U.S. President George Bush to send a message.

Senator Hillary Clinton, D-Presidential Candidate: "The president should not attend the opening ceremonies at the Olympics."

Senator Barack Obama, D-Presidential Candidate: "I think it's appropriate for the president to decline the invitation to the opening ceremonies."

Senator John Mccain, R-Presidential Candidate: "I would not go to the opening ceremonies."

However, President Bush says he will attend the Games. "I don't view the Olympics as a political event. I view it as a sporting event," he said.


David Wallechinsky
Olympics historian David Wallechinsky says the Olympics have often been used for political purposes. "The Olympics are part of the world, and politics is part of the world, so it's an illusion to think that you can separate the Olympics from politics," he said.

Wallechinsky points to the 1936 Berlin Olympics under Adolf Hitler's rule as the first time politics intruded into the Games in a major way.

"When Hitler took power, there was a great deal of discussion in the Olympic movement and also around the world: 'What should we do? Should we move the Olympics? Should we boycott the Olympics?' In the end nothing was done and the Olympics were held in Nazi Germany," explains Wallechinsky. In 1936, African American athlete Jesse Owens defied Nazi ideas of Aryan superiority by winning four gold medals.

In 1968 at the Mexico City Olympics, U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos used a black power salute at the medals ceremony to protest racial discrimination in the United States.

In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes.

In 1980, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States led a boycott of the Moscow Olympics.

And in 1984, Soviet bloc countries retaliated by boycotting the Los Angeles Olympics.

Now, many political activists say they have learned from the past that Olympic boycotts only punish athletes and fail to bring about policy changes.

"A boycott is going to punish the wrong people. It is going to take away from the athletes who have trained their whole life for this moment,” Dryden said. “And we really just want to see a celebration of all those good things that happen during the Olympics."

Dryden says Team Darfur is instead encouraging athletes to speak out about human rights while attending the Beijing Olympics.

Looking forward, the Dalai Clique visits its lackies in Parliament, pauses to write orders for Brown and the Windsor mob, pick up treasure.

Not usual that the cadre can plan this far ahead, to have discerned that the Dalai clique will meet with the separatist agents at Amnesty International, and to have time to prepare. Cadre busy busy.

Dalai Lama to address British parliament
news.com.au[Wednesday, April 23, 2008 10:42]
THE Dalai Lama is to give evidence on human rights issues to a parliamentary oversight committee on foreign affairs during his visit to Britain next month.

"Given the particular interest in China's human rights record in 2008, the committee has requested to take oral evidence from His Holiness the Dalai Lama on a range of human rights issues when he visits the United Kingdom in May, and His Holiness has agreed to this request," the committee said.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader is due at parliament in London on May 22.

The committee is currently looking at the Foreign Office's annual human rights report and focusing on issues and countries of concern.

Separate evidence will be heard from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International as well as Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, the Foreign Office minister responsible for human rights.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said last month that he would meet the Dalai Lama when he visits, angering China which accuses him of masterminding protests against Beijing's rule in Tibet.

Mr Brown's announcement was welcomed by pro-Tibet campaigners, but risked souring relations with China, which he visited in January to boost two-way trade and investment and co-operation in areas like tackling climate change.

Torch guarded by heavy weapons Jakarta. How many divisions has the Torch got? How many you want?

You cannot make this stuff up. The Torch is a nightmare that must be guarded? The cadre surprises me. There must be a game within a game. Soon I can imagine the Torch offered a seat at the Politburo. The cadre apes the Stalinist apparatus. Frightened young men, aware that they are aiming at junior positions in shipping offices in the year 2040. Torch is clearly an IPO launch specialist.


Olympic Torch Relay Held Behind Closed Doors in Indonesia
By Nancy-Amelia Collins
Jakarta
22 April 2008

The Beijing Olympic torch relay was held in the Indonesian capital amid tight security and at an invitation only ceremony in a Jakarta stadium attended by a handpicked crowd of several thousand.The Olympic flame arrived in Australia Wednesday for the Canberra leg of the torch relay as the city prepares for major protests. VOA's Nancy-Amelia Collins in Jakarta has more.


