Round One of Anti-China Protests in San Francisco
Protesters ranging from monks to Irishmen marched with the Tibetan Freedom Torch on the day that the Olympic torch arrived for its only North American stop.
As scores of San Francisco police officers corralled protesters into a narrow area in front of city hall Tuesday afternoon, a neo-hippie San Franciscan — five-day-old shadow, knit cap, backpack — chatted up one of the on-edge cops. “This has got to be better than the Iraq (war) protests, huh?” he said brightly.
“None of them bother me,” the burly officer responded brusquely.
“Yeah, but these people are peaceful,” said Neo-Hippie. “The Iraq protesters were all anti-American and violent.”
I had to pinch myself. I was standing next to the conversation, smack dab in the center of America’s Leftist Capital, and voices of reason were ringing out all around me. From the steps of city hall, organizers of the pro-Tibetan march chided Mayor Gavin Newsom for “going into hiding” and for his cockamamie idea of herding tomorrow’s torch protesters into “free-speech zones” far removed from the route. “They tried to keep us from speaking,” Committee of 100 for Tibet leader Giovanni Vassallo said via bullhorn to the crowd assembled at Newsom’s doorstep. “…I thought the entire city of San Francisco was a free-speech zone!”
The march began at U.N. Plaza, a pedestrian thoroughfare that’s lived up to the uselessness of its namesake. (The Project for Public Places called the plaza’s central fountain “a sunken pit with water raging within (when it is on) that has become a bathing pool for San Francisco’s homeless.”) A stiff breeze pulled a sea of Tibetan and American flags taut; a portrait of the Dalai Lama graced the center of the stage, surrounded by a crush of news crews that eventually became clearly disappointed at the lack of uncivil disobedience.
Tenzing Chonden, the North American representative for the Tibetan government in exile, gave a status report from Tibet, and as expected it’s bleak: The exile government’s count of those killed by the Chinese since demonstrations in Tibet and surrounding Chinese provinces began is 156. (People’s Republic math: Divide by 8.) And those brave monks who led the protests? After being arrested and beaten, Chonden said, many have since committed suicide. “They could not tolerate the oppression anymore,” he said.
Meanwhile, China is massing more troops in the region, according to Chonden, and laying siege to monasteries that no longer have access to food or water. Thousands of ordinary Tibetans have been arrested, he said, and “many of them are now being tortured.” I was later given a sobering list of the names and ages of Tibetans confirmed killed since March 14: men and women, from within Tibet and neighboring Sichuan, ranging in age from 18 to 57. One speaker told of a husband and wife revealing their intentions to attend a protest to officers who asked, and the man being summarily shot in the head in front of his wife.
The local Tibetans’ pied piper, Supervisor Chris Daly, also strolled over after his resolution condemning China passed 8-3 last week at the Board of Supervisors. “We have the obligation… to greet this torch with alarm and protest… in a nonviolent yet militant way,” he told the crowd. (I saw one Tibetan later bow to Daly and kiss his hand.) Tenzin Dasang, President of the Regional of the Tibetan Youth Congress, also revved up the crowd for tomorrow’s protests, which have city officials especially nervous after three protesters climbed the Golden Gate Bridge and unfurled protest signs on Monday. “We will go out there and protest the Beijing genocide torch!” Dasang said to cheers.
A fresh statement from the Dalai Lama was also presented, in which the spiritual leader decried China for “trying to distort the truth at every occasion, such as saying that Tibetans look towards the Chinese Communist Party as the ‘Living Buddha,’ (which) is an ultra leftist statement and smacks of Han chauvinism.”
To cries of “get out China,” “Hu Jintao, shame on you,” and even “break down that wall,” the Tibetans and supporters marched to city hall, then on to the Chinese consulate. On the way from my hotel to the rally site, the cab driver went past the ghostly-quiet consulate, noting some scorch marks on the stucco that he said were from a firebomb tossed at the façade last week. But the only flame Tibetans carried Tuesday was the Tibetan Freedom Torch, which is passing through 50 cities from March 10 to August 8 — reaching Tibet on the day the Beijing Olympics begin, which should provoke an unseemly and badly timed response from China.
