Expose Beijing!

Torch route published; Supes critical of China (SF Chronicle)

2008-04-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The Beijing Olympic torch will travel about 6 miles along San Francisco's waterfront, according to long-awaited route details released on the same day city supervisors approved a sharply worded resolution blasting China's human rights record.

People who plan to protest the torch's presence in the city had demanded for weeks to know its route so they could begin organizing the thousands of demonstrators expected when the Olympic symbol is carried through the streets on April 9.

Protesters are expected to gather in large public squares and along the route, which will start at McCovey Cove, run both ways along the Embarcadero and make a short turnaround at Polk Street. The torch lighting ceremony in Greece was disrupted by demonstrators last week, and protests are expected in cities the torch visits around the world.

At City Hall, Supervisor Chris Daly, who introduced the resolution critical of China, encouraged the audience that packed into the Board of Supervisors' chambers Tuesday to be on the streets and show disdain for the Chinese government during the torch relay.

His resolution, which passed 8-3, calls for an international investigation of China's recent crackdown on dissenters in Tibet and encourages the city's official representative at the torch festivities to accept the flame with "alarm and protest."

"The eyes of the world will be on San Francisco, and, let's be honest, if there is not alarm and there is not protest in San Francisco when the torch arrives here, that too would be news, and that would be San Francisco complicit in the human rights violations that are happening in China and around the world," Daly said.

Rally before vote

People opposed to China's presence in Tibet and its policies toward Burma and the Darfur region of Sudan held a rally on the City Hall steps before the vote and packed the board chambers. They cheered loudly when the resolution passed.

Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier, Carmen Chu and Sean Elsbernd voted against the resolution. Chu had written a separate resolution that welcomed both the Olympic torch and the Human Rights Torch and Tibetan Freedom Torch - two alternative events organized by activists and scheduled to happen in the days before the Olympic torch's visit. Her measure, which did not criticize China, was voted down 7-4.

Representatives of the Chinese government, including some officials who have met with supervisors and Mayor Gavin Newsom about the torch event, have condemned both resolutions, saying that such a statement from the city would hurt San Francisco-China relations.

City leaders, including Newsom, have expressed concerns over the past few weeks that releasing details of the torch route would jeopardize security of the event by encouraging people who want to disrupt or stop the relay.

In discussing the details of the route Tuesday, Newsom pleaded with activist groups to remember that the Olympics are not about politics but about the performance of athletes and "the spirit of unity and the things that unite us."

"Don't protest the torch bearers," Newsom said. "Please separate your condemnation from the person who's running (with the torch) or in a wheelchair carrying the torch."

The torch relay will start with a ceremony at McCovey Cove, travel along the Embarcadero past Fisherman's Wharf and briefly through the Marina District, and head back along the Embarcadero to Justin Herman Plaza. A closing ceremony is scheduled to take place at the plaza.

The event will start at 1 p.m., and it will take the torch about an hour and a half to traverse the approximately 6-mile route. More than 80 people from across North America have been selected to carry the flame. Their names have not been made known.

No permit needed to protest

Newsom said an area in front of the Ferry Building - the route's end - will be designated for protesters. No groups will need a permit to protest, he said, adding that more protesters are expected along the route. It is unclear what has happened to city plans for so-called free-speech zones, originally described as areas for protesters without official city permits.

About 15 groups applied for permits after the city last week removed holds on permits for most of the city's large public areas, according to the Recreation and Park Department, which issues the permits. None have been issued.

An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who pressured the city to release route details and any plans to restrict protesters praised Tuesday's release.

"It's still not clear to me why it has been delayed until this late date, but I'm absolutely pleased the city has released details of the route," said Michael Risher, a staff attorney for the ACLU.

He said some groups had gone ahead with planning for a demonstration without knowing where the torch would be. Those groups are likely to be disappointed that they are far from it, he said.

Newsom has said that early plans for the route included a ride on a cable car, a trip to Alcatraz and even a crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge. Plans to run the torch through Chinatown also were scrapped because of concerns that large crowds would overwhelm the neighborhood's narrow streets.

Mayor's signature unlikely

After Tuesday's vote, Newsom's spokesman Nathan Ballard hinted that the mayor would not sign the measure. He said the mayor has in the past discussed the Tibet situation with both Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the Dalai Lama, the leader of the Tibetan government in exile.

"It is highly unlikely the mayor is going to let Chris Daly put words in his mouth," Ballard said.