Indonesian paramilitary police guard motorcade carrying Olympic flame prior to start of torch relay at main stadium in Jakarta, 22 Apr 2008

The Olympic flame fluttered out after only a few seconds and had to be re-lit as Jakarta's Governor Fauzi Bowo led the torch parade before a carefully selected crowd at Jakarta's Bung Karno Stadium.

He was the first of 80 torchbearers, including athletes and television stars, to run a route circling the stadium five times.

Police earlier broke up a group of around 100 pro-Tibet protesters outside the giant sports stadium, briefly detaining eight people, including a Dutch citizen.

Security was tight with more than 3,000 police officers deployed around the massive sports complex.

Officials from the Chinese embassy helped man the stadium gates, refusing entry to many, including accredited journalists.

The event was closed to the public after the Chinese embassy insisted the torch relay be shortened and limited to 5,000 invited guests, mostly Chinese school children, Indonesian officials, and journalists.

Initially it was to take place before the public and along the bustling streets of Jakarta.

Presidential spokesman Dino Djalal told VOA the route was changed for security reasons.

"We are very happy," he said. "I mean this is an international event for peace that we have always supported. We want to make the Olympics in Beijing a big success ... there is some security issues, I mean we have been watching what has been happening and we want to make sure that things go smoothly and we think that its much more manageable if we do it with this route that we have arranged."

The worldwide journey of the Olympic flame has been dogged by anti- and pro-China demonstrations and criticism of Beijing's human rights record following China's deadly crackdown last month on anti-government riots in Tibet

Even in the carefully selected crowd at the Jakarta stadium, student Hendra, excited to see the parade, expressed mixed emotions.

"I feel happy because this is the first time the Olympic torch come to Indonesia, [but] that is the bad side of this Olympic thing - because of the invasion by China of Tibet," Hendra said.

The chairperson of the Indonesian Olympics Committee, Rita Subowo, expressed hope China would peacefully resolve its problems in Tibet.

"With full confidence that the government of People's Republic of China shall strive to find through dialogue and understanding a fair and reasonable solution to the internal conflicts that affects the Tibet region," she said.

The Olympic torch next travels to Australia.

Authorities expect as many as 10,000 pro-Tibet and pro-China demonstrators at Thursday's relay stage in Canberra. Australian authorities have put up barricades and fences to protect the route of the torch relay.

Japanese family detained in Kuala Lumpur. Warning.

The Japanese family still detained. This is a clue that all may not be perfect when the Torch gets to Australia on its way to Japan. And the cadre made the colossal error of the Zimbabwe arms shipment. Watching. The Torch has become a clever plotter.

Japanese family, monk detained on Malaysia Olympic torch leg
By JULIA ZAPPEI – 2 days ago
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Runners carried the Olympic torch through Malaysia's capital Monday after police detained a Japanese family carrying a pro-Tibet banner and took a Buddhist monk into custody as a "preventive" measure.
There was no immediate information that the monk, whose nationality was not known, had done anything wrong, said Kuala Lampur police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman. The monk was detained on the route as a "preventive" measure, the police chief said, without elaborating.
The Japanese family of three unfurled a pro-Tibet banner about an hour before the president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, Imran Jaafar, set off with the torch. Jaafar was the first of 80 runners who planned carry it through the capital.
Witnesses said the adult couple and a boy were heckled by bystanders, who appeared to be Chinese, during the confrontation, which occurred at Independence Square where the 10-mile relay began.
Thousands of bystanders — many of them wearing red — were gathered to watch the send-off. Some carried Chinese flags and Chinese language banners that read: "The Torch will spread around the world," and "No one can split China."
The witnesses said some of the bystanders shouted "Taiwan and Tibet belong to China" when they saw the family revealing the pro-Tibet banner. The witnesses couldn't recall the exact wording on the banner because of the commotion. They all declined to be named, citing reluctance to be associated with a foreign media organization or to be involved in a police matter.
Muhammad Sabtu said the Japanese were held after they waved a Tibetan flag. He did not mention the banner.
He said they were detained "only for documentation," and said he had no information that they were beaten by other crowd members, as some witnesses reported.
Criticism of China's human rights record has turned the Olympics into one of the most contentious in recent history.
Protests have dogged the torch relay during its stops in Paris, London and San Francisco, with demonstrations over China's crackdown in Tibet where it forcefully put down anti-government riots.
Fear of further disruptions has triggered an unprecedented security presence for the Malaysian leg. Some 1,000 policemen and commandos were deployed in along the route in Kuala Lumpur even though police have not received reports of any planned protests, said a police spokesman who declined to be named, citing protocol.
The flame arrived Sunday from Bangkok, where its relay was unmarred by demonstrations.

