CHINA ESQUIRE

As promised, I am going to write my personal impressions of what I witnessed at the Olympic torch tour (or perhaps I should say, the faked part of the torch tour). I was near San Francisco’s Ferry Building during my lunch break, and had a great view of the street (the Embarcadero) where the torch relay runners were supposed to have run on. I stayed out until I realized no torch was coming.

I know I normally write on business, law and other related topics. And I normally tend to shy away from current events because that can be covered better by China Digital Times or other news blogs/news outlets. But considering that the torch was in my backyard and that the media made the protests overblown, I just wanted to write my perspective.

First off, here is SF Gate’s take on the torch run as of 2:53pm yesterday:

Massive protests forced officials to drastically change the Beijing Olympic torch route today, with the flame leaving McCovey Cove by bus instead of being carried along San Francisco’s Embarcadero by runners.

The relay route short was cut short after chaotic morning along the original route, where thousands of people descended to support and protest the torch run. They gave no indication of the route it would take, but City Hall sources familiar with the police response said the Van Ness route had been the plan since at least this morning.

Early this morning, thousands of people gathered along the planned route on the Embarcadero, with pro-torch demonstrators facing off against protesters who are hoping to draw attention to the nation’s human rights record.

Police said no arrests had occurred and that clashes related to the protests had been minor. But the situation was tense for hours before the run, and at least one person was detained in front of the ballpark this morning. A few hours later, a confrontation between the two sides escalated to a physical violence, when a San Francisco man named Kevin Johnson, 48, walked into a crowd of torch supporters and began yelling, “Communists!”

The crowd encircled Johnson and the confrontation escalated when Johnson pulled a Chinese flag off a man’s backpack. Then, someone grabbed Johnson’s throat and another person punched him in the face before police intervened and walked him to safety.

“I know it sounds racist, but if they want the Olympics in China they should go back to China,” he said.

Okay, so we have one racist named Kevin Johnson stirring up trouble. (If you need to caveat something with “I know it sounds racist”, it’s probably because you are… especially if you are willing to swipe something off a backpack, which may well be considered battery) SF Gate also reported some of the “Free Tibet” protesters broke the police line and crowded the Embarcadero.

Yes, there were throngs of protesters. I saw all of them. It wasn’t just Tibet people. I saw people protesting (1) Darfur, (2) Tibet, (3) Burma, and (4) the skinning of Cats and Dogs in China. (no joke) I also heard some protesters yelling about (5) Brazil, but I have no idea what it was about. And of course, there were a lot of (6) Chinese people out, some with flags, others joining with the pro-torch rally. And lots of people. Tourists, families, people who worked downtown–just lots of people.

I walked down Market Street with my Italian salami sandwich and saw throngs of people. And lots of banners and flags: Save Tibet flags, Chinese flags, Republic of China (aka Taiwan) flags, even a large flag from Tsinghua University in Beijing. One lady was handing out Save Darfur signs… with a smile. The cats and dogs banner was manned by two women… also smiling. Near the Chinese supporters chanting when I left were the Friendlies (Fuwa) mascots dancing and taking photos with people. There was a stage set up in Justin Herman plaza–and there were Olympic videos displayed with Chinese music blaring. Until a live band came in around 1:30pm, playing some loud music–all covers of course. Families were out with kids. And while I was waiting in my prime spot (which later became a dud), I was chatting with a corporate consultant in the City and an architect who had just relocated from Seattle. We were having a good time, waiting for a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Even some of the police, when they weren’t busy and stressed, were smiling.

There were plenty of protesters, but also lots of people just there to see the torch. The protesters, many stayed still with signs. Some chanted. There were lines of protesters marching right next to the Ferry Building. (I was across the street) But it was peaceful. At least, for a San Francisco protest. San Francisco Bay Area people will protest over anything–for the sake of protesting. And it’s usually a lot nastier, with trashcans overturned and loud raucous that distracts for blocks. This wasn’t the case yesterday.

I think about the craziest thing I observed was when China supporters had been screaming in Mandarin “China China China! Go go go!” decided to switch chants. The leader had a megaphone. They yelled, “One dream! One peace!” Over and over. And right next to them were some Tibet protesters who screamed “Free Tibet” over and over. What you ended up hearing was “One Dream! Free Tibet! One peace! Free Tibet!” And in the background, nearly drowning out both sides, were the grooves of Michael Jackson’s classic, Billie Jean, being played by the live band on stage. I realize that both sides are quite passionate about their position, but the protest itself was almost comical.

The media has to report the sensational stuff: they sell newspapers and ad space. I understand that. So they will call the protests “violent” and “tense”. But the reality is that this protest was hardly that. (It’s hard to have a tense moment when you have the Friendlies mascots dancing to Billie Jean)

China has denounced these protests internationally. (See here) But really, these protesters can’t hurt China. They don’t even scare me. How can this really affect China? As a P.R. move, China has to defend itself. But the reality–and I think China knows this full well–the only thing China has to be afraid of is fear itself–because these protests won’t make a bit difference to China. And if they are as light-hearted as what I saw yesterday, there isn’t much to fear at all.

I will try to get some photos up later. Because they were taken with my cell phone camera, they need major color correction.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS