Torch relay inspires show of patriotism in Hong Kong
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=3DD90DK4PO0&show_article=3D1
May 2 12:30 PM US/Eastern
By WILLIAM FOREMAN
Associated Press Writer Write a Comment
HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong's near flawless Olympic torch relay
Friday might help ease Beijing's suspicions that the former British
colony doesn't love the Chinese motherland enough.
Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents dressed in red=97the Communist
Party's favorite color=97lined the streets and cheered during the
flame's tour through this bastion of capitalism.
There were no massive protests demanding more democracy in the city
that Britain handed back to China 11 years ago. Human rights groups
and pro-Tibet activists didn't try to block the relay, as others have
during the flame's overseas odyssey in 20 nations.
Instead, for many in Hong Kong, it was a day to celebrate and be proud
to be Chinese. Many carried Chinese flags or wore big red stickers on
their ****rts saying, "Go China!"
After the relay, Hong Kong's No. 2 leader, Henry Tang, praised the
turnout of more than 100,000, saying people created an "ocean of red
that has washed over Hong Kong."
Hong Kong has long been different from the rest of the China. Much of
its population was born in mainland China but fled to Hong Kong to
escape the poverty and turmoil of the first decades of Communist
rule.
In the final years of the British era, many residents scrambled to
apply for citizen****p in the U.S., Britain and Canada, among other
countries.
The city still holds annual vigils marking the bloody crackdown on the
Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing in 1989. Activists have also held
massive street demonstrations for more democracy.
All this has caused Beijing to wonder about how deep the patriotic
feelings run among Hong Kong's 6.8 million people. The Chinese
leader****p does not let the city's voters directly elect top leaders,
and officials partly blame a lack of trust.
When it returned to Chinese rule, Hong Kong was promised a wide degree
of autonomy under a "one country, two systems" formula. The
arrangement allows civil liberties=97like the freedom of speech=97that
those in the rest of China can only dream about.
That's why the day before the torch relay, actress Mia Farrow was
allowed into Hong Kong to give a speech criticizing China's ties with
Sudan. On Friday, she staged a one-woman protest on the sidelines of
the relay, lighting her own torch to honor those killed in the
fighting in Sudan's Darfur region.
"As the games approach, China has the op****tunity to change the course
of history," she said, urging Beijing to use its influence to stop the
bloodshed.
At times Friday, the strong feelings for China boiled over and caused
conflicts with pro-Tibet and democracy protesters.
One large group of torch sup****ters confronted pro-democracy
activists, yelling "running dog," "traitor" and "get out." One heckler
said, "Do you think this is Paris?"=97a reference to the disruption of
the relay in the French capital.
About 80 police surrounded the protesters and eventually put them in a
police van for protection.
Pro-Tibet university student Christina Chan was threatened by 30 torch
sup****ters who pushed and shoved a dozen officers protecting her.
Several onlookers heckled Chan, shouting "What kind of Chinese are
you?" and "What a shame!"
Chan, who had a Tibet flag, said, "Why can't we just respect each
other and express our views?"
As the crowd became more hostile, police put Chan in a van against her
will.
"What right do they have to take me away? I have a right to express my
opinion," she said.
The flame heads next to Macau for a relay Saturday.
Also Friday, state media re****ted that China has named the 50-member
national team charged with carrying a separate Olympic flame to the
summit of Mount Everest.
The team, including mountaineers and sup****t staff, is composed of Han
Chinese, ethnic Tibetans, and other ethnic minorities such as Hui, Tu
and Tujia, said Zhang Zhijian, a spokesman for the Chinese
Mountaineering Team, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Climbing the 29,035-foot summit "is a collective job; nobody can do it
alone," said Zhang, who spoke to re****ters at Everest base camp. The
timing of the ascent depends on the weather.
The Everest ascent is considered sensitive because the mountain slope
lies in Tibet, where protests against Chinese rule were put down by
soldiers and police in March. Reaction to the crackdown sparked unruly
protests during the torch relay.
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