The Cadre caught red-handed? Dalai Clique not blamed yet.

Sometimes no explanation is the explanation. The Cadre demonstrates why it is a 20th century artifact on life support.

African protests repel arms ship
By Richard McGregor in Beijing and Alec Russell in Johannesburg
Published: April 22 2008 09:44 | Last updated: April 22 2008 18:49
A Chinese ship carrying a cargo of arms for Zimbabwe may have to return home, Beijing conceded on Tuesday, as diplomatic, political and judicial pressure mounted across southern Africa to stop the consignment from reaching its destination.

Since the ship arrived off the coast of South Africa last week, with crates of mortar shells, rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rounds bound for President Robert Mugabe’s armed forces, a coalition of human rights groups, trade unions and politicians have united to block its progress. The dispute has threatened to embarrass China, which is keen to avoid a further controversy in the wake of criticism of its record in Tibet, in the countdown to the Beijing Olympics.

On Tuesday, in China’s first public reaction to the saga, Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, defended the shipment as “perfectly normal trade in military goods between China and Zimbabwe”. She said the shipment was the product of a deal signed last year and was unrelated to “recent developments” in Zimbabwe, an apparent reference to last month’s disputed election.

But she added the fact that the consignment might now be impossible to deliver had prompted the shipping company to consider returning with the cargo to China.

The comments came after Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa lent his support to the protests against the ship, calling on other southern African countries not to let it dock in their ports.

“I hope this will be the case with all the countries because we don’t want a situation which will escalate the [tension] in Zimbabwe more than what it is,” Mr Mwanawasa said, referring to the decision by Mozambique not to let the ship dock.

His intervention was striking. Leaders of the regional grouping, the Southern African Development Community, of which he is the chairman, have traditionally shied away from confronting Zimbabwe.

Although the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was originally declared the winner of Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections, that has now been thrown into doubt by a series of recounts forced by the ruling Zanu-PF. The results of the presidential elections have still not been published more than three weeks after the poll.

When the An Jue Yang docked off the South African port of Durban last week the South African government said it would not oppose the passage of the arms overland to its neighbour, Zimbabwe. But a powerful trade union later said its workers would not unload the cargo and last Friday night the High Court barred the arms’ passage on South African territory after an Anglican archbishop argued they would be used to oppress the opposition.

The ship then left Durban and has been reported to be heading for Angola or Namibia, two of Zimbabwe’s traditional allies in the region.

Guo Xiaobing, a researcher at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, said the Chinese government in recent years had worked hard to ensure its arms trade did not breach global standards.

In a further twist, a German bank has obtained a court order to impound the cargo of the ship as it seeks to recover unpaid debts from Zimbabwe, it emerged on Tuesday.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

Frogs Heart Dalai Clique!

The French maneuvering is choice. The cadre cannot gives up its wine cellars, and the idea of a spring without Frog style is daunting. Now Sarkozy tries that neat word finesse. The cadre is not certain what is to be done. Without Paris, what is the point of the cadre's special access to stores in Cadreville?

Sarkozy Aims to Limit Chinese Anger
Over Paris Olympic Torch Protests
By STACY MEICHTRY
April 21, 2008 5:39 p.m.
PARIS -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a diplomatic offensive aimed at quelling Chinese anger over protests that marred the Olympic torch's recent journey through the French capital.