As protesters ranging from monks to Irishmen marched with the Tibetan torch — which, I might add, no one was chasing with a fire extinguisher — motorists going the opposite way on Van Ness Avenue stopped in lanes to take pictures, honked and flashed peace signs or, in the case of one Chinese woman I walked past, gave demonstrators the evil eye. Arriving at the consulate, it was now ringed with cops; officers were also perched on nearby rooftops.
And so went the first event in San Francisco’s Olympic offering: the Clash of the Liberals. Tomorrow will highlight the greatest ideological battle in this clash: Stand up for free speech and help oppressed people vs. bowing to a communist regime by trying to ensure they avoid embarrassment.
As one learns, San Franciscans can surprise you.
Bridget Johnson (www.bridgetjohnson.org) is a columnist at the Los Angeles Daily News.
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26 Comments
1. bc:Wow, only 999 more acts of reason and courage and I’ll be forced to respect the SF board of supervisors.
Apr 8, 2008 - 11:02 pm 2. ChinaIsGreat:It is a total lie that Tibetans were mistreated by the Chinese government.
Tibet was a slavery society and it is the new Chinese government that freed all the slaves.
The monks in Tibet felt they lost the power of their master status in Tibet and wanted to gain their “past” glory back. Not gonna happen. Tibet is free and will belong to China forever!
Apr 9, 2008 - 1:36 am 3. fartface:why embargo on falun gong being as much part of this as american gigolo freaks? Not that I am into brainwashing, but think it is noteworthy to highlight media cooperation with Chinese dictators to make sure this is not mentioned.
Apr 9, 2008 - 2:41 am 4. Yawn:I have to disagree with ChinaIsGreat on that whole “Tibet is Free” comment. It most certainly is not, but that aside he is dead on about Tibet belonging to China forever. History is on the side of China on this one. You have a militarily powerful, expansionist and totalitarian government right next to a country that had no army and depended on moral courage for defense instead.
China is the big boy on the block, and until Tibet gets enough military muscle to kick them out (which is no time soon I am thinking), they had better practice their Cantonese.
Come on, do you actually think China cares about what some protesters in SF do? A public black eye for people pointing out that they are not the nicest guys in the world by hangin off a bridge. Oooooooooooooo, I am sure they are trembling in their Red Stared Hats right now.
Apr 9, 2008 - 5:20 am 5. Curly Smith:ChinaIsGreat proclaims “Tibet is free and will belong to China forever!”
That’s a rather odd definition of “freedom”. I suppose it means that if the Tibetans don’t “freely” choose to do as the Chinese tell them then the Chinese are “free” to kill them. See! The Chinese are the ultimate in a pro-choice society! It’s no wonder that they get such fawning support from our courageous liberal leaders.
Apr 9, 2008 - 8:26 am 6. southdakotaboy:It is a sad fact that China will more than likely get away with this for right now. Thankfully though their evil behavior is now on display for all the world to see. For to long they have gotten away with gross human rights violations, massive government sanctioned environmental polution and open support of the genocidal government in Sudan,Burma and North Korea. China’s hands are covered with the blood of the weak and helpless.
Apr 9, 2008 - 8:32 am 7. submandave:The UN could take one simple move to force China to make real changes in its’ behavior. Remove them from the security council and let Taiwan have a seat in the UN. That would get their attention.
“Tibet is free and will belong to China forever!”
This will be a clasic in NewSpeak studies for ages to come.
If only I could say “My wife is free and belongs to me forever!”
Apr 9, 2008 - 8:37 am 8. Anonymous:Yawn,
These protests are mainly to embarass China, if nothing else. China, as with most other Asian cultures, are about “saving face”, and this is a huge opporutnity for them to showcase their progress-despite-being-a-totalitarian-that-other-tyrants-want-but-can’t-have! to the world. Hence, they’re forcing the street vendors out, and cleaning up the town, etc. These disruptions are a black mark in their eyes.
So, keep up the protests!
Apr 9, 2008 - 8:45 am 9. Jewlicious:I think the Chinese care a lot. These Olympics are meant to be a showcase of the great strides made by China and every protest is felt and registered. The Chinese have put great effort into preparing their country for the attention they are about to get. A clean, new, modern wing of the Beijing airport has been built. Employees at fast food joints have undergone re-training. People are being urged not to push - it goes on and on. Given these efforts, any dissent resonates.
Apr 9, 2008 - 8:46 am 10. dougf:Given these efforts, any dissent resonates.
Where exactly does it resonate ? And with whom, might I be so bold as to inquire ?
In SF ? With the ‘usual suspects’ ?
I am willing to bet BIG MONEY that it isn’t going to ‘resonate’ with the Chinese People who are very likely seeing these addled protests as a calculated INSULT to their country. At a time when they are quite evidently proud as punch of the newfound status of their homeland.
All these meaningless feel-good-about-oneself exercises are going to accomplish is piss off a whole bunch of just folks in China. Think how most Americans would feel if the shoe was on the other foot and you have a pretty good idea of how this is going to play out. It won’t really annoy too many of the Chinese ‘leaders’ who will simply use the scenes as very successful anti-Western propaganda. It will just annoy the ‘folks’ and enhance the Regime.
How offending a whole bunch of ORDINARY people in an emerging POWER, without any hope whatsoever of actually achieving anything constructive in compensation, is a ‘good’ thing, is somehow beyond me.
Apr 9, 2008 - 1:42 pm 11. P. Ami:This has already been commented on but, how anything “free” can belong to anyone else, is beyond me. It makes me think of a prison warden who tells his prisoner he is free to do anything he’d like so long as what he would like is what the warden tells him. I lived in China for a year and a half and wait till you get a load of what they think of Mongolia’s right to independence. Did you know that a Chinese king once conquered most of Europe. Thats right, Ghangis Khan was Chinese. Try and tell them that an Indian Empress once conquered parts of China and they will deny it. I guess Queen Victoria wasn’t Indian.
This is all about resisting China and planting the seeds of their government’s downfall. Who knows how the future will play out but China did not follow its obligations to the IOC regarding Human Rights. Just because the IOC and all the businesses that are sponsoring the Olympics aren’t bothered by it doesn’t mean that billions of viewers, world-wide, need to ignore the brutality of the Chinese system. Let the Chinese hold their party but we don’t need to RSVP.
@dougf, The shoe has been on the other foot. We’ve been kicked around by the world ever since W was elected and I’m pleased as punch that the World is kicking around some other, more deserving, nation for the moment.
Apr 9, 2008 - 2:29 pm 12. Web Smith:As long as their protest will have no effect and they are not protesting something that concerns us, it’s OK.
The same people who fled oppression instead of staying and fighting for freedom will now tell us that the U.S. really needs to do something and that it is somehow our responsibility when it somehow wasn’t theirs.
What a difference 1 billion Chinese people could make if they would only stand up for themselves.
Apr 9, 2008 - 5:14 pm 13. solomonpal:China is a rotten to the core system. I could give a rats ass about them losing face. What really have they done to contribute to the worlds benefit? Cheap goods from slave labor? They are an aggressive totalitarian gangster state, uncooperative and rapacious. I’ll just sit here and chuckle. Oh those apparatniks must be fuming. And to think of all that hat in hands from Clinton and Bush on China. It’s about time the cheap shoe is on the other foot! Haha
Apr 9, 2008 - 6:30 pm 14. P. Ami:@solomonpal,
Apr 9, 2008 - 7:31 pm 15. Concerned American:Slave labor? Come on, I can’t stand China but lets not start inventing complaints against them. There is quite enough to criticize without making things up.
China has shown zero respect for human rights; hundreds of thousands of peaceful and innocent Falun Gong practitioners have been jailed, simply for practicing their beliefs, prisoners have been executed and their organs sold, and people are routinely jailed for expressing their opinions for “crimes against the state”.
That said, we respect the hard work and accomplishments of the Chinese people.
Shame on the Chinese Communist Party!
Apr 9, 2008 - 7:51 pm 16. Angry African:So the people are in the streets everywhere. London - stiff upper lip protests and Brown decided not to touch the torch. France - pull off a riot and put out that flame like only the French could. San Francisco - hanging off the bridge to stop the hanging. Maybe we should create a special Oh-Limp-Pics for those not-so-free societies to be paraded every four years. It will give us all a chance to show how we feel about injustice around the world. It is obvious that the media will only report on it if there is a sound-bite and a photo opportunity. Maybe something for tyrant to carry the torch of torture every four years. Mm, I think I have an idea… http://angryafrican.net/2008/04/09/oh-limp-pic-games-celebrating-tyrants-everywhere/
Apr 9, 2008 - 8:21 pm 17. Pajamas Media » Blog Archive » Olympic Protesters Run Torch Out of Town:[...] a stark change from Tibetans’ Tuesday march to a desolate Chinese consulate, Chinese nationalists showed up en masse with giant flags and drums [...]
Apr 10, 2008 - 12:58 am 18. Dan:I just dont understand why all most all the American media ignore the pro-China demonstration(they are not organized by Chinese government but Chinese ppl themselves)???
Apr 10, 2008 - 9:53 am 19. Dan:China is learning and improving. Those who r talking about freedom all the time, please, dont say something like “a rotten to the core system”. How ignorant it sounds!
“it took Europe several centuries to become truly democratic and it was unwise to expect China to do the same in a few years. ”
“We have to give them time and as long as they’re moving in the right direction, we should be patient,” he said. He added that those who disrupt the relay “do not respect the freedom of people who want to enjoy it.”
Apr 10, 2008 - 10:24 am 20. yonny:——-Denis Oswald, an IOC member from Switzerland
It is RIDICULOUS to say”peaceful and innocent Falun Dafa”
they are cheating for money!
They tell you if you are sick, don’t go to the hospital, just give Li, Hongzhi money!
IT IS NOT ABOUT BELIF, IT IS FINAGLE!
My neighbour died, 35years old. She refused to go to hospital, she spent all her savings to FALUN DAFA…her family hate Li just as you hate China…You can say it is innocent because your family isn’t destroyed by it.
If 90% Chinese think they are happy and free, THEY ARE.
If 90% Chinese think their goverment is good, IT IS.
I spent 20 years in China, 10 years in America…
I didn’t see much different except China didn’t invade IRAQ…
NEVER JUDGE OTHER PEOPLE’S LIFE by IMAGING
Apr 10, 2008 - 8:17 pm 21. Political Mavens » Back from S.F.: Torch protest roundup:STOP ABUSE “HUMAN RIGHT”
[...] MY STORIES: Round One of Anti-China Protests in San Francisco [...]
Apr 11, 2008 - 12:52 am 22. solomonpal:Hey Dan…I did. I said they were also an aggressive totalitarian gangster state, uncooperative and rapacious. I don’t have anything against the Chinese people just the rotten to the core state. You know the one who wants to take Taiwan by force? The one who loses thousands of people in coal mine accidents every year without regard, the one with a 10 million man goose-stepping army, the human organ harvesting, kitty killing for fur, copyright pirating, spies in every nook and cranny, melamine in pet food, bear in cages for bile. The list is endless. Capitalist posing commie system ,just straight up rotten to the core system…Go ahead say something like this in China and see where it gets you…or ask the Tibetans. China is learning alright…but improving? Ha-ha
Apr 11, 2008 - 10:00 pm 23. Make it fair:Do you know who attack people in Tibet? Some extremely Tibetan attack school and company cause so many people injured ! Make people suffering ! This call peaceful march ??? Although Chinese government did no do well, they are learning , they are improving . American is developed country with a long period on democracy developing ! How can you make a comparison between this two countries ? They are different . They have their own way to go!
Apr 12, 2008 - 5:50 am 24. william:The Olympics is about sports. Sporting events are supposed to bring people together. This is Barry’s chance to take a leadership role in that world against tyranny. If only he would. I bet it would even create some fairness. How about starting an affirmative action program for all the bowlers in China. http://www.strongerthandeath.net/2008/04/bowling-to-settle-dems-race.html Well at least that would be a start to a discussion towards human rights in China.
Apr 14, 2008 - 6:04 am 25. Truth from a Tibetan:Sorry. I am a Tibetan Chinese in Tibet, actually most of people in Tibet hate those violences in here. It is because no good to us.
Apr 22, 2008 - 11:56 am 26. OverseaChinese:I’m a Chinese, but let me first state that being Chinese is not the same as being a citizen of China. It is my misfortune that my race is often mistaken as my nationality.
There are Chinese people like me all over the world whose forefathers escaped from an oppressive China generations ago. I feel ashamed that my Chinese kindred in China do not see the bigger picture except what they choose to see.
Apr 27, 2008 - 8:19 pm