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Egypt: When Religion Sleeps With Politics

Gr33nData · 23:48

lingua → mk · sq · de · ar · bn · mg

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia attacks Pope Shenouda III in one of her recent posts here, for his Easter speech this year.

Still I feel so sad and angry from what the Pope Shounda said and did this Easter from praying for Mubarak to have longer life !! and warning his people from listening to those vandals over the Internet who will be sent to hell !!??

She continues:

For the Muslims this is something usual ,I know from long time that the speeches of the Emam in the Mosque in our neighbourhood are approved by the security , so I do not care much for what they said , not to mention that the religious men in Islam do not have this holy status of the religious men in Christianity.
But for someone like Pope Shounda in his position comes and says these nonsense about those facebookers who will be roasted in hell , then we need a stand here.

She ends her post with:

There is no excuse for the Pope or the for Sheikh of Al-Azhar in fact I will dare and say that they should fear the Lord not the President

Cyberactivism, blogging and the use of Facebook has recently come under the scrutiny of Egyptian officials, following claims that a nation-wide strike on April 6, which culminated with the Mahalla workers revolt. Several bloggers as well as the founder of a Facebook group named April 6 were among hundreds of activists, politicians and passer-bys detained by the authorities on the day and the days which followed. That said, the fact remains that it wasn't the Facebook group which has led to the strike and workers calling for higher wages and better salaries to meet increasing living expenses.

4 comments · »»

Uganda: Mwenda, 3 others arrested in newspaper raid

Rebekah Heacock · 17:11

lingua → bn

(UPDATE: Andrew Mwenda has been freed on bond, see his letter to supporters on the TED blog.)

Bloggers and independent media outlets in Uganda are reporting that three journalists and a photographer at The Independent, an opposition newspaper based in Kampala, have been arrested and that the paper's offices have been raided by Ugandan security forces. One of those arrested was Andrew Mwenda, who was previously charged with sedition for his coverage of the death of Sudanese vice president John Garang in 2005.

Reuters and Uganda's Daily Monitor ran the story yesterday, and the Independent published a full account of what happened:

In a two-pronged operation, police and operatives from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) and the Black Mamba squad raided The Independent again, exactly a month after the first raid.

…

At [Mwenda's] house, the police confiscated his lap-top, flash disks, 43 CDs full of information – both official and private, a manuscript of a book he has co-authored with Prof. Roger Tangri on Elite Corruption and Politics in Uganda. After that, Mwenda was driven to the offices of The Independent.

…

In no minute, other plain-clothed men, some feigning meanness others calmness, stream into the offices and start taking position as [police detective Joshua] Musede hordes the few employees already at work out of the newsrooms into the open space, saying there is something he is looking for.

Consulting editor Charles C. Bichachi then demands to know what the group was exactly looking for and the authorisation permitting them to do so.

“The ID is enough, he doesn’t have to show a search warrant,” interjected one of them, a relatively tall and light-skinned man feigning calmness, speaking Runyankole with a gun popping out of his waist.

…

Mwenda’s arrival clears the air as to what the raid this time is about; the team is searching for seditious material that the publication is in possession of; transcripts and audios of interviews of alleged torture victims in safe houses in Kampala and around the country under the wings of CMI.

Juliana at Afromusing writes:

Andrew Mwenda, arguably Africa’s most refreshing intellectual and journalist, has been arrested by Ugandan officials. More here.

This is utter injustice, and i am not even sure where to begin. For now, highlighting it on this blog seems to be one way, please highlight it on yours too, and I am sure some initiatives and online campaigns are being organized. Keep an eye on the TED blog for Updates.

Glenna at Uganda's Scarlett Lion adds:

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day. This year, Uganda was not included on the annual Reporters Without Borders survey. The web site lists no reason behind this decision.

Supporters of Mwenda have set up a Facebook group demanding his release.

3 comments · »»

Southeast Asia: Rice and food price crisis

Mong Palatino · 16:14

lingua → pt · fr · zht · zhs

Prices of rice and other basic food items are increasing in the world. The global food price crisis is affecting millions, possibly billions of people. Food policies are challenged. Governments are imposing emergency measures to calm down their restless constituents. The Southeast Asian region, home to several emerging and developing economies, is also struggling to cope with the situation.

For want of a better title more or less sums up the problem in the region:

“The biggest problem with our rising rice prices is that it’s more a distribution error than a problem with the rice yields. It’s more about politics than it is about agriculture…What’s probably going to happen though is an even higher rise in rice prices. The thing about a necessary product is that when price goes up, people buy more. And since they’re spending more on rice, they’ll spend less on the things that accompany that rice.”

Even Singapore, one of Asia's richest countries, is now scrambling to offer cheap food prices as reported by Singapore News Alternative.

Rice exporting nations are also gripped with panic. Thanh Nien cites that “Rice fever runs hot in several Vietnam provinces.” Details are Sketchy is worried because nearly half a million kids in Cambodia are expected to start missing meals in the coming weeks as a result of the rising cost of rice.

Vuthasurf describes the mood in Phnom Penh:

“The rice price is remarkably increasing in Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh residents have been buying and stocking rice. All type of rice price is increasing too fast and making Cambodian people worried. The price of rice is going up across the nation by more than 20 percent, comparing to the previous year. Rising the rice price is helping the farmers but it is hitting badly the poor such as garment workers, teachers, civil servants who have low-income.”

But Cambodia’s government is optimistic that rice production will improve. Im Sokthy explains:

“Cambodia has about two million hectare of land for rice production. Its existing irrigation system can cover 30 percent of the land. It can expand to three million hectares for rice production. Adding to this, Cambodia could cultivate about two to three times per year on the same land areas. Based on this, it is seen that Cambodia has huge potential to become the world's largest rice exporting country.”

Youthful Insight notes the anomaly in policymaking in Indonesia, which may be applicable as well to other countries:

“On one side the government must keep inflation and food price low enough so its does not hurt the poor. But on the other side the government must maintain a reasonable high price to give incentive to farmers to increase their production and increase rural welfare. Is there any policy to achieve both objectives above? Yes! Give high subsidy to the farmers like what the developed countries are doing. But the problem is our government does not have the money to do it.

“Cheap food price is good for poor urban, whose main sources of income are the service and manufacturing sectors. But bad for rural poor whose main source of income is agriculture sector. Lower food price means lower income and also lower welfare for rural area. The government sacrifices the rural for the sake of the urban. Why? Because urban poor is more attractive politically than rural poor.”

New Mandala mentions the ongoing debate in Thailand about the extent to which farmers will benefit from high rice prices. Thailand Crisis is surprised to hear the Thai Prime Minister exhorting the people to eat less so that Thailand can export more rice.

The Malaysian quotes a politician who is asking the Malaysian government to stop the space mission program so that the money can be used to develop Sabah as a food producing state.

Filipino journalist Ricky Carandang points to another reason for the rising food prices:

“Yes, there are real supply and demand factors driving up rice prices, but one must concede that a big chunk of the increases in the prices of oil, gold, and rice, are due to speculation on the international commodities markets.”

Lengua et Pluma blames the economic policies of the Philippine president:

“The government is quick to blame the traders, when it hides on the background its policies that pave the way for cartel operations and the declining rice production in the country. This crisis that has brought about the overdependence on the importation of food, and an agriculture that is geared mainly towards the production of raw materials for export, has put on the forefront the long-running problems that beset our agriculture and farmers –lack of irrigation, lack of subsidy on the production of our farmers, land use and crop conversion, and the monopoly of land by a few land owners and transnational corporations, to name a few.”

Local Freakonomics hopes the Brunei government will continue subsidizing the price of basic food items:

“While I don’t expect the government to subsidize all food but I do expect some food price subsidies/food security packages are being planned for Brunei’s staple food (in addition to rice and sugar) such as cooking oil, flour, milk, eggs, chicken.”

Related article: Southeast Asia and rising price of rice

4 comments · »»

Korean President's Visit to the U.S. and Media

Hyejin Kim · 14:39

lingua → mg

The first summit between America and South Korea since the Korean Presidential Election was held in Washington in April. Current President Lee Myung Bak’s visit to the U.S. attracted the attention of netizens. Besides the contents of the conversation between the two representatives, the issue of how conventional media in Korea will present the news is of interest to netizens because of unfriendly news about Roh Moo Hyun’s visit to other countries during his governance.

