 President Hu Jintao of China with the Olympic torch at a ceremony in Tiananmen Square. |
Posted on 03/31/2008 8:43:45 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
April 1, 2008
Olympic Torch Begins Its Journey in Beijing
By JIM YARDLEY
BEIJING — President Hu Jintao of China waved the Olympic torch at a ceremony in Tiananmen Square on Monday, smiling broadly as balloons, streamers and confetti rose into a mostly blue sky.
Then came the uncertain part. Mr. Hu sent the torch on a 130-day journey around the globe where protests and controversy likely await. First stop on what Beijing is calling a “Journey of Harmony” will be Lhasa, the Tibetan capital still simmering from violent anti-government protests.
“I now declare the launch of the torch relay for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,” Mr. Hu said in his only line in a tightly scripted celebration that was broadcast across China on state television. The Communist Party leader then handed the torch to China’s star hurdler, Liu Xiang, who raced off to culminate the ceremony.
Earlier on Monday morning, the Olympic flame arrived in Beijing from Athens onboard a specially outfitted Air China jetliner decorated with golden flames. This week, the Olympic flame is actually being split into two torches. One will be flown on Tuesday to Almaty, Kazakhstan, to begin an international relay that will cover five continents, including one stop in the United States in San Francisco.
The other torch is being flown to Lhasa and then taken to a base camp below Mount Everest. There, the flame is expected to be stored in a special lantern until May, when a team of climbers — escorted by two specially trained cameramen for Chinese state television — will attempt to carry the burning torch to the summit of the world’s highest mountain and then back down.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
President Hu Jintao of China with the Olympic torch at a ceremony in Tiananmen Square. |
Ping!
BOYCOTT BEIJING 2008!!!
Journey of Harmony. To Tibet. I would laugh, but it's too sad.
Irony, it would seem, is without boundaries.
A relative just back from business in Beijing tells me the plan is to shut down every major pollution source for three weeks prior to the games.
The air is so unhealthy, he was astonished to see a weather forecast of “sunny” when he arrived at his hotel - he mistook the pollution for hazy overcast.
Alternate Title: Torch for Genocide Games 2008 Begins its Journey
And our leaders stand by silently.
Not sad. Pathetic!
And the world whimpers...
One has to wonder whether the Chinese have any chinks in their armor...
No good will come from a boycott. It was a mistake to boycott Moscow and it would be a mistake to boycott Beijing.
No doubt.
So you march hand in hand with evil????
Sactions against South Africa should never have been taken?
then boycott it for the air quality if human rights are not your bag.
The air there is unbreathable especially for those in athletic competition.
Personaly? I want it boycotted just to rankle their collective(ist) @sses.
I have never considered it a mistake to boycott the U.S.S.R. olympics. They had just invaded another neighbor state during the high point of the cold war.
If our nation won’t take stands at times like that, or times like this with another paria state, then what do we stand for?
Like a person, a nation that won’t take a stand stands for nothing.
The Olympics are BOOOORRRIIINNNGGG!
AMEN Angeles...AMEN!
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