昨天就有年輕同事討論對奧運火炬的抗議活動時，半開玩笑地當著金筆麵喊 "Free Tibet!"，當然老金也不吃素，大大方方地響亮回他們一句 "Yeah, if it was one hundred years ago, possibly. But not possible any more, do you know how to (free tibet)? hah-hah!"
實際上，我們也不用跟他們較真，因為西藏現在還在我們的手裏，好好的，跑不出去的。所以我們得了便宜，順便也賣點兒乖。有時候我會私底下跟他們談談，"They (tibetans) had their chance to become independent, but they lost it. That is too bad for them. Now I just wish they all live peacefully together. Because tibet has water resource and many other mines, it is too important to China and China will never let it go. Will you let Taxas become independent? of cause not!"
What the hell, the route is changed by SF mayor. Check this.
火炬緣何變路線?舊金山市長口供比法國人還有心計
簡單意思：中國人太多了，火炬從他們中間走真是太順利不過了，他們那陣勢，令“藏獨”窒息。不能讓中國人得逞。看到這局勢，我是最後一分鍾做出的決定：給火炬手兩個選擇， 要不整個活動取消，要不就改程。
For all the talk of protests leading up to the Olympic torch relay, we didn't hear much from the supporters of China.
We learned why early on Wednesday morning. They planned to take over the event.
By 10 a.m. at AT&T Park, where the torch run was supposed to begin, it was obvious that the fix was in.
Thousands of supporters were already there, unloaded from dozens of buses parked across from the ball park. (One torch relay insider told me some in the crowd had been bused from as far away as Los Angeles.) During the day Chronicle reporters were told by some supporters that they had been bused into San Francisco from the South Bay, the East Bay and Sacramento by the Chinese Consulate and Chinese American groups.
They were waving thousands of huge, red Chinese flags or holding up identical, professional-looking placards that read "Beijing, 2008, torch relay."
The official word is that the torch route was drastically changed because of "public safety," but the crowd at AT&T Park was no threat to the runners. In fact, they broke into wild cheers when someone in a torchbearer's track suit walked down the street. But mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard might have been closer to the truth when he said that the new route let people "enjoy the torch rather than political kabuki theater."
By 1 p.m., the appointed time for the torch runners to begin the relay, the crowd had grown even bigger. China supporters far outnumbered any human rights protesters, and anyone from the small pockets of "Free Tibet" protesters was quickly surrounded by the crowd and shouted down. When a Tibet supporter held up a sign, a Chinese supporter would sidle up, the wind would catch his flag, and it would obliterate the sign from the view of the cameras.
"We suspected that the Chinese government would want a public relations spectacle," said Kate Woznow, campaign coordinator for Students for a Free Tibet. "Something that they could broadcast back home."
Those inside the command center say city officials and Mayor Gavin Newsom watched the spectacle with growing concern. Although there was a brief scuffle with "Team Tibet" supporters around a bus early in the morning, the vast majority of the crowd was flag-waving China supporters. Sending the torch down those streets would have been like providing the Chinese government with a made-for-television commercial to show that hardly anyone in San Francisco - or North America - had any qualms about human rights abuses in China.
Newsom won't come out and say that, but he did concede that he took the decision right down to the final minutes.
"Literally, at 1 o'clock, we had two choices," he said in a phone conversation en route to the closing ceremony at the airport. "We could cancel the event or move forward in a different manner. We went to the torchbearers themselves, and overwhelmingly they said they supported the change."
Taking the torch to the other side of town and skirting the whole enormous pro-China crowd at the ballpark might have improved the chances for public safety, but it also gave the torch back to San Francisco. Suddenly, it was back to the original idea, a run through the streets with a symbol of the upcoming Olympic Games, not a carefully planned political charade.
Because this, apparently, is the Chinese government's idea of free speech. They speak freely, and everyone else gets shouted down. Frankly, there is no denying that they were well organized. I took a minute to talk to a Tibetan protester, Kal Sang, but I was quickly joined by two young men who listened to the interview and began to interject derogatory comments.