A netizen puts a series of posts about how media could respond differently.

The first post:

한국 시각 16일 미국 뉴욕에 도착한 이명박 대통령이 교포들을 만났다.그 자리에서 여러가지 말들을 쏟아 냈다.보수언론은 상당히 우호적인 입장으로 기사를 쓰고 있다.만약 노무현이 그랬다면 신문사들 반응이 어땠을까 상상해 본다.

“기분 같아서는 선거가 끝나고 그 다음날 뉴욕을 오고 싶었다”
또 망언…대통령 자리가 그렇게 한가한가?

“뉴욕 분들이 100%라고 말할 수는 없지만 99%는 저를 지지했다고 생각한다”
===>선거민심 자의적으로 해석하는 오만한 대통령

“미국과 유럽이 (경제에) 어려움이 오더라도 대한민국은 극복하고 성공할 수 있다는 자신감을 가질 수 있다”
===>이 대통령, 우물안 개구리? 글로벌 경제 현실에 너무 어두워

“새 정부는 작은 정부를 지향하고 있기 때문에 정부조직은 줄여나가려 하고 있고 앞으로 2단계 조직개편도 있을 것”(재외동포청 신설에 부정적)
===> 한국 동포들의 열망 짓밟는 한국 대통령

“부족한 것은 내 임기중에 많이 바꿔 놓으려고 하며, 내 임기는 5년이지만 10년 내에 일류 선진국가 수준에 갈 수 있을 것으로 본다”
==> 이 대통령, 무리한 장밋빛 미래만 언급

“규제도 없애고 국내외 기업들이 모든 분야에 걸쳐 한국에서 활동하는데 불편하지 않도록 법도 바꾸고 빠른 시간 내에 많은 변화가 이뤄지도록 하겠다”
===> 의회 권력 무시한 오만한 태도….대통령이 지시하면 법이 그냥 바뀌나?

“올해 세계 경제가 좋지 않다고 하는데 FTA가 되면 미국이 동아시아 경제권에 진입하는 교두보가 될 수 있을 것”
===> 한국경제 죽어가는데 미국경제 걱정만

“남북관계는 특수한 관계로 다른 나라와 북한과의 관계는 매우 다르다. 우리 동포라는 점을 인정하지 않을 수 없다”
===> 다시 도진 온정적 민족주의

“외국인도 공무원을 할 수 있도록 법을 바꿔 기회가 많아졌다”
===>내국인 일자리도 모자라는데 외국인까지 꼭 데려와야 하나?

“교육.금융.과학기술 등 여러 분야에서 젊은 교포 2세들을 스카우트하려 한다.”
===>근거없는 낙관…오란다고 다 올까?

On the sixteenth (Korean time), President Lee Myung Bak met overseas Koreans in New York. He poured out several words. Conservative media made articles with friendly perspectives. If Roh Moo Hyun did it, I imagined how newspapers would react.

“In my mind, I wanted to come to New York on the next day after the election.”
===> Absurd remark again… is the position of President at leisure?

“Although I can’t say 100 percent, I think 99 percent of Koreans in New York supported me.”
===> Arrogant President who interprets people’s minds in his own way.

“Even though the U.S. and Europe will have economic difficulties, Korea has the confidence to overcome and succeed.”
===> Is he like a frog that lives in a well? He’s way too ignorant of the reality of the global economy.

“The new government looks forward to the small government. Therefore, we will cut down the government organizations and will go through the second reorganization of the government systems (he is against establishing overseas Koreans’ bureau).”
===> Korean President who tramples on overseas Koreans’ desire.

“I will try to change what is weak during my governance. Even though my governance will be five years, I am sure that Korea will be the first developed country within 10 years.”
===> President who guaranteed unreliable future.

“I will get rid of regulations which make hurdles for domestic and foreign enterprises in Korea and will accomplish many changes in the short term.”
===> Arrogant attitude that disregarded authority of the National Assembly … can the laws change with President’s orders?

“Even though it is said the world economy is not good, after the accomplishment of the FTA, America can step into East Asia’s economy boundary.”
===> Regardless of the demise of the Korean economy, he is worried about the American economy.

