Tibet, China, and the Olympics

One of the first up close glimpses I had of activism of any kind was with the Students for a Free Tibet during my early college years. I wasn't involved in the group but was friendly with people who were. It quickly appeared to be a pretty slow acting group that in some ways seemed more concerned with popular media attention (like high profile music festivals) than actual actions.

Now with the coming Olympics in Beijing activists have seized upon the global media attention that invariably magnifies the host nations many less than perfect aspects. In nations with lower profile problems issues such as security against terrorist activity are usually at the forefront. In China's case the issue of Tibet has disappeared in recent years for a variety of reasons. Activists have emboldened by rare direct uprising against the Chinese government by Tibetans, including Buddhist monks.

Most recently, in Greece activists interrupted a media event, the ceremony surrounding the lighting of the Olympic torch. It seems likely that there may be some sort of plan to interrupt the torch along its months long march to Beijing just prior to the Olympics.

In short, its good to see that a previously fading human rights issue brought back up as a topic if discussion.

Here is a link to a list of the stops along the route and the dates for the Olympic torch.

And a video...