On Monday Christian Poncelet, president of the French Senate, traveled to Shanghai carrying a letter from Mr. Sarkozy to Jin Jing, a wheel-chair bound torchbearer who has become a symbol of Chinese outrage after she was photographed shielding the Olympic flame from a lunging pro-Tibetan protester.

Mr. Poncelet was expected to deliver a separate letter from Mr. Sarkozy to Chinese President Hu Jintao later in the week.

The gesture underscores the fine line Western politicians must walk in safeguarding business ties in China as they seek to pressure Beijing to improve its human rights record.

In the wake of Beijing's crackdown in Tibet, Mr. Sarkozy has refused to say whether he'll attend the opening ceremony of the Games in Beijing, calling for dialogue between the Dalai Lama and China's government.

His position, along with disruptions to the torch relay in Paris, has helped fan the flames of public criticism of France in China.

Chinese protesters gathered in front of French retailer Carrefour in several Chinese cities this weekend, demanding a boycott of French goods. Chinese chat rooms and Web sites, meanwhile, have been awash in rumors accusing Carrefour, China's largest foreign retailer, of supporting the Dalai Lama -- an allegation the retailer denies.

It was the images of Ms. Jin being assailed by a protester as she carried the torch in Paris, however, that initially sparked the Chinese backlash. The ensuing chaos forced organizers to call off the relay halfway through its planned trip through Paris, ushering the Olympic flame inside a heavily-guarded bus.

In his letter addressed to "Mademoiselle Jin Jing," Mr. Sarkozy described the disruption as "inadmissible" and praised Ms. Jin's "courage." Mr. Sarkozy also invited Ms. Jin to return to Paris as his "personal guest."

Former prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is expected to travel to China to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Jean-David Levitte, one of Mr. Sarkozy's top foreign policy advisors, is expected to follow.

It is unclear, however, how Mr. Sarkozy's efforts to charm the Chinese public will play at home, where the French President is struggling to regain popularity.

The Paris city council Monday named the Dalai Lama and Chinese dissident Hu Jia "honorary citizens" of Paris.

Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com

Frogs Heart Dalai Clique!

Sarkozy Aims to Limit Chinese Anger
Over Paris Olympic Torch Protests
By STACY MEICHTRY
April 21, 2008 5:39 p.m.
PARIS -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a diplomatic offensive aimed at quelling Chinese anger over protests that marred the Olympic torch's recent journey through the French capital.

On Monday Christian Poncelet, president of the French Senate, traveled to Shanghai carrying a letter from Mr. Sarkozy to Jin Jing, a wheel-chair bound torchbearer who has become a symbol of Chinese outrage after she was photographed shielding the Olympic flame from a lunging pro-Tibetan protester.

Mr. Poncelet was expected to deliver a separate letter from Mr. Sarkozy to Chinese President Hu Jintao later in the week.

The gesture underscores the fine line Western politicians must walk in safeguarding business ties in China as they seek to pressure Beijing to improve its human rights record.

In the wake of Beijing's crackdown in Tibet, Mr. Sarkozy has refused to say whether he'll attend the opening ceremony of the Games in Beijing, calling for dialogue between the Dalai Lama and China's government.

His position, along with disruptions to the torch relay in Paris, has helped fan the flames of public criticism of France in China.

Chinese protesters gathered in front of French retailer Carrefour in several Chinese cities this weekend, demanding a boycott of French goods. Chinese chat rooms and Web sites, meanwhile, have been awash in rumors accusing Carrefour, China's largest foreign retailer, of supporting the Dalai Lama -- an allegation the retailer denies.

It was the images of Ms. Jin being assailed by a protester as she carried the torch in Paris, however, that initially sparked the Chinese backlash. The ensuing chaos forced organizers to call off the relay halfway through its planned trip through Paris, ushering the Olympic flame inside a heavily-guarded bus.