“Relations between North and South Korea are special. It is different from relations between North Korea and other countries. We should not disregard them as our brothers.”
===> Paternal nationalism again.

“I will give opportunities for foreigners to work as civil servants.”
===> In the situation that is short of jobs in domestic markets, do we have to accept foreigners?

“I will scout from among the second generation of young Koreans in education, finance, and science technology.”
===> Groundless optimism… will they come if we ask?

The second post:

이명박이 줄리아니 전 뉴욕 시장에게 한 농담이 화제다.
“Why don’t you ask me how to win the primary?”
이를 두고 동아일보에서는
“사실 ‘예비경선에서 이기는 방법을 내게 물어보지 그랬어요?’라는 의미라면 ‘Why didn’t you ask me how to win the primary?’라고 해야 정확했겠지만 미국인들의 웃음을 자아내는 데는 아무 문제가 없었다.” 라고 썼다. 만약 노무현이 그랬다면 어땠을까? 아니면 동아일보가 이명박에게 노무현만큼 반감을 가졌다면 어땠을까? 다음과 같은 몇 가지 헤드라인들이 예상된다.

- 역시 상고출신…영어 문법 엉망
- 대학나와 영어 잘하는 번듯한 대통령이 그립다
- 공사판 콩글리쉬, 대한민국 품격 떨어진다
- 대한민국 국가원수가 왜 영어로?
- 당사자에 대한 외교적 결례…겉으로 웃지만 속으로는 부글부글
- 한글 맞춤법도 모르는 이 대통령, 이번엔 영어망신
- 부시와도 ‘막말'할까 비서진들 안절부절
- 국익 걸린 외교무대에서 왜 어설픈 영어로?
- 국익보다 우선하는 콩글리쉬 자랑?
- “솔직히 창피하다” 일부 교민 분통
- “서툰 영어는 오히려 손해”…익명의 미 고위 관료
- 외교의 기본도 모르는 대통령…한글 맞춤법부터 배워야
- 이 대통령, 한국말이 그렇게 창피한가?

A joke that President Lee Myung Bak told the previous New York mayor Giuliani became the talk of the town.
“Why don’t you ask me how to win the primary?”
About this, Dong-A Newspaper wrote,
“As a matter of fact, if he wanted to express, “Why didn’t you ask me how to win the primary,” he had to ask like that. But what he said didn’t have any problems of misunderstanding and led to laughs from Americans.” If Roh Moo Hyun did this? Or if Dong-A Newspaper had antipathy toward Lee Myung Bak as strong as they had toward Roh Moo Hyun, how would the article be? I can imagine several headlines.

- As expected, he’s from a commercial high school… English grammar is messy
- We miss the President who can speak right English with a college degree
- Konglish, dignity of Korea went down
- As the President of the Republic of Korea, why did he speak English?
- Diplomatic mistake toward the other side… even though they laughed outside, they must have been mad in their minds
- President who doesn’t speak Korean well… messy English this time
- Secretary team had jitters if he would speak roughly with the U.S. President
- Why did he speak in coarse English at a diplomatic meeting to talk about national interests?
- Bragging in Konglish rather than considering national interests?
- Honestly it’s embarrassing,” some overseas Koreans said
- “Coarse English bring damage”…. An American high positioned official said
- President who doesn’t even understand the etiquette of diplomacy… he should learn Korean first
- Is he that ashamed to speak Korea?

The third post:

미국에서 쇠고기 협상 타결 소식을 전해 들은 이명박의 일성이란다.

