The Mission Impossible with Chinese Characteristics !? -- China¡¯s Leader
Orders Police to Ensure Olympic Security / NYTimes
The New York Times
April 2, 2008
China¡¯s Leader Orders Police to Ensure Olympic Security
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
SHANGHAI ¡ª The Chinese president, Hu Jintao, has ordered his nation¡¯s
security forces to place a top priority on the Olympic Games in August,
saying that China¡¯s international reputation is at stake.
China has increased its accusations that Tibetans are planning violent
attacks in their quest for increased autonomy, which the Tibetans deny.
¡°Security must take priority,¡± Mr. Hu was quoted as saying in the
People¡¯s Armed Police News, published by China¡¯s paramilitary police
force. ¡°Without security guarantees there cannot be a successful Olympic
Games, and without security guarantees the national image will be lost.¡±
In one of the latest accusations, a spokesman for the Public Security
Bureau, Wu Heping, said Tuesday: ¡°To our knowledge, the next plan of the
Tibetan independence forces is to organize suicide squads to launch
violent attacks. They claimed that they fear neither bloodshed nor
sacrifice.¡±
A senior official in the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala,
India, immediately denied the Chinese accusations. ¡°Tibetan exiles are
100 percent committed to nonviolence,¡± said the official, Prime Minister
Samdhong Rinpoche. ¡°But we fear that Chinese might masquerade as
Tibetans and plan such attacks to give bad publicity to Tibetans.¡±
The escalation in accusations follows the wave of sometimes violent
protests against Chinese rule that swept Tibet and other areas of
western China in recent weeks. The Chinese government cracked down on
Tibetans and suppressed the protests, describing them as part of a
secessionist bid led by what China calls the ¡°Dalai clique.¡±
The People¡¯s Armed Police News said a ¡°political mobilization order¡±
had
gone out to security forces telling them to prepare for an arduous time
ensuring order and control before and during the Games.
¡°The drums of war are sounding, a decisive battle is at hand,¡± the
newspaper said. ¡°For the sake of the Chinese nation¡¯s image and for the
honor of the People¡¯s Armed Police, let us never forget our duty.¡±
Recent indications suggest that China¡¯s war of words against the Dalai
Lama, denouncing him in increasingly shrill terms as a separatist and
terrorist, has increased international sup****t for him. On Tuesday,
France¡¯s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said the Dalai Lama could
be invited ¡°shortly¡± to Brussels to meet with European Union foreign
ministers.
China has refused offers of mediation in the unrest in Tibet, calling
the situation a matter of national sovereignty. Beijing has also
criticized foreign governments for receiving the Dalai Lama.
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