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http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/students-plan-mass-torch-defence/2008/04/15/1208025189581.html
John Garnaut, Maya Li and Brendan Nicholson
April 16, 2008
THOUSANDS of Chinese Australians are being asked to converge on Canberra next week to rally and defend the Olympic torch against pro-Tibet protesters.
The mass campaign is being organised by Chinese student and community leaders in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, while the Chinese embassy in Canberra is also said to be actively supporting a peaceful show of strength.
Zhang Rongan, of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, said he expected more than 10,000 Chinese and Chinese Australians to go to Canberra for the torch arrival on April 24. He said he was arranging "strong men" to protect against any attacks from pro-Tibet or Falun Gong forces.
But other Chinese Australian student representatives stressed last night that there were no plans for violent protests.
Moves to mobilise Chinese Australians came as the torch's international journey continued to be disrupted by the prospect of trouble, with India and Pakistan yesterday announcing altered routes for their respective legs of the relay and Japan cancelling a big torch-related event.
There was also uproar in Australia after International Olympic Committee deputy president Kevan Gosper said Chinese security officers would help defend the torch in Canberra in the event of "really serious trouble".
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd slapped down Mr Gosper's suggestion, saying Chinese officials would be on a bus trailing the torch and would have no security role — a situation confirmed by the Australian Federal Police and local Olympic officials.
Plans to mobilise Chinese support for the torch in Australia follow an outpouring of anger among Chinese nationals and ethnic Chinese around the world over images of pro-Tibet protesters in London and Paris "attacking" the torch, which they see as a symbol of China's re-emergence in the world.
The sentiment was expressed in central Melbourne last weekend when an estimated 4000 people rallied in support of China's rule of Tibet.
Perceptions that the West is pro-Tibet and anti-China have been fuelled in China by private bloggers and the state propaganda machine.
Some of the protest leaders behind the Canberra campaign are borrowing the militaristic anti-Tibet and anti-Western rhetoric that is bubbling out of China. One letter widely circulated in Australian Chinese communities says "the China forces" in Canberra are weak and need reinforcement because the city is a "separatist base" for Falun Gong, pro-Tibet, pro-Uighur (in Xinjiang province) and other "splittists".
And it says no Chinese can tolerate being humiliated by "scum of the Chinese nation" and "running dogs".
"Whether you carry a Chinese passport or are an Australian citizen, I believe that each and every one of you, the sons and daughters of China, are as one with us in loyalty and love for the motherland!" it says.
The letter also promotes free bus rides from Sydney and Melbourne to Canberra.
This and other calls to protest are being promoted through Chinese-Australian websites such as www.aobo.com.au.
Zhang Zhuning, chairman of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, said police were underestimating the "piles of monks" and "paid" thugs who would create trouble in Canberra. But he said he was not afraid of local Falun Gong groups because Chinese triad gangs had "quietened them down".
Other student groups played down the likelihood of trouble, at least from torch relay supporters.
Lydia Liu, of Sydney University's Chinese Students Association, said she believed students travelling to Canberra did not intend to protest. "I do know some Chinese students will go to Canberra to support the torch relay on their own initiative," she said.
"We as an organisation hope that the torch relay will peacefully pass through Australia on its way to Beijing."
Jimmy Xie, from Canberra University, said Chinese students would go to see the torch because they were proud their country was hosting the Olympics, but they would not be there to protect the torch. "The Chinese people want to be friendly to everyone," he said. "We don't want a fight. We want to wish good luck to China."
The friend-and-enemy language about Tibet and the Olympic torch is more extreme inside China. Individuals who have called for moderation or dialogue, such as an editor called Chang Ping at the Southern Metropolis Daily, have been subjected to vicious, personal denunciations on blog sites and in state-controlled newspapers.
Zhang Rongan said the Chinese embassy in Canberra "is organising buses, food and places to stay" for protesters.
A Chinese security official in Beijing has told The Age the embassy has been organising volunteers to help protect the torch. The embassy could not be contacted yesterday.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has changed the venue for its torch run and India has slashed the route for its leg of the relay amid fears of disruption.
The torch is due to arrive in Islamabad today on the first leg of its relay in Asia. "As such there's no threat but, obviously, because of the overall security environment, we didn't want to take a chance," Pakistan Olympic Association spokesman Baseer Haider said, explaining the change of venue.
In India, the torch's planned journey through a New Delhi neighbourhood tomorrow has been cut by two-thirds, according to local media reports.
In Japan, a public celebration linked to the torch relay in the city of Nagano has been cancelled due to security concerns.
With REUTERS, AFP |
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