Some Quotes on London’s Olympic Torch Protests

“A few Tibetan separatists attempted to sabotage the torch relay in London, and we strongly denounce their disgusting behavior.”
Sun Weide, spokesman for the Beijing Olympic organising committee

“The torch relay has been targeted. The International Olympic Committee has expressed its serious concern and calls for a rapid peaceful resolution in Tibet.”
Jacques Rogge, president of International Olympic Committee

“We are lucky to live in a country that values its citizens’ right to hold lawful, peaceful public protests.”
The Sun

“So ends an unedifying circus as the Olympic torch completes its ‘journey of harmony and peace’ through the streets of London, guarded every inch of the way by riot police and a phalanx of Chinese goons, flown in specially from Beijing….One thing is sure. This was a world away from the propaganda triumph for which China hoped.”
Daily Mail

“China’s appalling human rights record, beating and jailing dissenters or — as we have seen in Tibet — killing opponents, deserved the condemnation of yesterday’s demonstrators.”
Daily Mirror

“If China didn’t know it before, China certainly knows it now: you don’t get the Olympic Games on your own terms.”
Simon Barnes, The Times

“The British government has invested so much political prestige in the Olympics as to distort all sense of propriety and freedom. For eight hours yesterday it became a grinning ally of the biggest dictatorship on earth.”
Simon Jenkins, The Guardian

More on the Olympic Torch

Narisa Chakrabongse — one of Thailand’s six Olympic torchbearers — has withdrawn from the torch relay in her country to “send a strong message to China that the world community could not accept its actions.”

“The slaying of the Tibetans … is an outright violation of human rights,” Narisa wrote. “It happened two weeks before the Olympic torch leaves Athens and five months before the Olympic Games. This reflects the Chinese government’s negligence of world sentiment.”

Now there is already speculation that celebrity torchbearers in the UK, such as the broadcaster Sir Trevor MacDonald, will face increasing pressure to follow her lead. (Does anyone have his email address, I wonder?) The torch is due to pass through London on April 6th, and there will be protests highlighting China’s role in Darfur, Burma, and, of course, Tibet.

Of course, there are sure to be massive protests in San Francisco on April 9th.

Mind you, it is still not too late for China to follow Steve Varon’s suggestion.