The spokesman for the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco has strongly condemned Daly's resolution as well as Chu's alternative resolution, saying that approving either measure would be "an insult to good, friendly relations" between the city and China. Chinese officials did not return calls for comment after Tuesday's vote.

Criticism of Daly

Some in the Chinese community also have criticized Daly's resolution. A letter from the Chinese American Association of Commerce, sent to city offices over the weekend, was signed by 105 Chinese community organizations based in San Francisco.

The letter accuses "demonstrators of anti-China sentiment" of trying to sabotage the torch event.

"While we tried to continue to maintain our peaceful silence among all the noise in the past few weeks, we also need to stand up and speak loud and clear!" the letter reads.

It goes on to say, "We strongly condemn Chris Daly for his breach of duty as supervisor by not listening to the peaceful majority, especially undermining the unified stand and position of the local Chinese community." The letter warns the other supervisors to "prevent the city from being kidnapped by a few political extremists who want to make use of the Olympic Games to advance their own political gain."

The alternative torch events will stop in San Francisco in the days leading up to April 9. The Human Rights Torch will stop in the city Saturday with an event at 11 a.m. at Union Square. The Tibetan Freedom Torch will arrive on April 8 with an event at 6 p.m. at United Nations Plaza and a candlelight vigil at 8 p.m. Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu and actor Richard Gere are expected to attend and speak at the vigil.

Torch relay

Day: April 9

Time: Event begins at 1 p.m.

Distance: About 6 miles

Arriving from: Paris

Leaving S.F. for: Buenos Aires

Torch runners: An estimated 80

Duration of event: About 90 minutes

Chronicle staff writer Cecilia M. Vega contributed to this report. E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

Expose Beijing Coalition PRESS RELEASE April 1, 2008

2008-04-02T16:49:00.000-07:00

Expose Beijing! Coalition
San Francisco Team Tibet Coalition - Tibetan Association of Northern California * Bay Area Friends of Tibet * Committee of 100 for Tibet * San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress * Gyuto * Nechung * Students for a Free Tibet * Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China * Burmese American Democratic Alliance
www.exposebeijing.org

For Immediate Release
***PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

April 1, 2008 Contact: Yangchen Lhamo 415.997.3212
Gregg Butensky 415.867.0377

CITY TO VOTE ON RESOLUTION PROTESTING CHINA’S TORCH
Human Rights Activists Rally in Support

WHAT: Expose Beijing Coalition Press Conference
WHEN: Tuesday, April 1, 12:00 noon
WHERE: San Francisco City Hall Steps, 1 Goodlett Place

San Francisco – Amidst growing controversy around China’s Olympic Torch run through the city of San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors today will vote on dueling resolutions – one welcoming the Olympic Torch, the other expressing alarm and protest at China’s continuing egregious human rights violations. The Expose Beijing Coalition comprised of allied human rights organizations united in their goal of using the Olympic Torch relay to expose China’s propaganda and shine a spotlight on China’s atrocious human rights violations, will rally at City Hall in support of Supervisor Daly’s resolution and hold a press conference at noon.

“This is a matter of SF retaining its moral credibility,” said Giovanni Vassallo of SF Team Tibet. “Considering China’s ongoing brutal suppression of largely peaceful protests for freedom inside Tibet, expressing alarm and protest when China’s Torch comes here next week is the least the Board of Supervisors can do to send a message to the world that we as a city still stand for freedom, democracy and human dignity.”

Nyunt Than, President of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance said, “The Chinese government has a long-standing policy of supporting Burma’s murderous military regime. San Francisco has a long history of standing up for individual rights and of speaking out against tyranny. Now it the time for our city to stand up and speak out for the protection of human rights.”

The resolution introduced last month by Supervisor Daly urging San Francisco to welcome the Olympic Torch with “alarm and protest” was appropriated by Supervisor Carmen Chu and turned into a resolution simply welcoming the Olympic Torch. The Expose Beijing Coalition support Daly’s resolution of protest against China’s human rights record and rejects Chu’s.

John Hsieh, President of Love of Taiwan remarked, “On April 9th, we will all be out in the streets of San Francisco to show our support for freedom and human rights. We hope the San Francisco Supervisors will stand in solidarity with us by voting for this resolution today.”

San Francisco is the only North American stop of China Olympic Torch on its global relay. Already, the relay has been overshadowed by boisterous protests about China’s brutality against Tibetans, Falun Gong members, Chinese democracy activists and others.