“양국 대표들이 어젯밤에 한숨도 안 자고 밤을 새서 협상을 했다고 들었다”
“새벽에 두 사람이 잠결에 합의한 것 같다”

보수언론은 한결같이 이 ‘조크'에 좌중의 폭소가 터졌다고 난리다. 한국 국민들은 미국산 미친 소를 먹게 생겼는데 그게 지금 조크가 나올 상황인지, 그리고 그게 지금 대통령의 뛰어난 조크 감각을 찬양하고 떠받들어야 하는 상황인지, 도대체 한국 언론들은 똥인지 된장인지 구분도 못하나?
만약 노무현이 그랬다면 언론의 1면은 이렇게 장식되지 않았을까?
- “잠결에 합의”? 대통령, 잠꼬대 하나
- 대통령 또 막말…농민들 부글부글
- 밤샘 협상 했다면서 무조건 항복…협상단 뭐했나
- 대통령, 미국 소 먹어보긴 했을까
- 국민 생명 댓가로 캠프 데이비드 하룻밤…대통령의 화려한 외출
- “청와대부터 미친 소 먹어라” 네티즌 항의 빗발
- “솔직히 이렇게 쉽게 타결될 줄 몰랐다” 익명의 미 고위 관리

President Lee Myung Bak said, while he stayed in America after he heard the negotiation of beef trade between Korea and America completed:
“I heard that representatives of the two countries had a negotiation staying up whole night yesterday” “It seems that they completed the negotiations while asleep in the dawn.”

Conservative media said that due to such jokes from him all people around him burst out laughing. In the moment that Koreans had to start eating any American cows, including crazy cows, how come he could tell a joke and how come they praise the sense of his humor?

If Roh Moo Hyun reacted like that, how would the media react?
- Agreement while asleep? Is he talking in his sleep?
- His blunt remark again… peasants are mad…
- Surrender regardless of the negotiation the whole night… what did the negotiation team do?
- President, has he even tried American beef?
- With the cost of peoples’ lives, a night at Camp David… luxurious outing of the President
- “The Blue House should try the crazy cows first” Netizens’ continual criticisms
- “Honestly speaking, I even didn’t expect it will be solved so fast,” An American high-positioned officer said

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Guatemala: Celebrating Earth Day and Ways to Preserve

Renata Avila · 04:57

lingua → es

Photo by Ivan Castro and used under a Creative Commons license.

The name of Guatemala derives from a Mayan word meaning “the land of trees”. Actions in the form of words is the way that I describe the spirit of bloggers telling the world what are they doing to protect and save the planet. From small local governments to desks of people in the city, many bloggers are conscious about the environment and they are telling the world some examples of what we can do, as Mr. Man says:

En Guatemala, Mexico, y varios países de Latinoamérica aun producen sus emisiones de co2, no toman en serio la Alerta, las personas son incapaces de tomar decisiones si el estado de los respectivos países no se preocupa, la crisis energetica es lo que es por el mal actuar, y si ahora no nos preocupamos por este cambio climático, se va avecinar una peor situacion, en la cual no hay vuelta atras. Este va ser el Mundo del mañana que van a vivir las futuras generaciones.

In Guatemala, Mexico and other countries in Latin America still produces CO2 emissions, and the countries do not take the alert seriously, people are even incapable of deciding to do something if the State of each country is not concerned. Energy crisis is what it is because of our bad behaviour, and now we are not concerned with global warming, and a worse situation is approaching, there is no turning back. This is the world of tomorrow, where future generations will live.

But there are also small actions by local governments that are taking place. The blog a small local government in Quezaltepeque described their actions [es]:

Entre los distintos bosques podemos mencionar el bosque de Santa Teresa, bosque de Yocón y el bosque del caserío San Juan de la aldea Cubiletes, en los cuales se han realizado prácticas de reforestación y los cuidados necesarios para evitar que incendios forestales acaben con nuestra flora y fauna.

Among the different forests we have Santa Teresa, Yokón and the one near San Juan, in “Muffins” Village, where we have reforested and have taken all the necessary care to protect our flora and fauna from fires.

Among the different posts was the one by El Diario del Gallo,

Considero que el dia de la tierra se empezó a celebrar justamente en el primer minuto cuando una primera mujer o un primer hombre de lejana comunidad prehistorica se alegró de descubrir el agua para beber, el fuego para cocinar y abrigarse del frío, el suelo para cultivar, el aire que le tonificó cuando cansado salió a la orilla de su cueva en la parte más alta de su casa en la montaña y llenó sus lpulmones y se sintió como nuevo, y todo esto y más aún nos dá la tierra. El celebrar el Día de la Tierra forma parte de una estrategia de concienciacciòn y educación ambiental, pero es necesario que nosotros como ciudadanos del mundo de nuestro país Guatemala, el cambiar nuestra forma de vida y de consumo, de proteger nuestra riqueza natural y sobre todas las cosas el “agua”.

