Paris: Olympic Protesters demonstrate against Chinese policy in Tibet

Thousands of Free Tibet supporters from all over Europe gathered today in Paris to protest against the heavily guarded passage of the Olympic torch as it passed through France's capital. About 3,000 French police were part of a security effort to shield the procession route.
The last section of the Olympic torch run through Paris was cancelled after the protests had repeatedly prompted officials to stop the procession, extinguish the flame and put the torch aboard a bus.

Following closely on yesterday's protests in London this has been an unmitigated public relations disaster for the Chinese Government.
Pictures flashed across television screens throughout the world displayed the intensity of the protests and have awakened public opinion to Chinese repression in Tibet. The Chinese Government has endeavoured to hide the reality of the protests from its own people.

In Beijing today, IOC president Jacques Rogge said he was "very concerned" about unrest in Tibet.

The Olympic torch's relay around the world arrives on Wednesday in San Francisco. Protests are planned here also against China's human rights record in both Tibet and Darfur.

The Chinese Government may also face protests at the Olympics. This will serve to keep the issues of Tibet and Darfur alive. However Chinese foreign policy lacks a moral basis and it is doubtful if embarrassment engendered by demonstrations is sufficient to bring about fundamental change.

The Chinese Threat-Western Complacency

The Chinese military hacked into a Pentagon computer network in June in the most successful cyber attack on the US defence department, say American ­officials.
The Pentagon acknowledged shutting down part of a computer system serving the office of Robert Gates, defence secretary, but declined to say who it believed was behind the attack.
Current and former officials have told the Financial Times an internal investigation has revealed that the incursion came from the People’s Liberation Army. Read the full story here:FT.com

Comment:

Whilst much Western attention has been focussed on Vladimir Putin China has emerged as a much greater threat to the security not alone of the US but also of Western Europe. The implications of this cyber attack if true are frightening. China has engaged in military exercises with Russia and is rapidly building up its Pacific fleet. China's military buildup includes new missiles and naval weapons designed to sink U.S. aircraft carriers and deny U.S. forces access to the Asia-Pacific region. It has threatened to invade Taiwan. It is also active in Africa and is largely responsible for the crisis in Darfur. It is pouring billions of dollars in aid into Africa. It is engaged in natural resource exploitation not alone in Africa but even in the Australian Desert and Amazonia. If China stays on the same economic track, it would become the world's largest economy in 2027, surpassing the United States, according to Goldman, Sachs & Co., a Wall Street investment bank.

China has threatened to use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. In essence it is prepared to trigger a dollar crash. This act of political lunacy would cripple the Chinese economy as exports to the US would dry up.

Perhaps it is time for the EU and the US to develop stronger ties with Russia to counter the growing Chinese threat.