###

Olympic torch relay map. Chronicle illustration by John Blanchard

2008-04-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

Long-awaited Olympic torch route announced; city leaders condemn China in statement (SF Chronicle)

2008-04-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

(04-01) 15:08 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The Beijing Olympic torch will be carried along San Francisco's waterfront and briefly pass through the Marina District, according to city officials who announced the specific route today.

The long-anticipated announcement about the torch's planned route came moments before the city's Board of Supervisors this afternoon passed a strongly worded resolution condemning China's human rights record. The seven-page resolution also demands an international investigation into China's record and calls for the local official who receives the torch in San Francisco to do so with "alarm and protest."

The April 9 torch relay will start with an opening ceremony at McCovey Cove, travel along the Embarcadero, run past Fisherman's Wharf and turn around at Polk Street and return along the Embarcadero to Justin Herman Plaza, a spokeswoman for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said. A closing ceremony is scheduled to take place at the plaza.

The event will start at 1 p.m. and it will take the torch about an hour and a half to traverse the approximately 6-mile route, according to Giselle Barry, the spokeswoman for Newsom.

Mayor Gavin Newsom said an area in front of the Ferry Building - the route's end point - will be designated for protesters. No groups will need a permit to protest, he said, adding that more protesters are expected along the route than in the designated areas.

Officials said protesters will also be allowed in Union Square, Portsmouth Square, Civic Center and Washington Square, although those areas are generally far from the torch's announced route.

Several groups that plan on protesting the event say it has been difficult to organize their followers without the torch route.

Newsom warned activist groups to remember that the Olympics aren't about politics but about the performance of athletes and "the spirit of unity and the things that unite us.

"Don't protest the torch bearers," Newsom said. "Please separate your condemnation from the person who's running (with the torch) or in a wheelchair carrying the torch."

The specific route flows along 3rd Street from McCovey Cove, down to the Embarcadero and past Fisherman's Wharf to Jefferson Street. From Jefferson, it will go left on Hyde Street and up a short distance to Beach Street, then to Polk Street near Aquatic Park. The next torch runner will head up Polk to Bay Street. The torch will then head back to the Embarcadero and stop in front of the Ferry Building at Justin Herman Plaza.

The resolution passed by supervisors today was sponsored by Supervisor Chris Daly. A second resolution, which was not as critical of China, failed. That measure would have welcomed the Olympic torch, the Human Rights Torch and the Tibetan Freedom Torch. The alternative torches are scheduled to make stops in the city on Saturday and Tuesday, respectively.

Newsom downplayed the importance of the resolutions, saying it's only a statement and not a law.

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

Mayor hints at torch route; Chinatown unlikely (SF Chronicle)

2008-03-21T05:43:00.000-07:00

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, March 21, 2008

Mayor Gavin Newsom revealed the first scant details Thursday about plans for the Beijing Olympic torch's April 9 stop in San Francisco, including the likelihood that it won't pass through Chinatown, and he emphatically stated that no one would be denied the right to protest its presence.

Newsom made his comments hours after the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco was attacked by arsonists early in the morning and shortly before a Board of Supervisors committee heard 4 1/2 hours of public testimony mostly critical of China's human-rights record. Despite the emotional pleas for supervisors to condemn China over human rights, the committee passed a resolution stripped of strong criticism.

Newsom promised that on the day of the torch relay, cheering crowds will outnumber protesters "10 to 1."

The mayor said that the route for the torch relay has been broadly determined, but he did not provide information about specific streets, saying only that the route and its ceremonies will include the areas around the Ferry Building and AT&T Park and likely will exclude Chinatown. He also declined to specify the time of the festivities other than to say they will not take place during commute hours.

Newsom's comments were the first description of what will be an international spectacle that protest organizers say will draw thousands of demonstrators. San Francisco is the only North American city to see the Olympic torch this year.

Newsom promised to increase the police presence outside the consulate building at Laguna Street and Geary Boulevard but said no attempts would be made to suppress protests - not even those along the relay route.

"But no one will be denied the ability to protest all along the parade route if, indeed, they find that it is a great idea because they want to disrupt what should be a unifying event and try to make it more divisive," Newsom said.

He said protesters who want to stage a larger demonstration will be allowed to obtain permits in areas within sight and hearing distance of the beginning and end of the route, which Newsom said would be near AT&T Park and close to the Ferry Building. Activists said last week that they had been unable to obtain such permits, but Newsom vowed to review the permit applications.

Protesters without permits would be allowed in the so-called free-speech zones, he said.