I think that the first celebration of earth day took place when the primitive man or woman from a prehistorical community was happy to first discover the water to drink, the fire to cook and warmth, the soil to grow crops, the air that purified him when he went out of from his cave at the top of the mountain and breathed and felt renewed. All of this and more is given by the Earth. To celebrate the Earth is part of a strategy of environmental motivation and education, but it is necessary that we, as citizens of the world and our country, change the way we live and how we consume. It is necessary to protect our natural heritage and above all “the water”.

The first Blog in Peten, the largest area in Guatemala, El Blog de Rudel commented about a forgotten Natural Reserve, and he is concerned about it as is an important resource for the Planet:

El día de ayer tuve a bien sobrevolar la zona de Chiquibul, una reserva forestal que forma parte del sistema guatemalteco de áreas protegidas, y se ubica en la parte central del departamento adyacente a la linea imaginaria con Belice. Del lado Guatemalteco hay comunidades como Carrizal, El Limon, Los Olivos entre otros, y de nuestro lado esta mas dañado. Del lado de Belice, la Reserva de Chiquibul se constituye en la mayor reserva forestal de Belice y se encuentra en buenas condiciones. Sin embargo, de ambos lados, esta reserva puede ser explotado turisticamente, particularmente el turismo de aventura, ya que la zona es propicia para la espeleologia, el campamento, navegacion en rapidos, entre otros.Aqui se encuentra el sistema de cavernas de mayor extension de centroamerica. Del lago Guatemalteco, existe una gigantesca caverna en donde se introduce el Río Chiquibul, y aparece a unos 20 kilometros al norte. … Me preocupa que este ecosistema se pierda. Los medios solo hablan de la RBM, pero hemos olvidado la parte central saliente de Petén y este bello lugar.

Yesterday, I was flying above the area of Chiquibul, a forest reserve that is part of the Guatemalan System of Protected Areas, located in the center of Belize's frontier. On our side there are communities like Carrizal, El Limon, Los Olivos among others, and our side is the one showing more damage. For Belize, Chiquibul is their largest forest reserve and it is well preserved. But both sides can become tourism spots, mostly for adventure tourism, because the zone is great to explore caves, to camp, to practice rafting, among other attractions. Here is the largest chain of caves in all of Central America. Of Guatemala Lake, there is an enormous cave where Chiquibul River passes and appears some 20 km to the north… I'm concerned that we are losing the ecosystem. The media only talks about Maya Reserve Biosphere, but we have forgotten the center of Petén and the beautiful place that I described earlier.

Global or at least, local warming is also getting serious. According to El Zacapaneco Guatemalan weather was perfect the whole year, but now is hot, humid and getting worse. A man died because of the extremely hot weather.

The Planet is sending us clear signals and small actions can really make the difference. The added value of countries like Guatemala, meaning the land of trees, where people have to cut down beautiful rain forests because they do not have alternative means of living, is a loss for the citizens of the world. However, bloggers are suggesting small actions that can result in big changes.

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Japan: Nagano red for Olympic torch relay

Chris Salzberg · 03:21

lingua → zht · zhs

Update: Video footage added below.

The Japanese leg of the Olympic torch relay came to an end on Saturday without serious incident, but many Japanese bloggers who attended the event were left with lasting — and often bitter — impressions. The story of a Tibetan exile living in Taiwan, who jumped at the runner and was taken down by police, sparked hundreds of posts on 2channel, as did the choice of police to block protesters holding Tibetan flags from entering the area around the finish line.

Clash of flags at the Olympic torch relay in Nagano. (from Mousan's Flickr page)

Many bloggers pointed out how Nagano, for one day, seemed to transform into China. Blogger shuyan writes:

私の印象は「この一日だけ長野は完全に中国と化した」ということです。
テレビや写真などで確認できる映像は、とにかく赤い国旗のオンパレードでした。
物々しい警備などを見て「本当にこれが日本？」と思われた方も多いでしょう。
この異様な雰囲気は、平和の祭典とあまりにかけ離れているといった感じです。

My impression was that: “For this one day only, Nagano has transformed completely into China.”
The images confirmed on television and in pictures were at any rate that of a cavalcade of red national flags.
I suppose a lot of people, seeing the overbearing security, must have wondered: “Is this really Japan?”
This strange atmosphere had a feeling that was worlds apart from a peace festival.

