Who would have predicted that the 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing, China, would have run into controversy months before they were due to open? But it’s happened. In London, protesters very nearly succeeded in dousing the Olympic torch as it was being carried by British sports figures through the city. In Paris, it had to be temporarily doused to deny demonstrators the chance to seize it. In San Francisco, organizers of the torch run wrapped the route in a blanket of security worthy of a presidential motorcade.
Why the fuss? Anti-China activists want to show China they sympathize with Tibetans protesting China’s heavy-handed control of Tibet. There probably won’t be a boycott of the games, as some activists have requested, but the torch controversy reminds China that if you want publicity for your communist country, some of it is bound to be unpleasant.