Newsom did say the relay will not happen during commute hours, and added that the lack of information about the event is necessary because of concerns that people will try to stop or disrupt it.

"This is not secrecy," Newsom said. "It's called common sense."

Chinatown too difficult

He said later that the density of Chinatown and the small streets running through the historic neighborhood make it logistically difficult to include the neighborhood on the route. Newsom met with Police Chief Heather Fong later in the day to discuss the plans.

The mayor said he also planned to meet with Consul General Gao Zhansheng to discuss the attack on the building. Authorities say a group of people poured flammable liquid on a security gate and set it ablaze.

No one was hurt and damage to the building was minor. Newsom said police have suspects in the attack but nobody had been arrested by Thursday evening. A statement from the consulate called the attackers terrorists and said U.S. officials have apologized for the incident. The statement from spokesman Defa Tong said the attack inconvenienced Americans coming to apply for visas.

At City Hall, many residents with strong concerns about China's human-rights record testified before a Board of Supervisors committee on Thursday afternoon.

The committee was considering a resolution introduced by Supervisor Chris Daly that called for the public official who represents the city during the ceremonies to "make publicly known that the 2008 Summer Games Torch is received with alarm and protest."

Many Tibetans who live in the Bay Area spoke of their experiences with China, and some showed graphic photographs of people they said were executed by the Chinese government.
"This struggle is not against the Chinese people, it is against a Beijing regime that is very brutal," said Ngodup Tsering, president of the Tibetan Association of Northern California.
Alan Jones, the dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, praised the resolution and said he gave it his "unreserved and enthusiastic support."

"This is a tremendous opportunity and we should not underestimate symbolic acts," Jones said, adding that, "with the recent events in Tibet and China, surely the time has come for the wider global community to stand in more visible solidarity with the people of Tibet and China ... who seek freedom by nonviolent means."

Unity, not divisiveness

Though they were greatly outnumbered, some people spoke in defense of the Chinese government and urged supervisors to aim for unity and not divisiveness.

Supervisor Carmen Chu amended the original resolution to delete the criticisms of China's record. Instead, her changes included welcoming the Olympic torch as well as two other torch events - the Tibetan Freedom Torch and the Global Human Rights Torch. The resolution passed 2-1, with Supervisor Sean Elsbernd joining Chu. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick voted against it.

The Tibetan Freedom Torch is also traveling around the world and will stop in San Francisco's United Nations Plaza on April 8. The Global Human Rights Torch event is planned at Union Square on April 5.

"There are a lot of individuals who have very strong opinions about this in both directions and I do think this legislation really tries to get at the spirit of what people wanted to do, which is to recognize these issues," Chu said after the vote.

Daly said he would reintroduce his measure and try to amend the new resolution to its old form when it comes before the full Board of Supervisors on April 2.

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

Olympic torch China-protest resolution reduced to ashes (The Examiner)

2008-03-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

Joshua Sabatini, The Examiner
2008-03-21 11:00:00.0

SAN FRANCISCO -
The Olympic torch for the Summer Games in Beijing is set to go on a “journey of harmony” around the world, but its scheduled stop in San Francisco is flaming discord.

Ongoing protests in San Francisco are expected to continue leading up to the April 9 torch ceremony in The City as those critical of China’s human rights record and its recent crackdown on Tibetan unrest call on city officials to join in denouncing that government.

On Thursday, hundreds of protesters attended a Board of Supervisors committee hearing on a controversial resolution introduced by Supervisor Chris Daly that urges the city representative receiving the torch in San Francisco to “make publicly known that the 2008 Summer Games Torch is received with alarm and protest” for China’s “egregious and ongoing human rights abuses.”

San Francisco was selected as the only North American stop for the Olympic torch.

“With the pomp and the pageantry and many of the positives that come along with being the lone host city in the United States of the Olympic torch comes significant responsibility,” Daly said. “It is imperative that we as leaders in San Francisco weigh in on human rights issues in China.”

Daly’s resolution, however, did not make it out of the committee. Committee chair Supervisor Carmen Chu introduced an amendment that makes no direct reference to China’s human rights record. The new version was approved in a 2-1 vote, with support from Supervisor Sean Elsbernd.

Supervisor Jake McGoldrick voted no after his request to send both versions to the full board was denied.

Chu’s version also welcomes two other torch events, not sponsored by the Olympics committee — the Tibetan Freedom Torch and a Human Rights Torch — that are also on worldwide tours with stops in San Francisco.