In his letter addressed to "Mademoiselle Jin Jing," Mr. Sarkozy described the disruption as "inadmissible" and praised Ms. Jin's "courage." Mr. Sarkozy also invited Ms. Jin to return to Paris as his "personal guest."

Former prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is expected to travel to China to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Jean-David Levitte, one of Mr. Sarkozy's top foreign policy advisors, is expected to follow.

It is unclear, however, how Mr. Sarkozy's efforts to charm the Chinese public will play at home, where the French President is struggling to regain popularity.

The Paris city council Monday named the Dalai Lama and Chinese dissident Hu Jia "honorary citizens" of Paris.

Write to Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com

Cadrettes heart Cadres: Paris, Non!

The cadre runs another false flag op, this one at home, and it is such a hit that they are over subscribed with party servants and wannabees, lining up for demonstration time well before dawn, consuming all the cakes and tea and lit at the rallies. Cadre depends upon pretenders more than the paid off. Volunteer cadre. The cadrettes.



Games Tensions on Slippery Track
China Anger Grows
As Rifts With West
Appear to Get Worse
By JASON DEAN and ANDREW BATSON
April 21, 2008
BEIJING -- A new round of Chinese protests against foreign companies and news organizations this weekend are fueling worries that tensions ahead of the Olympics could spiral, with worsening political and business consequences.

The series of protests and mutual recriminations between China and its foreign critics has exposed a stark disconnect between how China views itself and how many people abroad view China. Foreign critics are focusing on issues, such as Beijing's policies in Tibet, that many Chinese feel ignore decades of broader economic and social progress in their country.


Associated Press
Chinese students and citizens chant slogans and hold up banners, calling for boycotting French Carrefour supermarket in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi province on Sunday.
Condemnation of Chinese government policies is being received in China as attacking the nation as a whole, arousing public resentment. The most vocal responses are seen overseas as government-sanctioned nationalism run amok, further reinforcing negative images of China.

Over the weekend, there were demonstrations against French retailer Carrefour SA involving thousands of people in several cities across China. They were part of a broader push for a boycott of the retailer, one of France's biggest investors in China, as punishment for the chaos of the Olympic torch relay in Paris, and for the purported support of the Dalai Lama -- vilified by Beijing -- by one of the Paris company's shareholders. Carrefour has said it has no ties with the Tibetan spiritual leader and pointed out that the vast majority of its products and employees in the country are Chinese.

Many Chinese expected this summer's Olympics in Beijing to make 2008 a year for celebrating their country's re-entry to the international community, and its rising global status from three decades of economic and political reforms. The international furor instead is feeding a deepening disappointment.

Some Western businesspeople fear that the divide could continue to widen, leading to tension within multinationals' operations or broader action against foreign companies that operate in China. "Foreign companies are indeed concerned and especially those companies that are highly visible in and outside of China," said James Zimmerman, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

The backlash against foreign critics has also targeted Western media for alleged bias in their coverage of deadly antigovernment riots in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa last month and the resulting crackdown by Beijing. Over the weekend, Chinese students protested media bias in front of the German Parliament in Berlin, and thousands protested outside the Los Angeles offices of Time Warner Inc.-owned Cable News Network.

China's government appears worried. The ruling Communist Party walks a fine line in handling outbursts of nationalism. As the self-appointed champion of national unity, it embraces, up to a point, popular expressions of nationalism -- but also fears that, unchecked, they could derail economic growth and ruffle foreign relations.

In recent days, official commentary has urged citizens to apply their patriotic fervor in their daily work, and a front-page commentary Sunday in the People's Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece, urged the "rational expression" of patriotism.

In recent months, China has faced devastating winter storms, a plunging stock market and consumer-price inflation at 12-year highs. The criticism of China has only added to the frustrations. "Obviously, there is a cabal, a cold war against China!" proclaims a homemade video circulating on the Internet in recent days.

China's government has seemed often unaware of how it is perceived abroad -- and often appeared far less capable than its opponents at getting its message across. "The recent events made me realize there is a huge information gap about China in this country," China's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Fu Ying, said in a speech in London last week.

