Canberra Braces for Troubled Olympic Torch Relay
Tuesday April 22, 2008
It is sad that the Olympic torch relay, which takes place in Canberra in the morning of Thursday, April 24, local time, is being viewed with much trepidation instead of as a celebratory event leading to the coming together of many nations in world sports at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
For visitors to Canberra, the worry is that the Olympic torch relay will be marred by demonstrations that could flare into open hostility and violence, in addition to the inconvenience of closed roads, re-configured traffic, and crowds.
The 2008 Olympic torch relay in Europe and the United States — right from the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia in Greece before the official start of the relay in Beijing on March 31 — has been marred by demonstrations and violence. Pro-Tibet supporters have used the media focus on the torch relay to call attention to the plight of the Tibetan people under Chinese rule.
In Canberra, not only will the Tibetan supporters be there but also Chinese groups out to "protect the torch" in an attempt, they aver, to keep politics out of the Olympics.
Canberra authorities expect some 5000 demonstrators from both sides with the potential to disrupt the torch relay.
It is a sad commentary on this state of affairs that Australia's capital city had had to erect fences all along the torch relay route. The route itself has now been confined to the wider Canberra avenues such as Anzac Parade leading to the Australian War Memorial, then heading north to link with Northbourne Avenue and then turning south on this thoroughfare before ending on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin at Commonwealth Park before noon.
The Olympic torch relay day actually starts with pre-dawn fireworks over Lake Burley Griffin, followed by the free community breakfast and torch lighting ceremony at what now seems ironally-named Reconciliation Place near Questacon and the National Gallery of Australia. Hot air balloons will then take to the air as part of the autumn balloon spectacular.
The Reconciliation Place program features performances by Descendance Indigenous Dance Theatre, Shaanxi Provincial Folk Arts Theatre and Samsung Community Choir. The indigenous Ngunnawal welcome, including the traditional smoking ceremony, then takes place.
The Olympic torch relay is expected to start just before 9am local time.
A farewell cencert program marks the end of the torch relay at Commonwealth Park.
For visitors to Canberra, the worry is that the Olympic torch relay will be marred by demonstrations that could flare into open hostility and violence, in addition to the inconvenience of closed roads, re-configured traffic, and crowds.
The 2008 Olympic torch relay in Europe and the United States — right from the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia in Greece before the official start of the relay in Beijing on March 31 — has been marred by demonstrations and violence. Pro-Tibet supporters have used the media focus on the torch relay to call attention to the plight of the Tibetan people under Chinese rule.
In Canberra, not only will the Tibetan supporters be there but also Chinese groups out to "protect the torch" in an attempt, they aver, to keep politics out of the Olympics.
Canberra authorities expect some 5000 demonstrators from both sides with the potential to disrupt the torch relay.
It is a sad commentary on this state of affairs that Australia's capital city had had to erect fences all along the torch relay route. The route itself has now been confined to the wider Canberra avenues such as Anzac Parade leading to the Australian War Memorial, then heading north to link with Northbourne Avenue and then turning south on this thoroughfare before ending on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin at Commonwealth Park before noon.
The Olympic torch relay day actually starts with pre-dawn fireworks over Lake Burley Griffin, followed by the free community breakfast and torch lighting ceremony at what now seems ironally-named Reconciliation Place near Questacon and the National Gallery of Australia. Hot air balloons will then take to the air as part of the autumn balloon spectacular.
The Reconciliation Place program features performances by Descendance Indigenous Dance Theatre, Shaanxi Provincial Folk Arts Theatre and Samsung Community Choir. The indigenous Ngunnawal welcome, including the traditional smoking ceremony, then takes place.
The Olympic torch relay is expected to start just before 9am local time.
A farewell cencert program marks the end of the torch relay at Commonwealth Park.
many of us don’t feel it’s a sad state of affairs, or that protests necessarily mar the event – they certainly liven up something that otherwise is simply a tacky marketing exercise.
It’s the inevitable result of a wealthy and corrupt organisation (the IOC) arranging an overblown world tour to raise huge sums of sponsorship money from dishonest companies in order to attempt to bolster the public image of a corrupt government with a dire human rights record.