In a post entitled “Nagano was red”, blogger Vasi (ヴァスィ) writes:

真っ赤に染まった沿道。
ぶつかり合うチベット支援者と中国人。
何重にも取り囲まれて走る聖火ランナー。
ゴール地点に中国人しか入れさせない長野県警。
弱腰で偏向なマスコミ。(これは異様ってこともないか…)

Roads steeped in a deep red.
Clashing Tibet supporters and Chinese people.
The running torchbearer, surrounded by many layers [of security].
The Nagano prefectural police, admitting only Chinese people to the finish line.
The weak and biased mass media. (This is nothing out of the ordinary…)

Olympic torch relay in Nagano. (from Mousan's Flickr page)

Many bloggers expressed frustration at the police presence. Blogger ae0800 writes about their own experience:

僕はスタートの約2時間前、午前6時前後にスタート地点を通過したんですが、その際も持っていたメッセージボードをバッグにしまうよう、警察から指示を受けました。曰く「君たちをトラブルから守るため。それに従えないなら、ここを通すことは出来ない。」ということ。スタート地点周辺は既に中国の国旗が多数はためいている状況でしたが、それでも「埋めつくされている」という状態ではなくむしろスペースかなりがある状態だったにも関わらず、チベット支援者が国旗やボードを掲げる行為、あるいは「そこに留まること」は許されませんでした。同行していた何人かが抗議の声を挙げましたが、「それはここで話す内容ではない。説明や質問は一切受け付けない。」という形でかなり高圧的な対応をされていました。

I passed the starting line around 6am, about two hours before the start of the relay, and at that time I was told by the police to put the message board I was holding into my bag. The pretext was that: “It is to protect you guys from trouble. If you can't follow [these rules], you can't continue past here.” Even though there were already many Chinese flags fluttering in the area around the starting line, and regardless of the fact that it was not “packed [with people]” at all and there was lots of space, Tibet supporters were not allowed to wave national flags or to carry boards, or to “remain there”. Some people who were walking with us raised their voices in protest, but they were met with very oppressive treatment and told that: “That is not something we should talk about here. No explanation or questions will be accepted.”

Olympic torch relay in Nagano. (from Mousan's Flickr page)

An article at OhmyNews cast suspicions, however, on the motivations of some of the pro-Tibet protesters. As writer Fujikura Yoshiro explains:

26日、長野市で行われた聖火リレーのスタート前に見かけた「チベット側支援者」の小競り合いには、現場で取材していて、ある不自然さを感じた。というのも、その場の「チベット側支援者」の言葉や態度が、これまでオーマイニュースでリポートされてきたチベット人のデモ行進や関係者の発言とは、明らかに違ったのだ。

On the 26th, in the skirmish of “Tibet supporters” that happened before the start of the torch relay in Nagano City, I was covering the event at the site, and I felt a certain unnaturalness. The words and attitude of the “Tibet supporters” at the event were clearly different from the demonstration marches and speeches of Tibetan people that have been reported on in OhmyNews in the past.

The article goes on to explain that these “Tibet supporters” were actually Japanese “fake Tibet supporters” deliberately trying to cause problems:

スタート地点にいたチベット側支援者たちは、中国人に向かって「帰れ！」「虐殺糾弾！」など、強い調子で非難の言葉を吐いていた。「帰れ」という言葉が、ここでの小競り合いの原因にもなっている。しかし、これまでオーマイニュースでリポートされてきたチベット人のデモなどには、これほどの攻撃性が感じられなかった。ただひたすら「フリーチベット」とコールしているだけで、中国への非難や恨みをモチベーションに活動しているといった印象をまったく受けなかった。

The Tibet supporters who were at the starting line of the torch relay faced the Chinese people and yelled words of criticism in the strongest terms, things like “Go home!” and “End the bloodshed!”. The expression “Go home!” was the cause that triggered the skirmish at the event. However, at Tibetan demonstrations that have been covered in the past for OhmyNews, I never felt this level of aggressiveness. I never once had the impression at the other demonstrations that the protesters were just calling out “Free Tibet” to cause problems, or that they were motivated in their activity by criticism of China or by resentment.