Within China, the sense of injury from foreign critics is compounded by an education system that instills a deep sense of suspicion that Western powers are bent on weakening and dividing China, as they did in the 19th century. Protests advocating Tibetan independence mystify most Chinese, who have been taught all their lives that Tibet has long been part of China. And the deeply emotional Chinese response to the Tibet protests has also surprised some Westerners.

"American people feel that freedom and self-expression are very important. Chinese people feel that national unity is very important," says Wang Jianshuo, 30 years old, who works for an Internet company in Shanghai and writes a blog in English and Chinese. "There is a big gap between the West and China on which values are more important. It's not right or wrong, it's just different."

Many Chinese who are critical of their own government also feel Western condemnations of China fail to acknowledge its advances in recent decades, from lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty to expanding the freedoms -- albeit still limited -- that Chinese enjoy.

Western critics "think China is still very closed and that Chinese people are under one-party control and [therefore] have no human rights," says Guan Xiao, a 52-year-old Beijing resident.

Mr. Pu, the Beijing physics student, says his own background illustrates some of the progress China has experienced. Born in a poor farming village in China's northeast, he now attends one of China's top universities. Thanks to the Internet, he says, he and his classmates have access to a broad array of information, including some Western media.

People like Mr. Pu and Mr. Wang, the Shanghai blogger, feel that China doesn't often get credit in the Western media for its recent progress. "When we were silent, you said you want us to have free speech. When we were silent no more, you say we were brainwashed xenophobics," reads an anonymous Internet posting now circulating among Chinese working in foreign companies, in Chinese, English and French. "What do you really want from us?"

Often, Western critics and their Chinese respondents seem to be seeing entirely different things in the same events. Western accounts of the fracas surrounding the Olympic torch relay tend to emphasize the demands of pro-Tibet protesters, and have pointed to accusations of heavy-handedness by the blue-and-white-clad Chinese security guards accompanying the torch.

For Chinese, the image that lingers from the Paris protests is of a slight, wheelchair-bound woman clasping the Olympic torch to her body as a man wearing a Tibetan-flag bandana tries to pull it away from her.

Since then, the woman, a 28-year-old fencer named Jin Jing, has become a household name and media star, an icon for those who see China as a nation beset by unfair attacks.

Write to Jason Dean at jason.dean@wsj.com and Andrew Batson at andrew.batson@wsj.com

Cadre runs false flag: CNN blanches

The is choice. The cadre runs a false flag op in LA, and a CNN talking head gets the blame. This is a pop hit in the "Blame Melody" contest. Not likely for the top spot. The CNN T-H did speak poorly when he said "goons and thugs." The correct term is cadre. But TV is not careful. No one is much listening. I like the sign "Do you eat with that mouth?" I don't understand it, but it must be better in the proverb.


More than 1,000 ethnic Chinese protesters gathered along Sunset Blvd near N Cahuenga Blvd shouting "Liar" in front of CNN's Los Angeles office, demanding a "sincere apology" from political commentator Jack Cafferty for calling Chinese "goons and thugs" on the air last week.
Chinese Americans line Sunset Boulevard outside the network's offices to call for the commentator's dismissal.
By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 20, 2008
Throngs of Chinese Americans protested outside CNN's offices in Hollywood on Saturday morning, calling for the dismissal of commentator Jack Cafferty, whose recent remarks about Chinese goods and China inflamed a community already angry about international condemnations directed at the host country of the upcoming Olympic Games.

The protesters lined Sunset Boulevard from Cahuenga Boulevard to Wilcox Avenue chanting "Fire Cafferty" and "CNN liar" and singing the Chinese national anthem and other patriotic songs. They waved Chinese, American and Taiwanese flags and directed their anger at the news channel's dark glass tower.


Jack Cafferty
click to enlarge

"It's really unacceptable," said John He, an organizer of the event. "It maliciously attacks all Chinese. This would not be accepted if it was directed at any other ethnic group."

On the April 9 airing of "The Situation Room," Cafferty said of America's relationship with China: "We continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export . . . jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we're buying from Wal-Mart. So I think our relationship with China has certainly changed. I think they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years."