Chu said her version is a “good balance” that represents the different points of view. The resolution is scheduled to be voted on by the full Board on April 1.

Mayor Gavin Newsom was critical of Daly’s resolution. “If folks want to beat up China, beat up China but don’t beat up the spirit of the Olympics,” he said.

jsabatini@examiner.com

Video of impassioned visit to City Hall by Tibetan representatives

2008-03-21T03:38:00.000-07:00

Video coverage of the visit by Tibetan representatives on March 10, 2008 to City Hall to present a letter to Mayor Gavin Newsom about the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising and the ongoing occupation of Tibet by China.

China: Olympic dream, human rights nightmare (SF Chronicle)

2008-03-21T03:32:00.000-07:00

Mark Morford, Chronicle Columnist
Friday, March 21, 2008

I hope it all comes crashing down on their heads.

Is that wrong? Is it ill-minded and somehow unfair to wish that the Chinese government's notorious record of human rights abuses and horrid treatment of Tibet be exposed to the world to the point where they are shamed and humiliated and perhaps even forced by unprecedented international scrutiny to upheave its oppressive ways and improve conditions and even (heaven forefend) honor religious and political freedom within its borders? No, I do not think it is.

I am no expert on Chinese-Tibetan relations. But I do know something of Tibet, of the Dalai Lama, of his unadorned messages of peace and love. And I know something of Tibetan Buddhism, of China's abduction of the true Panchen Lama, of the brutal oppression and the massacres and the cultural genocide, the forced relocation of Han Chinese into Tibetan holy land, of the Tibetans' peaceful rallies and chanting and nonviolence, all contrasted with images of jackbooted Chinese riot police stomping on the heads of protesters marching in the street.

Where the truth lies

And I know who I tend to believe when I read "unconfirmed" reports of soldiers firing on Tibetan protesters, of dead bodies in the streets of Lhasa, of tanks rolling through crowds and hundreds of students arrested, Tibetan monasteries being locked down and Tibet again under martial law, all media cut off, all access denied, as sour and rather vile hard-line Communist leader Zhang Qingli steps up to a microphone and calls the Dalai Lama - perhaps the gentlest, kindest soul on the face of the planet - a "wolf in monk's robes, a devil with a human face but the heart of a beast." Yes, I think I know where the truth lies.

It doesn't take much. You don't need to see many photos of, say, a black-clad Chinese riot cop raising a 4-foot stick over his head and running straight at a praying, red-robed Tibetan monk, ready to wail that stick down on the monk's head. It does not take many photos like that to wish a deep and profound ill upon the government that promotes such aggression.

You don't even need to be reminded of Tiananmen Square, or of all the ongoing crackdowns on students and dissidents and journalists, the torture and torment of Falun Gong practitioners or even the harsh control of Chinese Christians to know that the few images and stories of brutality and oppression that do trickle out are just the tip of the iceberg.

So then, this is the wish for these Olympic Games, the first held in China, a country run by such an oppressive dictatorship, a country so brutally divided between new wealth and extreme poverty, so eager to be taken seriously as a new global superpower: May your human rights atrocities be exposed. May your violence against peace-loving Tibetans be shamed. May we honor and respect China's culture and history even as your government's attacks on peace and intellectual freedom are revealed like the appalling cancer they so very much are.

But here's the catch: It ain't gonna come from the United States. NBC's Olympic coverage is traditionally so slick, safe, cheesy and jingoistic, it borders on nauseating, not to mention how NBC is owned by General Electric Co., and all coverage will be sponsored by companies like Coca-Cola and McDonald's and Johnson & Johnson, companies that largely adore China's cheap labor and would happily turn a blind eye if it meant a foothold in the exploding Chinese economy.

What's more, America's not exactly a saint when it comes to human rights. Our president endorses torture. We still have the death penalty. We have atrocious foreign prisons and sinister Homeland Security and illegal wiretapping and the Patriot Act.

And it's also worth mentioning that China (along with Japan) owns a simply staggering portion of America's reeling debt. Oh, yes, Dubya will be there at the games, cheering and waving a little flag and holding hands with Premier Wen Jiabao and mispronouncing everyone's name. Wonder twin powers, activate!

A little desperate?

The "good" news is, China's leaders already seem to be getting a bit desperate, having been caught off guard by the widespread uprisings and protests across the world. The premier has already accused the Dalai Lama of trying to sour the Olympics by inciting violence, which is a bit like Dick Cheney accusing a butterfly of murder.