"I hope America hears the voice of these people," said one of the interrupters, Jun Liu, from San Mateo. "The media pretended they would be fair, but they are not just biased, they are extremely biased."
Sang, a Tibetan from Minnesota, who had done nothing more than stand with a friend wearing a "Free Tibet" shirt, was surrounded by critics. A woman shouted at her, "You know nothing!" and "Go to Tibet to see for yourself."
"They put pressure on us," said Sang, who looked like a soccer mom. "They try to get us to push them, but we are nonviolent. We are not against the Olympics. They should hold the Olympics. But we are speaking for people who do not have a voice."
At that moment, the China supporters seemed to think that they'd carried the day. The "Free Tibet" crowd had been harassed to the point that they packed up and walked toward the Ferry Building. It appeared that the torch would be coming down the street any minute, and the news photos and video would feature thousands and thousands of cheering China supporters waving red flags.
A cocky young man walked past me and read his sign out loud, "Welcome to Beijing," he said.
It was about then that it was announced that the torch was unexpectedly up in the Marina district, running through tree-lined neighborhoods past a small crowd of ordinary people without a political point to make.
Just for future reference, China - or for that matter, anyone else: You can try to take over, but good luck. This is San Francisco.
C.W. Nevius' column appears on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. E-mail him at cwnevius@sfchronicle.com.
你是建議是可以的。Yeah, if it was one hundred years ago, possibly. But not possible any more, do you know how to (free tibet)? hah-hah
中部 發表評論於
回複mariek的評論:
所以蘇格蘭人和愛爾蘭人才打了幾百年！
nn6688 發表評論於
This is a propaganda war. Dalia lama and his cliques have been courting the west for years and cunningly adopted the Western language of democracy, human rights and freedom into their propaganda. The west grows so accustomed to their side of the story that it takes their story as the only truth. We need to wage a propaganda war as well, to present our side of the history. We need to start a grass-roots movement, do whatever we can—to post information (in English, French, Germany, etc.) on line and on YouTube, to organize public exhibitions, to peaceful demonstrate, to talk to our friends, neighbors, and co-works—to educate the West about Tibet, its past, present and future. Every Chinese living oversea should do our individual bid to saturate the media environment with our side of the Tibet story, to gradually peel off the influence Dalia Lama has in the West. This is a gradual process, but in the end, the world, including the west, will come around to see the true intention of Dalia Lama and the true nature of his so-called “Peace”, “compassion” and “middle-way”.
This is an information age, and those who control the flow of information will control public opinions, sooner or later.
I think Dalai Lama is only representing a small population of tibetans-in-exile. Think of how many people living in Tibet. I don't think so many people want to follow Dalai.
What he can do if he return to Tibet? almost nothing.
飄來飄去的老葉子 發表評論於
我從FERRY BUILDING 作AMTRAK 回家,等車時,聽到普通美國人議論說,GAS漲成這樣,沒人抗議,看到一個女的,穿FREE TIBET T shirt
衝她喊SAVE AMERICA,意思是先救救每況欲下的美國吧...
沒看到火炬,確實挺掃興,連老外都說leave everyone in the cold
還有一個黑人帶著一個小男孩兒,從oakland作FERRY 過來,跟我說
這是once in a life experience,所以很失望,
do not be disappointed for that you did not see the olympic torch. You were doing great following your heart. Our motherland can feel and touch your passion.
昨天就有年輕同事討論對奧運火炬的抗議活動時，半開玩笑地當著金筆麵喊 "Free Tibet!"，當然老金也不吃素，大大方方地響亮回他們一句 "Yeah, if it was one hundred years ago, possibly. But not possible any more, do you know how to (free tibet)? hah-hah!"
實際上，我們也不用跟他們較真，因為西藏現在還在我們的手裏，好好的，跑不出去的。所以我們得了便宜，順便也賣點兒乖。有時候我會私底下跟他們談談，"They (tibetans) had their chance to become independent, but they lost it. That is too bad for them. Now I just wish they all live peacefully together. Because tibet has water resource and many other mines, it is too important to China and China will never let it go. Will you let Taxas become independent? of cause not!"