CNN later said Cafferty's comments were directed at the Beijing government.

"In this occasion Jack was offering his strongly held opinion of the Chinese government, not the Chinese people," a CNN spokesman said in a statement. "It should be noted that over many years, Jack Cafferty has expressed critical comments on many governments, including the U.S. government and its leaders."

The controversy has added fuel to a growing resentment toward the West. Many Chinese feel the West is unfairly ganging up on the country at a time when the world should be celebrating the Olympics.

Much of the blame is being directed at Western media, which the Chinese American community has accused of bias for failing to show the violence inflicted on non-Tibetans during the recent unrest in the western Chinese province and of being too critical of China.

The website www.anti-cnn.com was created last month, and CNN reported Friday that hackers had attempted to interrupt the network's website.

While the anger continues in overseas Chinese communities, the government in Beijing has attempted to control the anti-Western rhetoric online for fear of marring the experience of countless foreigners visiting for the summer games.

Saturday's protest was announced through mass e-mails and Chinese-language media.

Some of the protesters Saturday said Cafferty's words reflected a growing unease among Americans over China's growing global profile.

Lake Wang, a 39-year-old engineer from Thousand Oaks, was wearing a T-shirt that read, "Do not be jealous of China Jack." The last protest Wang attended was 19 years ago in Beijing -- the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Wang said China has become a vastly different society since then and that the country deserved credit for the changes.

Police estimated the crowd at 1,500, but organizers said there were 10,000 attendees. A similar protest took place at CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

"Most of these people are American citizens and legal resident aliens," said John Chen, a lead organizer. "We love China and we love America too. We should not be regarded as goons and thugs."

david.pierson@latimes.com

Bangkok Smooth and the progress of the Torchgoons: Cadre prepares "Blame Melody"

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

Conversations about the Torch and the cadre in NY and L.A. this Sunday 20 April

This Sunday 20 on WABC is all Pennsylvania primary for the Democrats; however I will speak with John Bolton of the AEI re North Korea's nukes and China, and in the course of our conversation, I will ask about Tibet and East Turkistan and the imperial over-reach of Mao that results today in a China that is not all China. That just the cadre says that all is well.

Also in LA I will speak with Peter Wonacott of the WSJ at Delhi about the protests in Delhi this week against the Torch processor, and about the Indian government's balancing of the Tibet exiles in Dharamsala and its no longer chilly relations with the cadre. Also I will speak to author Misha Glenny on his new book, "McMafia," about transnation organized crime, and will focus in part on the snakeheads of Fujian province, and the migrant labor exploitation by the cadre. The cadre is a gang boss of bosses. The statement is made in Fujian, by master criminals, that the only thing that is to fear is the party and the police.

Coke Hearts Cadre: Surprise

The cadre can buy but it can't sell.


Cheering for China Before Games Even Start
By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER
April 18, 2008; Page B1
BEIJING – For multinational marketers on the Olympics' home turf, cheerleading for China is part of the Games.

In a welter of ads and promotions directed at the country's increasingly affluent consumers, companies are appealing to Chinese pride and patriotism even as the country is being pilloried overseas.

McDonald's Corp. is asking customers to chant its Olympics refrain: "I'm loving China wins!" The company has had more than 1.3 million people register to become part of the cheering team in a nationwide contest, which is using an "American Idol"-like format to select cheerleaders for China's team during the Games.

PepsiCo Inc. isn't even an official Games sponsor but has joined in on the flag-waving and sentiment anyway. Last fall, the company turned its iconic blue can into a red one in China. It also launched an ad campaign featuring people in funny situations yelling, "I love China!"

At a time when activists and some politicians in the West decidedly aren't loving China, and the global Olympic torch relay is beset by protests, sponsors have stood firmly behind the Beijing Games. At its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, Coke fended off criticism from Tibetan and free-speech groups who want the company to use its influence to improve China's human-rights record. The company's chief executive, E. Neville Isdell, said he didn't believe that "stopping the torch relay is in any way over the long run going to be the right thing to do."

