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NEWS ABOUT: 2008 Beijing Olympics

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China Protests Slam Tibet Push for Freedom

Rallies call for boycott on French goods

(Newser) - Chinese demonstrators today responded to pro-Tibet protests around the world with rallies of their own, blasting Tibet’s calls for independence and demanding a boycott of French goods, Reuters reports. “Oppose Tibet independence, support the Olympics,” said banners hoisted by protesters in at least four cities. A number... More »

US Athletes Reject Boycott of Beijing Games

Sporting trumps politics, even for sympathetic competitors

(Newser) - Many US athletes aren’t swayed by winds of boycott surrounding the Beijing Olympics, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “What's going on is important and we should pay attention to it,” says a 2004 gold medalist, but “we need to be athletes first.”  Despite a... More »

Public Barred From Delhi Torch Run

Torch route shortened; few can attend

(Newser) - The Olympic torch was carried through New Delhi today, escorted by 15,000 police on a route shortened to less than two miles through a locked-down city center, the AP reports. Some 70 runners each held the torch for just seconds before handing it off. Only a few hundred, sitting... More »

Delhi Melee Rocks Torch Arrival

Downtown locked down

(Newser) - The Olympic torch was greeted with furious protests as it arrived in Delhi today, and 15,000 security forces have locked down the heart of the city ahead of the relay, Reuters reports. Members of India's large community of Tibetan exiles have vowed massive protests to highlight China's human rights... More »

Blogs Vent China's Anti-West Ire

Chinese see outcry over Tibet, torch as effort to sap newfound strength

(Newser) - The Chinese Internet is aflame with vitriol at Western governments and news organizations for “insults” over Tibet and recent Olympic torch incidents, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Chinese authorities, usually quick to censor the Web, have let the sentiment flow, believing "the West is trying to humiliate them... More »

India Steels for Torch Protest Showdown

Tibetans pour in for New Delhi high noon

(Newser) - Security protecting the Olympic torch will face its toughest test yet as thousands of Tibetan protesters converge on New Delhi for the Indian leg of the relay tomorrow. Hunger strikes, relay disruptions and attempts to grab the torch are all being planned. One Indian television station is referring to the... More »

China Protests Singe Torch Sponsor Lenovo

Computer maker invested $100M; 'didn't anticipate' brouhaha

(Newser) - Lenovo execs were hoping for some major branding momentum from winning the Olympic torch design competition—not to mention from plunking down some $100 million as sponsors of the 2008 Beijing Games. What they got was anti-China vitriol that has accompanied the torch around the globe, and a marketing campaign... More »

4 Months to Go: Is China Ready for Spotlight?

Country is proud to host Games but worries abound

(Newser) - The last-minute drama brewing in the runup to this summer's Olympic Games is of a more global and more personal nature than the infrastructure issues of Olympics past—and Chinese leaders are bristling under the scrutiny, the Chicago Tribune reports. But pride in the country's hosting gig remains strong, even... More »

Olympic Boycott Is a 'Cop-Out': Bush Adviser

Says skipping opening ceremony isn't effective protest against China

(Newser) - The foreign dignitaries opting to skip the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony are engaging in a "cop-out," said President Bush's national security adviser today. What's more, claimed Stephen Hadley, they're missing an opportunity to meaningfully pressure China via behind-the-scenes diplomacy—as the US is doing. Bush has said he... More »

China Skewers House Speaker

Media rips Pelosi, touts Olympics as triumph of 'good over evil'

(Newser) - Chinese state-sponsored media today blasted US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her stance supporting Tibet.  Belligerent  editorials from the official Xinhua news agency ripped Pelosi as "the most disgusting person" and a "protector of mobsters, arsonists and murderers." Pelosi has urged President Bush to boycott the... More »

Torch Untroubled in Argentina

Heavy security but relatively few protesters for Buenos Aires leg of torch tour

(Newser) - 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,... More »

Game, Set, Match to China

World of table tennis is international, but not really

(Newser) - 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... More »

More Notables Stay Away From Beijing Olympics

Nobel laureate scraps torch relay; UN chief won't attend opening

(Newser) - The controversy around the Olympic flame continued as Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel laureate, announced she was dropping out of the torch relay. Maathai was to carry the torch this weekend in Tanzania but pulled out in protest of China's human rights record. Maathai also told the Los ... More »

Dalai Lama Begins US Visit

Amid Tibet, Olympic turmoil, Seattle peace conference first stop for spiritual leader

(Newser) - 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... More »

IOC Head: We Can Weather Torch 'Crisis'

Dalai Lama supports Chinese Olympics —and open protests

(Newser) - The protests following the Olympic torch around the globe are a “crisis,” but the International Olympic Committee has faced worse, its chief said today. The Games, he said, would “rebound," the BBC reports. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama said China “deserved” to host, CNN reports. "... More »

China Arrests 45 in 'Olympic Terror Plot'

Terrorist plot averted, officials say, but credibility problem persists

(Newser) - 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... More »

SF Mayor Takes Heat for Torch Dodge

Rerouting Olympic flame relay enrages duped protesters

(Newser) - 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... More »

Torch Changes Keep Protesters Off Balance

San Francisco's bait-and-switch approach keeps Olympic flame's tour mainly peaceful

(Newser) - 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... More »

British PM Won't Attend Olympic Opening

Brown insists he's not boycotting, will go to closing ceremony

(Newser) - British PM Gordon Brown will not attend the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony, the BBC reports, though his office made clear it was not a boycott. Brown said he never intended to go to the opening and emphasized that that he will be present at the closing ceremony for the torch... More »

China's Torch 'Thugs' Draw Their Own Controversy

Sinister keepers of the Olympic flame barred from Australia relay

(Newser) - 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.... More »

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