The article concludes with these thoughts:

　チベット人グループと主張が違っていたとしても、チベット旗を掲げ、「フリーチベット」を唱えていた以上、チベット人を支援する意思はあるのだろう。しかし、果たして彼らの存在はチベット人のためになるのだろうか。

Even assuming their claims are different from those of the Tibetan groups, they are waving a Tibetan flag and chanting “Free Tibet”, so I guess that their intention is to support the Tibetan people. However, I really doubt that them being at this event is of any benefit to the Tibetans.

　むしろ彼らの行動や態度が、「似非チベットvs中国人」のトラブルを「チベット人vs中国人」であるかのようにメディアや世間に見せつけ、チベット人の足を引っ張ることになりはしないか。

Instead, don't their actions and attitude just make it seem to the media and society that the trouble of “Fake Tibetans vs. Chinese” is the trouble of “Tibetans vs. Chinese”, in doing so dragging down the Tibetan people?

　今回の聖火リレー騒動では、長野市が北京に見えてしまうほどの中国人の動員力と統率力に驚かされ、チベット人グループのまじめで悲痛な訴えにシンパシーを感じた。しかし同時に、“似非チベット”の醜さも見せつけられたイベントでもあったように思う。

In the disturbance at the torch relay, it surprised me that the mobilization and leadership of Chinese people was so great that it made Nagano city look like Beijing, and I felt sympathy for the diligent and heartbreaking appeal of Tibetan groups. However at the same time, it also seemed to me that this was an event which displayed the ugliness of the “Fake Tibet”.

Meanwhile, a 40-year-old truck driver, blogging at Kurukichi no hitorigoto, was fed up with both sides:

正直、中国人留学生とチベット支援者がバカ騒ぎするだけの集まりにしか見えませんでした。
留学生も支援者たちも行けばどんな風になるか、わかっているようなものなのに、現地に行って、いざ小競り合いになって怪我人出してたら世話ないですね。

Honestly, the only thing I saw was a gathering of Chinese students in Japan and Tibet supporters messing around and making a disturbance.
Even though both the Chinese students and the Tibet supporters knew what kind of thing would happen if they came, they go to the spot anyway and quarrel with each other, so if anybody is injured, they don't deserve any help.

スタート前、右翼の関係者ともめて、怪我をした留学生もいるようですが、これは右翼側が悪いにしても、そんなところに行って御騒ぎすればどうなるかわかると思います。
また、チベット支援者も物を投げたり、乱入しようとしたりと、ただただ迷惑をかけているようにしか見えませんでした。

It seems that before the start of the relay, there were some Chinese students who quarreled with right-wingers. Even if these right-wingers were wrong though, I think the students knew what they were getting into going to this kind of place and creating a disturbance.
Also, these Tibet supporters throwing things and trespassing, all I see here is people trying to create trouble.

いろんな言い分はあるにしても、私は双方どちらともいいことをしたとは思えません。
正直、このリレーより善光寺で行われた、チベット騒動の犠牲者の追悼法要の方が落ち着いた感じで視れました。

Even if they had various things to say, I just don't feel that what either party did was a good thing.
Honestly, more so than the relay itself, the Buddhist memorial service at Zenkoji mourning victims of the Tibet uprising seemed to have a feeling of calm.

Finally, blogger OTO tried to move beyond the dispute and hoped for a resolution of the conflict:

北京五輪聖火リレーで少し問題があったみたいです。でも、日本ですから大丈夫です。中国とチベットの問題は２国で解決してし欲しいです。聖火リレーはみんなの人たちにして欲しいです。

Seems like there were a few problems at the Beijing Olympic torch relay. But it was in Japan, so it was okay. I wish that the problems of China and Tibet could be solved by the two countries. I wish that the torch relay could be for all people.

Video footage of Nagano torch relay from Channel Sakura. (via i-morley.com [ja])

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