The Chinese see these Games as a serious affair. "Chinese people have gone through a lot in the past," says Phyllis Cheung, director of marketing for McDonald's in China. "They have very, very strong patriotism. ... Everywhere, you see people are excited."

"Nationalism is not a strategy," says Michael Wood, the China CEO of Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett ad agency, which works for both McDonald's and Coke in China. "It is a shared value, which when executed in the right way by the right brand, can create a powerful connection with people."

McDonald's says its cheer is part of a wider effort to make the brand's restaurants into places for people inside China to celebrate -- and even gather to watch -- the Games. Many of McDonald's restaurants in China have televisions.

"We are an international company, no doubt about that," says Ms. Cheung. "What we are doing is being locally relevant, rather than getting into the arena of playing up nationalism."

Coke has about 150 people working on Olympics marketing and operations in China. The word "hong" in Chinese means both red and popular, so the song could be understood as either "Red Around the World" or "Popular Around the World."

While Coke has sponsorship agreements with athletes from around the world, including NBA star LeBron James, much of its marketing inside China revolves around Chinese athletes, like hurdler Liu Xiang and diver Guo Jing Jing, who have built popular sentiment for the hope that Chinese athletes could lead the medal count this summer. A recent survey by Asian advertising consultancy R3 and CSM Media Research found that Chinese consumers recalled Coke's promotions more than the next seven sponsors combined.

Andres Kieger, Coke's director of integrated marketing in China, demurs at the idea that Coke is appealing specifically to a Chinese sense of nationalism. The red song "is about inspiring people and opening up to the world to join and celebrate," he says. "This isn't meant as a patriotic song. It is meant as an emotional song. Red is the color of a lot of good things."

Coke has made Olympics songs for previous Games, though they usually featured less market-specific themes than "Red Around the World." During the 1988 Calgary Games, it commissioned a song called "Can't You Feel It?" and assembled a "world chorus" to sing it. In 2004, it sponsored a song performed by Greece's Despina Vandi called "Come Along Now." A music video for it features no flags or Olympic rings, just plenty of scenes of the sultry Ms. Vandi dancing, sometimes in a bikini. The idea was to "spread messages of optimism, happiness and celebration," the company says.

McDonald's, too, has led a cheering campaign before. During the Atlanta Games in 1996, it ran a campaign called "U.S. wins, you win," in which customers could get free prizes if they collected game pieces that matched with medals won by American athletes.


McDonald's has had nearly 1.3 million people register to join the cheering team in a nationwide contest.
But nationalism can turn against foreign brands, too. Last week, a Chinese blogger called for a boycott of Coke after he found a photo from a Coke ad in Germany showing three Buddhist monks riding a roller coaster with the slogan "Make It Real" -- even as Tibet and Tibetan monks are at the heart of a wrenching national conflict in China. Thousands of other bloggers picked up on the issue, reposting the image all over China's Internet. Coke said the ad is five years old and apologized if use of the image "has caused any offense."

The challenge now for many multinational companies isn't figuring out how to appear patriotic in China, but what message to send in the rest of the world.

"Initially people imagined they would have one global marketing campaign for the Olympics. Now the theory is that you need a separate campaign for China versus the rest of the world," says Greg Paull, the principal of R3, which consults on Olympics advertising in China. "For the sponsors that stay the course, there is more upside in the relationship they build with their consumers in China than downside globally."

Mr. Wood, at Burnett, argues that the Chinese may not be any more patriotic than any past Games host. Rather, he says, the booming Chinese market is just getting much more attention.

"Recognizing the commercial importance of China, you are seeing messages that are skewed more specifically to Chinese people," he says.

Publicis media buying agency ZenithOptimedia estimates that advertisers will spend an extra $3 billion on the Olympics this year -- of which $900 million will be spent in China. China is already the fourth-largest market in the world for Coke, after the U.S., Mexico and Brazil, and it is in the top 10 for McDonald's.

--Juliet Ye in Hong Kong contributed to this article.