But these comments also reveal a curious and telling thing about China's leaders: They don't realize how absurd and offensive they sound to the world. Nor do they seem to know the true power of the Internet, of the vagaries of global coverage, of what Olympic-size media attention could reveal in the coming months. They never had to care. Until now.

Indeed, it will likely be up to the foreign press and foreign leaders, or perhaps even the athletes and visiting celebrities, to speak out. Already, some foreign leaders are considering a "mini boycott" of the opening ceremonies, which would be a huge insult to China. It's a start.

Could it all unravel for China's dictatorship? Maybe. Maybe among all the thousands of reporters and news agencies covering the Games, a handful will have the nerve to sneak outside the carefully guarded press boxes and find a way to report on the real atrocities and beam them to the astonished world like never before. Can we hope for that?

Let the Games begin.

-- Mark Morford columns with inset links to related material can be found at sfgate.com/columnists/morford.

Mark Morford's column appears Wednesdays and Fridays in Datebook and on sfgate.com. E-mail him at mmorford@sfgate.com.

Olympic torch visit sparks controversy in S.F. (SF Chronicle)

2008-03-21T03:26:00.000-07:00

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2008

The Olympic torch is one of the most recognizable symbols of international unity, but when it passes through San Francisco on the way to Beijing next month, it might spark more controversy than global goodwill.

City leaders organizing the event are keeping secret even the most basic details, including its route and the time it starts, because of fears that protesters critical of the Chinese government will disrupt or stop it.

The city known worldwide for its spirit of protest and dissent has denied permits for demonstrators and plans to restrict them to "free-speech zones." People critical of China's human-rights record and spurred by the recent uprising and subsequent crackdown in Tibet are organizing alternative torch run events and rallies and, despite the restrictions, plan to line the route.

And today, the city's Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution critical of China's human rights record. The resolution urges the public official who represents the city during the ceremonies to "make publicly known that the 2008 Summer Games Torch is received with alarm and protest."

Supervisor Chris Daly, who introduced the resolution, said the magnitude of attention paid to the Olympic Games and the torch relay makes the event the appropriate platform to discuss human rights.

"If someone can look you in the face and tell you the Olympics are limited to the individual competitions that take place, well, that's a good poker player," Daly said.

In the days leading up to the Olympic torch event on April 9 in San Francisco, a Tibetan Freedom Torch and a Human Rights Torch that are traveling around the world will make stops for relays in San Francisco. Organizers expect thousands of people at those events.

Because of the controversy generated by China hosting the Olympics, city officials coordinating the main torch relay event plan to designate areas for people to protest the Chinese government or other issues. The designated "free-speech zones" have been used at large events in other cities but have not had a significant presence in San Francisco.

Daly is critical of those zones and says he might amend his resolution to condemn their use.
"I don't see why we should break from our pattern of how we handle mass protests or demonstrations for China," he said.

Mayor Gavin Newsom said he has "very serious concerns" about the situation in Tibet but said that the city is "privileged" to be the torch's only stop in North America and that the event should rise above political concerns.

"I separate the issue of Tibet ... and the Olympic Games," said Newsom, who added that the Games should be a time "to focus on the things that unite us and not divide us."

A spokesman for the United States Olympic Committee said he could not remember any instances in which protests accompanied the torch as it passed through U.S. cities.

"We absolutely anticipated that (in San Francisco), but that freedom of expression is something we very much stand for as a country," said Darryl Seibel, spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The USOC recommended San Francisco as the city to host the torch because of the city's "wonderful Olympic tradition," many Olympians having lived and trained in the Bay Area, Seibel said. He also noted the city's cultural connections to China and the city's interactions with the committee in previous bids to host the Games.

Protests and alternate events are being strongly condemned by the Chinese Consulate in the city.

Defa Tong, the consulate's spokesman, said in a written statement, "The so-called Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay and Global Human Rights Torch Relay are manipulated by anti-China forces whose motive is to use the human rights and Tibet issues to attack China and disrupt the Beijing Olympic Games."

He called the events "attempts to politicize" the Games and said they violate the Olympic spirit.

Organizers of those events, who have come together and call themselves the "Expose Beijing Coalition," called the argument about politicizing the Olympics "disingenuous."

"Every Olympics has been political," said Giovanni Vassallo, president of the Committee of 100 for Tibet, an international group that believes China is illegally occupying Tibet. The Tibetan Freedom Torch event will be held the day before the Olympic event, and Vassallo said many people plan to protest the Olympic torch outside of the designated zones.

