Anti-China Protester Sets Himself On Fire

Demonstrations Worldwide As Olympics Begin; 3 Americans Held In Beijing For Tibet Protests

(AP)  An anti-China protester set himself on fire outside the Chinese Embassy in the Turkish capital and demonstrators raised the Tibetan flag Friday in defiance in London in protests worldwide timed to coincide with the start of the Beijing Olympics.

In Ankara, a demonstrator suffered second-degree burns after setting himself on fire during a rally by several hundred ethnic Uighurs, officials said. He was identified as a 35-year-old from Turkey's local Uighur community, an ethnic minority in China seeking independence or greater autonomy.

In Katmandu, Nepal's capital, thousands of Tibetan exiles demonstrated at the Chinese Embassy, shouting, "China, thief: Leave our country. Stop killing in Tibet."

Police forcibly dispersed the protesters, some of whom tried to storm the embassy, police official Ramesh Thapa said. More than 1,000 people were detained for violating a ban on demonstrations - the largest number of Tibetans detained in a single day in Katmandu.

More than 2,000 protesters marched in Dharmsala, a north Indian hill town that is home to the Tibetan government-in-exile and the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.

In China, three Americans who planned to hold Tibetan flags during the opening ceremony were detained by police as they traveled to Beijing National Stadium, Students for a Free Tibet executive director Lhadon Tethong said. Police could not immediately confirm the incident.

While the spectacle of the opening ceremonies was broadcast on large screens in London's Trafalgar Square, the Chinese Embassy was the focus for protesters railing against the country's treatment of people in Tibet, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Myanmar.

"The Olympics shouldn't have been offered to China on the basis of their human rights record," said Liawang Tsang, whose family fled Tibet nine years ago. "But from this, there have been positives as the attention of the world is now on China and their human rights record is in the spotlight."

About 300 people gathered in front of the embassy, most wearing red headbands in memory of people killed in Tibet. They demonstrated amid a sea of flags, and were accompanied by a Buddhist monk. A small counter-demonstration of about a dozen people took place around the corner from the embassy.

Hundreds in Brussels joined the global protest, with five demonstrators standing outside the European Union headquarters with Olympic rings around their necks, bloodstained bandages on their heads and their wrists bound in chains to call for a free Tibet.

The Beijing Games have become a focus for activists critical of China on issues ranging from its human rights record and heavy-handed rule in Tibet, to its abortion policies and repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

Beijing considers the Olympic Games a huge source of national pride and is doing all it can to make sure they go off without a hitch - such as ugly television images of protesters scuffling with police.

In China, authorities were on their highest alert in the final hours before the opening ceremony, guarding against anyone who might try to take the shine off the curtain raiser watched worldwide.

Beijing's landmark Tiananmen Square was sealed off. Foreigners who have protested in recent days were deported, and Chinese who did the same were in custody. The tight controls imposed by China's autocratic government have so far ensured that the handful of protests in the host city have been small and relatively quiet.

In semiautonomous Hong Kong, Briton Matt Pearce was detained after unfurling two banners on a major bridge. Wearing a mask of a horse's head and a white shirt bearing the Olympic rings, Pearce hung banners reading: "We want human rights and democracy" and "The people of China want freedom from oppression."

Hong Kong police said he was being held for questioning on a possible charge of causing a public nuisance.

Forty other protesters chanted slogans urging China to democratize near one of the venues for the Olympic equestrian event, to be held in Hong Kong.

Tibet activists have stepped up their international campaign against Chinese rule in their homeland since demonstrations erupted in the Tibetan capital in March and Beijing responded with a military crackdown.

Those protests were some of the biggest against almost 50 years of Chinese rule. Many Tibetans insist they were an independent nation before Communist troops invaded in 1950, while Beijing says the Himalayan region has been part of its territory for centuries.

[tootall10142]

This man is taking the politics to whole new level of stupidity.I would like to live long enough to the results of the efforts put forth by the masses and democracy.This man was having a bad day!

