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Pro-Tibet activists have scaled the vertical cables of San Francisco's famed Golden Gate Bridge and hung banners to protest the arrival of the Olympic torch in the city on Wednesday.
Wearing helmets and safety gloves, the three experienced climbers hung banners saying " Free Tibet" between three parallel red cables after a careful ascent. They remained on the cables for more than three hours before bridge workers cut the banners and they came down.
An officer with the California Highway Patrol said the three climbers and four others who assisted them from the bridge would be charged with felony conspiracy.
San Francisco, where nearly a third of the population is of Asian origin, is the only American city to host the Olympic torch this year.
The Olympic flame is being carried through 20 countries before arriving for the Beijing Games, which begin on 8 August.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he will not allow Chinese guards to protect the torch when it tours the capital, Canberra, on 24 April. Chinese guards have protected the torch on earlier legs, including Paris and London.
Chaotic scenes in Europe Earlier in Paris, Chinese officials called off a chaotic relay of the torch after thousands of pro-Tibet protesters tried to block its path and the flame had to be extinguished at least twice.
The relay became a debacle as it passed through the French capital on Monday, with organisers forced to carry the flame by bus.
Chinese authorities condemned as "vile" the growing campaign by activists to use the build-up to the Beijing Olympics as a stage on which to condemn China's record in Tibet, on human rights in general and in its foreign policy.
The Paris torch relay hit trouble almost as soon as it set off from the Eiffel Tower, and was repeatedly halted by protesters who threatened to break through the imposing security cordon thrown around the athletes carrying the flame.
The torch had to be extinguished because of a technical problem, French police said. A Chinese official was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying it was put out for safety reasons.
"Boycott Chinese goods" and "Save Tibet" read banners held by demonstrators. At least 23 people were briefly detained by police, a spokesman for the Free Tibet movement said.
Embarrassed Chinese organisers later cancelled a reception for the torch at Paris city hall at the last minute after a banner supporting human rights was hung from the facade, Paris mayor Bernard Delanoe said.
In London, thousands of protesters waving Tibetan flags and shouting "Shame on China" turned Sunday's British leg of the international relay billed by Beijing as the "harmonious journey" into an obstacle course. Police detained 35 people.
Unrest in Tibet In March, Tibet's capital Lhasa was hit by Buddhist monks' protests against Chinese rule which gave way to rioting. Since then, security forces have poured in to reimpose control there and in other restive Tibetan areas.
Exiled Tibetans accuse China of systematic oppression of the Himalayan region over decades, and of the killing, torture and unjust imprisonment of those who oppose Beijing's rule.
The first group of suspects accused of deadly rioting in Lhasa in March will soon go on trial, the China News Service reported, quoting officials.
China accuses Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, of organising the unrest to disrupt the Olympics. The Dalai Lama has denied the accusations, saying he wants autonomy, not independence, for Tibet.
China says 19 people died in the Lhasa unrest, mostly at the hands of Tibetan rioters. Representatives of the Dalai Lama say about 140 people died in broader unrest across Tibet and nearby areas, most of them Tibetans killed by Chinese security forces.
source: 7apr2008
SAN FRANCISCO—Three people protesting China's human rights record and the impending arrival of the Olympic torch climbed up the Golden Gate Bridge on Monday and tied the Tibetan flag and two banners to its cables. The banners read "One World One Dream. Free Tibet" and "Free Tibet 08."
The protesters wore helmets and harnesses as they made their way up the cables running next to the south tower of the famed span. The climb had the group suspended about 150 feet above traffic.
Reached by cell phone as he dangled from the bridge, demonstrator Laurel Sutherlin said he was worried that the torch's planned route through Tibet would lead to more arrests and Chinese officials would use force to stifle dissent.
"The leaders of China have said they'll maintain order at all costs, and we know what that means—bloodshed and violent oppression," he said. "If the IOC allows the torch to proceed into Tibet they'll have blood on their hands."
The protesters later climbed down and bridge workers cut down the signs.
In all, seven were charged with conspiracy and causing a public nuisance, with the three climbers facing additional charges of trespassing, said Mary Ziegenbien, a spokeswoman with the California Highway Patrol.
The bridge protest's organizers said they'll remain faithful to their mission of protesting without violence when the torch relay takes place Wednesday here, its only North American stop, despite the disruptive action on the Golden Gate.
They said they wanted to take full advantage of the moment in the international spotlight to get their message out.
"This is a life or death situation for Tibetans," said Yangchen Lhamo, an organizer of Monday's banner hanging who is on the board of directors of Students for a Free Tibet.
The torch's path around the globe already has been marked by protests against China's policies toward Tibet, Sudan, Myanmar and Chinese dissidents, such as practitioners of Falun Gong.
In Paris, organizers canceled the final leg of the Olympic run after chaotic protests, snuffing out the torch and putting it aboard a bus.
Rallies, vigils and news conferences related to the torch's arrival have taken place in San Francisco almost daily for the past several weeks. More are planned over the next two days in anticipation of the torch's arrival.
About 80 torchbearers will carry the flame on a six-mile route along the San Francisco Bay.
On Monday, government and law enforcement conferred in last-minute preparations to keep rallies under control.
City leaders watched events around the world to develop a plan striking a balance between protesters' rights to express their views and San Francisco's ability to host a safe torch ceremony on Wednesday.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the police department said they reserved the right to adjust the flame's route if necessary. The air space above the city will be restricted during the relay, a federal aviation spokesman said.
Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for Newsom, dismissed rumors that the relay would be canceled. Newsom met with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong on Monday afternoon to discuss security measures for the relay, Ballard said.
"It was a good meeting and they discussed their shared desire to try to limit the kind of chaos that we have seen in London and Paris," he said.
U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth said in a statement the event was "an important moment for the city to show its character, hospitality and commitment to peace and tolerance."
"It must provide a proper forum for the peaceful expression of opinions and dissent. And it must safely and respectfully welcome the flame and honor the U.S. athletes and other participants who will carry the torch," Ueberroth said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who did not plan to attend the torch ceremony, said he defended protesters' right to "show how displeased they are with what China is doing with Tibet," but does not support a boycott of the games' opening ceremony in China.
"Sports should not be used in order to go and start to do diplomacy," he said.
In spite of preparations, the tumult around flame has left one of the torchbearers worried.
Lorri Coppola, a champion racewalker whose body is being slowly shut down by Lou Gehrig's disease, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, has met with the Dalai Lama in the past, and understands the protesters' motives.
"They are doing it in the free countries because they know what might happen should they try to protest in China!" she wrote by e-mail, as the disease has cost her the ability to speak.
source: 7apr2008
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