"I'm scratching my head on how the mayor can expect people to only be at the beginning and the end of route and voluntarily go into these zones," said Vassallo, who said actor Richard Gere, a member of the Committee of 100 for Tibet, has committed to attending their event.

Maria Daly, who is coordinating Human Rights Torch events in San Francisco and San Jose, said it is important to put pressure on the Chinese government through protests.

"This is a chance for the city of San Francisco, a city that upholds human rights and is internationally known as a city that upholds human rights ... to stand up and say something," Maria Daly said.

Clampdown: Police in China quell dissent in far-flung towns and villages as protests spread from Tibet to neighboring provinces.

The olympic protests

The major concerns of groups protesting the Olympic torch include:

-- China's presence in Tibet and the recent crackdown on dissenters there;
-- The suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement in China;
-- China's policies related to Burma and the Darfur region of Sudan;
-- China's policies toward Taiwan;
-- General lack of freedoms in China, such as expression, assembly and the press.

For more information on the alternative torch runs, which are planned in the days leading up to the April 9 Olympic event, go to www.tibetanfreedomtorch.org and www.humanrightstorch.org.

For information on the Olympic torch visit in San Francisco, go to www.sustainablejourney.org.

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

Bay Area Citizens of Conscience Call on S.F. Board to Adopt Human Rights Resolution (Press Release)

2008-03-21T03:15:00.000-07:00

EXPOSE BEIJING COALITION - PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release, March 19, 2008
www.exposebeijing.org

Contacts:
Giovanni Vassallo 415/264-3264 cell - giovanni@c100tibet.org
Maria Daly 650/504-3046 cell - sf@humanrightstorch.org

Bay Area Citizens of Conscience Call on S.F. Board to Adopt Human Rights Resolution

San Francisco - On March 20th, Tibetan, Burmese, Chinese, and U.S. human rights activists will call on the City and County of San Francisco to adopt a resolution, tempering San Francisco’s welcome of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch with an expression of concern for human rights in China. The Coalition will further urge the Board of Supervisors to commend the Tibetan Freedom Torch and the Global Human Rights Torch Relay.

Giovanni Vassallo of the Committee of 100 for Tibet and San Francisco Team Tibet noted, “The current bloody crackdown by Chinese troops on Tibetan protesters across Tibet is just the latest example of the Chinese government’s blatant disregard for the Tibetan people’s basic human rights. The arrival of China’s Olympic Torch in San Francisco presents our city with a historic opportunity to take a stand for justice and freedom. We urge all the relevant San Francisco Supervisors to pass the March 11th resolution commending the Tibetan Freedom Torch and the Human Rights Torch Relays.”

With its flame lit in Olympia, Greece on March 10, 2007 the Tibetan Freedom Torch will travel to more than 50 cities worldwide until August 7th, when Tibetans plan to carry it to Tibet. The Tibetan Freedom Torch will arrive in San Francisco on the morning of April 8th at United Nations Plaza. The Tibetan Freedom Torch symbolizes the hopes and aspirations of the Tibetan people for freedom and justice and the commitment of people around the world to helping achieve this dream.

Nyunt Than of the Burmese Democratic Alliance stated “More than any other country, China's unfailing military, economic and diplomatic support of Burma's junta for the past forty six years is furthering the existence of this oppressive dictatorship. China refuses to support any binding resolutions at the UN Security Council calling for much-needed concrete measures against Burma’s junta any binding resolutions at the UN Security Council calling for much-needed concrete measures against Burma’s junta, even after that regime turned on Buddhist monks and peaceful protesters in October 2007, indiscriminately jailing and brutally torturing and killing them. The Burmese American Democratic Alliance asks the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass the resolution in light of China's disregard of human rights both in its own heartland and in rogue nations like Burma and Sudan. To not do so will result in your city being permanently associated with an oppressive regime.”

Maria Daly of the Global Human Rights Torch Relay stated “China promised to improve human rights to obtain the honor of hosting the 2008 Olympics. However, in the name of ‘preparation’ for the Olympics, Communist China is escalating the suppression of the Chinese people, including Falun Gong practitioners, underground Christians, dissidents, and human rights activists, as well as of Tibetan Buddhists. The Chinese Communist regime is also aiding in the killing in Darfur and Burma.