[joechristine]

An important theme of Beijing Olympic Games'' opening ceremony is pacification,peace and kindness,especially emphasising ethnic unity ,equality and common prosperousness through demonstrating that 56 children wearing different ethnic traditional clothes ,including Tibetan and Uighur traditional clothes,sang a song in the opening ceremony.That scene was quite moving.China has 56 ethnic groups.

[wcreader]

It is sad to see few western media to bias, selective reporting and act as spoke person for the extremist group; to mixed or even steal Olympic Game (Sport) with Politic. Are these "Uighurs" team as well as the "Tibet activists" not terrorist group? who bomb and kill 16 Chinese police officer a few days ago, who kill innocent citizens in Tibet street in the 03/08 can caught by cameria. It is shame that these special interest groups to act again during Olympic time to step up their international campaign and violent acts to demonize China, thus, to achieve their special interest. After all, Tibet belongs to China and is already free. ..."Beijing responded with a military crackdown"?? Is it a "crackdown" or is it, indeed, police officers to keep the law and order. Why AP only post unbalance reporting, only report the few special interest extramist gorup view point, where is human right for many milion if not Bilion of Chinese citizen (Han, Tiben and other 56 group included)? Where is AP when more than 3000 protest CNN and voice support for Olympic in SF street and else where in the world? Olympic is to pull people together, Not as unporfessional reporter or these extremist trying to inject hate to others.

[libsluv2spit]

dude, you read the intructions backwards....

Posted by six-six-seis at 04:32 PM : Aug 08, 2008
+ report abuse

*******

I wonder if there are any mexicans at the olympics?? Too bad ''having babies'' is not an olympic sport...your momma could win the gold

[hypnotoad72]

Hmmm. Teriyaki chicken flambe on a stick... I''ll get the moo goo gai pan and fortune cookie... :-9

[pensacola88]

Temporary problem - Permanent Solution.

[papabc]

The man is from "Turkey" and Uighur, which is an Islamic tribe in Western China. They too have suffered for years at the hands of the Chinese Communists.

Marshmallows anyone?

Maybe the Islamic Terrorist have been bugging China so they squashed them.

China may not be much better but I really do not like Islamic Terrorist.

The man is from "Turkey" and Uighur, which is an Islamic tribe in Western China. They too have suffered for years at the hands of the Chinese Communists.

[airboatboy]

They should of used him to light the torch!

[six-six-seis]

dude, you read the intructions backwards....

[alphaa10-2009]

Interesting, the number of indifferent comments posted from those who only can be presumed human-- they do not answer the phone when something like this happens.

Demonstrations like the Uighur''s have a history. Remember it was the self-immolating Buddhist monks in Vietnam which set off a massive protest against the Diem government.

Clearly, Asians take suicide as a sacrificial gesture, even as we honor our soldiers who sacrifice themselves in the line of duty for their fellows and country.

Uighurs are one of many minorities in the PRC harassed for their cultural and religious differences by the Beijing regime. The Uighur region was the site, recently, of an attack by insurgents against a PRC police station, so local feeling runs very strongly against Beijing.

Note, the protester himself is an ethnic Chinese Uighur, so this appears to be more a religious and cultural issue than a clash of PRC racial minority vs. Han Chinese majority.

Clearly, the PRC leadership has made no apology for being the "dictatorship" part of the Marxist dictatorship of the proletariat.

[jtdev1]

Now that''s really going to hurt the Chinese...

are people really that stupid?


I guess so...

[fstop100]

What was he thinking?

[eggy1620]

He was not protesting Tibet, moron.

[zorar-2009]

see this website
http://www.icebox.com/index.php?id=show&showid=s10

[zorar-2009]

http://www.icebox.com/index.php?id=show&showid=s10

[ramos937]

On the guy setting himself on fire - What a stupid thing to do!!!!

[antoniof123]

Now that is a bright idea.

[kkcbs]

fiona, *** are you blabbering about???

[xxunknown]

Will he get a medal for that?
Posted by Extremophil
-------------------------------
tee hee!