Stories related to: China

A few water balloons were the worst threat to the Olympic flame yesterday in Buenos Aires, where the torch relay enjoyed an uninterrupted run, the BBC reports, after major disruptions in London, Paris, and San Francisco. Groups of pro- and anti-China protesters gathered along its route, guarded by some 5,000 police officers, but only minor scuffles occurred and the mood was largely festive. More »

Go to a table tennis match between, say, Poland and Finland, and you’ll see something confusing. “It’s just Chinese playing against each other,” says America’s national team coach. China is so mind-bogglingly dominant at table tennis that it exports players throughout the world and still wins nearly every major competition. The Wall Street Journal checks it out. More »

The Dalai Lama arrived in Seattle today to begin a five-day series of speeches and workshops on peace and compassion, the Seattle Times reports. He told a group of Tibetan supporters at the airport that he was saddened by yesterday's protests in San Francisco surrounding the Olympic torch, and reiterated his support for August's Beijing Games. More »

China has rooted out two terrorist groups plotting to kidnap Olympic athletes and attack tourist hotels during the games, the Ministry of Public Security announced today. Chinese forces rounded up 45 suspects and seized explosives and “jihadist” literature in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. But China has often cried “terrorism” as a means of repressing dissent in Xinjiang, human rights groups note. More »

The San Francisco leg of the Olympic torch relay avoided some of the chaos that plagued London and Paris, but pro-Tibetan activists were fuming that Mayor Gavin Newsom rerouted the flame's path at the last minute to dodge protesters. "He did it so China can report they had a great torch run," one demonstrator complained to the San Francisco Chronicle . More »

Throngs of pro- and anti-China demonstrators in San Francisco forced drastic changes in the Olympic torch's tour of the city, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Officials bused the flame and relay runners from the bayside opening ceremony miles across town; after heading west toward the Golden Gate Bridge, the convoy turned south and headed for the airport. More »

The Olympic flame’s mysterious Chinese guardians have been rubbing Europe the wrong way, Der Spiegel reports. The men in the powder blue track suits haven’t hesitated to get rough, and local authorities wonder why they’re necessary. “They are horrible,” said London’s Olympic Committee Chairman. “I think they were thugs.” The men reportedly hail from China’s special forces. More »

The International Olympic Committee has scheduled an extraordinary meeting to discuss whether the remainder of this year's torch relay should be canceled. In the face of massive protests against China's human rights abuses, the committee is considering a plan to limit the remainder of the relay to China, reports AFP. But Beijing officials have insisted that the relay will continue as planned. More »

Cheap Asian imports have helped keep American inflation down for decades—but those days appear to be over, the New York Times warns. Rapidly rising costs of fuel, food and labor in countries like China, Vietnam, and Taiwan are beginning to be passed on to their export markets, just as the American dollar weakens and recession looms. More »

Today China denounced the protests that have disrupted Olympic torch relays in London and Paris over the past 2 days, Reuters reports. "The despicable activities tarnish the lofty Olympic spirit," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said. She also denied media reports that "the Olympic torch was forced to be extinguished during its relay in Paris." More »

Hillary Clinton urged President Bush today to skip the Beijing Olympics over China's role in the Darfur genocide and violence in Tibet, Politico reports. She joined ranks with Nancy Pelosi in calling for Bush to protest Beijing's human rights record "absent major changes by the Chinese government," Clinton said in a statement. More »

With the Olympic torch due to reach San Francisco tomorrow, protesters climbed the Golden Gate Bridge today to unfurl banners reading “One World, One Dream" and "Free Tibet 08.” The climbers, members of Students for a Free Tibet, were arrested after they rappelled down the bridge’s south tower, leaving the sign aloft, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. More »

It's good for Chinese Internet users that the government has lifted bans on Wikipedia and Blogspot, but the move isn't the great breakthrough it may seem to be. If the policy change was intended to fulfill requests from the International Olympic Committee for an open internet, it falls well short of any actual freedom of information, writes Jacqui Cheng for Ars Technica. More »

Paris police today extinguished the Olympic flame five times after massive pro-Tibet protests turned the torch relay into chaos. The torch was doused for the first time near the start of the route at the Eiffel Tower and taken on board the bus that accompanies the runners, the AP reports. Officials re-lit it farther along the route, only to douse it again four more times before finally cutting short the relay. More »

A day after protesters in London nearly extinguished the Olympic flame, Beijing denounced the "tiny number of Tibet independence elements" who threatened the torch relay. "We strongly condemn this vile behavior," said an official. Chinese television focused on cheering crowds in the British capital, followed by a story criticizing the protesters, writes Reuters. More »

Major record labels are suing two Chinese websites that allegedly allow illegal music downloads in a case that could have a huge impact on the way the Chinese obtain music.  The groundbreaking multi-million dollar case over copyright infringement could pave the way for even larger claims, the Wall Street Journal reports. Spokesmen for the two websites insist they’re not responsible for content they don’t host. More »

Despite massive security, London erupted today in a series of protests along the route of the Olympic flame relay, and a "free Tibet" protester managed to grab the torch before police wrestled him to the ground, reports the Guardian . At least 25 protesters were busted as scores of police grappled with activists demonstrating against China's human rights abuses. More »

Fed up with protests from Tibetan monks, Beijing said today it will step up a campaign of "patriotic education," the AP reports. Beijing will try to force monks to denounce the Dalai Lama and declare their loyalty to China, adding to worries that the current tension over human rights will only worsen as the Summer Olympics approach. More »

Prodded by the International Olympic Committee, China has seemingly eased restrictions on the English-language version of Wikipedia, Reuters reports. But authorities continue to block access to articles related to sensitive topics such as Tibet and Tiananmen Square. Users in Shanghai and Beijing, the site of the summer Olympics, reported being able to view some pages on the popular web encyclopedia. More »

Chinese police killed eight protesters and wounded dozens more overnight in Sichuan province when they opened fire on a demonstration led by Tibetan monks, the Times of London reports. The altercation started when police searched a Tibetan monastery, confiscating phones and images of the Dalai Lama. After arresting two, the police demanded all in the monastery denounce the Tibetan spiritual leader. More »