With its flame lit in Greece in August 2007, the Human Rights Torch Relay (HRTR) is running through 150 cities in 37 countries across 6 continents to present its founding premise: The Olympics and crimes against humanity cannot coexist in China. The HRTR will arrive in San Francisco at 11 a.m. Saturday April 5.

The Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) is also urging San Francisco Board of Supervisor to pass the resolution. The Global Human Rights Torch (HRTR) has found support around the world, with individuals and different levels of government speaking out for human rights in China. With San Francisco's reputation for valuing and protecting human rights, it would be a shame for the Board of Supervisors to miss this chance to pass a resolution in support of the HRTR.

WHO:
Supervisor Chris Daly and Expose Beijing! Coalition members
WHAT:
Press Conference in Support of Board Resolution
WHERE:
Steps of City Hall, One Goodlet Place
WHEN:
Thursday, March 20th at Noon

Expose Beijing Coalition: Bay Area Friends of Tibet, Burmese American Democratic Alliance, Committee of 100 for Tibet, Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China, San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, SF Team Tibet Coalition, Students for a Free Tibet and the Tibetan Association of Northern California

S.F. restricts China protests for torch relay (SF Chronicle)

2008-03-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Wyatt Buchanan, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 12, 2008

San Francisco is planning to restrict protesters of the Chinese government to specific areas of the city when the Beijing Olympics torch makes its only North American stop here next month.

Organizations that oppose China's human-rights record said Tuesday that they've been denied demonstration permits at large outdoor gathering areas on April 9, the day of the torch relay. They will instead be forced into certain areas, possibly far from the main torch route.

City officials said that the restrictions are necessary to ensure security at the event but that those precautions shouldn't limit the protesters' rights to gather, a right guaranteed in the First Amendment. Tens of thousands of protesters are expected, organizers said.

The event will be open to everyone, said Mayor Gavin Newsom, including "those who want to see this as an opportunity to raise the flag of concern about issues of disagreement with the Chinese government. That is something that is sacrosanct to us."

But that opportunity will be limited in ways uncommon for the city that hosts myriad rallies and protests.

Protesters will be restricted to "areas set up for First Amendment rights issues," according to Sgt. Neville Gittens, spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.

When asked if the areas would be along the route, Gittens replied, "They will be in areas associated with the route." He said the city was "working with the (Beijing Olympic) committee to address the concerns they might have in regards to any protests." He would not elaborate on those concerns.

Nor would Gittens say what the torch route would be, only that the Beijing Olympic committee is working with police and other city officials. He said the route would be announced at the latest possible date. Newsom, however, said emphatically and repeatedly that the committee would by itself decide the torch route through the city.

Newsom also said he would not "politicize the Olympics" - but he may be asked to do so.

Supervisor Chris Daly on Tuesday introduced a resolution that urges the city official who receives the torch for the city - quite possibly the mayor - to state publicly that the torch is "received with alarm and protest at the failure of China to meet its past solemn promises to the international community, including the citizens of San Francisco, to cease the egregious and ongoing human rights abuses in China and occupied Tibet." Supervisors will vote on that resolution in the coming weeks.

The restrictions on protest locations are "a de facto limitation on the First Amendment rights of protesters," said Libby Marsh, director of the Northern California area for Human Rights Watch, an international organization.

She said she believes the city is "under pressure from the Beijing Olympic Committee and the Chinese government" to minimize the protesters' influence.

Several groups are planning to hold protest events in the days before the April 9 torch relay. Critics of the Chinese government's policies toward Tibet, Taiwan, the Falun Gong spiritual movement, Burma and Sudan's Darfur region are trying to organize a rally on that day.

They have been denied permits to use Civic Center Plaza and have been told that all other large gathering spots in the city are on hold in case they are used as part of the Olympic festivities.

"San Francisco is the only one stop in North America and I know the Chinese government is going to broadcast that to mainland China to show what kind of support they have," said Huy Lu, a Chinese immigrant who came to the United States via Vietnam 20 years ago.

Lu is helping to organize Bay Area events for the Human Rights Torch, an alternative torch that is also traveling the world and will arrive in San Francisco on April 5. Organizers are planning a rally and a march to the Chinese Consulate in the city.

"We want people to see something different, the two faces of the Chinese government," Lu said.
Another group is organizing the Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay, which is also traveling around the world and will stop in San Francisco's United Nations Plaza on April 8.

Torch route

View the route the Olympic torch will take: links.sfgate.com/ZCSC

Launch of Expose Beijing! website

2008-03-08T03:06:00.000-08:00

Click here to go to the Expose Beijing! website