Recently in Tibet Category
By BBC World News
April 28, 2008
Police in southern China have discovered a factory manufacturing Free Tibet flags, media reports say.
The factory in Guangdong had been completing overseas orders for the flag of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Workers said they thought they were just making colourful flags and did not realise their meaning.
But then some of them saw TV images of protesters holding the emblem and they alerted the authorities, according to Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper.
Tibet independence
The factory owner reportedly told police the emblems had been ordered from outside China, and he did not know that they stood for an independent Tibet.
Workers who had grown suspicious checked the meaning of the flag by going online.
Thousands of flags had already been packed for shipping.
Police believe that some may already have been sent overseas, and could appear in Hong Kong during the Olympic torch relay there this week.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | via The New York Times
April 23, 2008
European business officials warned Wednesday that anti-French protests in China could spark a backlash against Chinese exports, while reports surfaced that protesters had confronted an American outside an outlet of French retailer Carrefour.
The incident with the American occurred when dozens of protesters confronted 22-year-old James Galvin, an English teacher working in the southern city of Zhuzhou, mistakenly thinking he might have been French.
Galvin was quickly whisked away by police and was not hurt in the Sunday incident, said Helen Claire Sievers, executive director of the WorldTeach program based in Cambridge, Mass.
''It was frightening for him because he didn't know what was going on,'' Sievers said.
France and high-profile French retailer Carrefour have been targeted by Chinese nationalists who felt insulted by raucous anti-China protests that accompanied the April 7 Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay.
Anger spiked this past weekend with protests at the French Embassy in Beijing and at Carrefour outlets in at least nine Chinese cities. Carrefour has denied rumors that it supports the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader.
Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said a boycott of French products, as some activists are calling for, would likely hurt Chinese workers and companies, and could be met by similar action against Chinese products in Europe.
By Jill Drew and Maureen Fan | The Washington Post
April 21, 2008
China has spent billions of dollars to fulfill its commitment to stage a grand Olympics. Athletes will compete in world-class stadiums. New highways and train lines crisscross Beijing. China built the world's largest airport terminal to welcome an expected 500,000 foreign visitors. Thousands of newly planted trees and dozens of colorful "One World, One Dream" billboards line the main roads of a spruced-up capital. The security system has impressed the FBI and Interpol.
But beneath the shimmer and behind the slogan, China is under criticism for suppressing Tibetan protests, sealing off large portions of the country to foreign reporters, harassing and jailing dissidents and not doing enough to curb air pollution. It has not lived up to a pledge in its Olympic action plan, released in 2002, to "be open in every aspect," and a constitutional amendment adopted in 2004 to recognize and protect human rights has not shielded government critics from arrest.
The two realities show that when China had to build something new to fulfill expectations, it has largely delivered. But in areas that touch China's core interests, Olympic pledges come second.
"To ensure a successful Olympic Games, the government did make some technical and strategic efforts to improve the environment, human rights and press freedom. They did make some progress. But in these three areas, there's a long, long way to go," said Cheng Yizhong, an editor who tracks China's Olympic preparations.
With the Games less than four months away, the International Olympic Committee is scrambling to nail down specifics of how China will treat criticism of its actions during the event. Pressed this month, IOC President Jacques Rogge clarified that athletes would be allowed to speak freely in Beijing's Olympic venues, calling it an "absolute" human right.
"I can't help but feel cynical about all this," said David Wallechinsky, an Olympic historian, who said the IOC should have been more forceful with China earlier. "What are they going to do, take away the Games?"
France télévision - france2.com
Le 20 avril 2008
De nouvelles manifestations anti-occidentales ont eu lieu dimanche dans plusieurs ville de la République populaire.
Les rassemblements de dimanche
Plus d'un millier de personnes se sont rassemblées devant le magasin Carrefour de la ville de Xian (nord-ouest). Des attroupements similaires ont eu lieu à Harbin (nord-est) et Jinan (est), selon la même source.
Des manifestations antifrançaises avaient déjà eu lieu la veille dans cinq villes chinoises. Elles visaient principalement l'enseigne d'hypermarchés Carrefour, très présente dans le pays, pour protester contre l'attitude de la France sur le Tibet. Dans une interview publiée dans le "Journal du Dimanche", le président du directoire de Carrefour, José Luis Duran, dit prendre la situation "très au sérieux".
Selon une "source informée, citant la police", a indiqué l'agence France Presse sans plus de précision, les centaines, voire les milliers de manifestants de la ville industrielle de Wuhan (centre) étaient "très bien organisés". Mais comme pour les autres cortèges, il était difficile de mesurer les niveaux de spontanéité et d'encadrement du mouvement. Certains portaient un drapeau français maculé de croix gammées et traitant Jeanne d'Arc de "prostituée". Des manifestations de l'ampleur de celles de Wuhan sont rares en Chine et sont souvent encadrées, voire organisées, par des organisations officielles, comme la Ligue de la jeunesse communiste.
La fièvre semblait retombée dimanche matin avec le déploiement d'effectifs policiers aux abords des magasins cibles de la vindicte des manifestants. Le calme était apparemment revenu à Wuhan et Qingdao (est).
Le gouvernement chinois n'a pas condamné les appels au boycott des produits français.
>> france2.com
By BBC World News
April 19, 2008
Protesters in several Chinese cities have gathered to demand a boycott of French products and denounce campaigns for Tibetan independence.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in cities including Beijing, Wuhan, Hefei, Kunming, and Qingdao - often outside stores of the French chain Carrefour.
Passions ran high, but the protests were closely patrolled by police.
Protesters say they are angry at the scale of protests that accompanied the Olympic torch relay in Paris.
They have also denounced French President Nicolas Sarkozy's refusal to confirm whether he will attend the opening ceremony of the Games.
Pictures from the central city of Wuhan showed large crowds congregating outside a Carrefour supermarket.
'No to French goods'
The chain, which reportedly operates more than 100 outlets in China, has restated its support for Beijing's hosting of the Olympics this August, but is accused by some protesters of backing the campaign for Tibetan independence.
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