By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters) - Dogged by anti-Chinese protests in Paris, London, San Francisco and New Delhi, the Olympic torch relay is acting as a catalyst for an outpouring of nationalism and indignation by the man on the street in China.
Protesters have burnt French flags in front of French-owned supermarkets in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, called for boycotts of French goods, and have rallied in Australia, appealing for volunteer guards to protect the flame when it passes through Canberra.
In an increasingly wired society, many, especially the Internet-savvy young, have taken to the Web to express their feelings and demand action.
One popular Chinese online chatroom, Tianya, has called for donations of Chinese flags to support the relay on the remaining legs of its international tour, which includes stops in South Korea, Japan and Vietnam.
"Countrymen, let our five-star red flag fly high and welcome the Olympic torch!", one post proudly proclaimed.
ANGER OVER DISRUPTED TORCH RELAY
Protests in China Target French Stores, Embassy
Sunday, April 20, 2008; Page A23
BEIJING, April 19 -- A small knot of Chinese protesters demonstrated outside the French Embassy on Saturday, denouncing calls for Tibetan independence and venting anger at those who tried to grab the Olympic torch from a disabled Chinese athlete during the Paris stretch of the relay.
In several other cities across China, hundreds of protesters jammed parking lots in front of French-owned Carrefour supermarkets, waving Chinese flags and calling for a boycott.
The Chinese government generally bans such demonstrations. But in the weeks since protests erupted in Tibet over Chinese rule, the government has angrily attacked what it sees as anti-Chinese bias in foreign media and warned that outsiders were attempting to split the country. Nationalist sentiment is running high, especially in Internet forums, where users exhort one another to fight back.
At the French Embassy, a short line of cars carrying banners that read "Tibet Belongs to China" in Chinese, English and Japanese circled the perimeter, with at least one car blaring the Chinese national anthem, according to witness reports. Police, some in riot gear, quickly cordoned off the area, and the protesters left after about 30 minutes. Streets around the embassy remained blocked into the evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment