Edinburgher Climbs to Different Bird's Nest in Beijing

Close to the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing some very different creatures were seen perched at a great height this morning. Four members of Students for a Free Tibet unfurled a banner reading 'One World One Dream Free Tibet' high up a 120ft lamppost not far away.

Iain Thom from Edinburgh called the BBC from his mobile while up the lamppost to say:

"I'm here today because I've been a long-term Tibet activist and I feel
like now is a really critical time for Tibet.

"The Beijing Games have been used by the Chinese government as a
propaganda tool to whitewash their human rights record in Tibet."

He along with Lucy Fairbrother from Cambridge, and Americans Phill Bartell from New Jersey and Tirian Mink from Portland, Oregon have since been arrested.

A spokesperson for the Olympic committee said the protest was an "illegal gathering" adding:

"We want to express our strong opposition to this. China has relevant laws
regarding protests and gatherings. We truly hope that foreigners coming to visit
China will respect the relevant laws of China."

Does this mean that should any foreigner in China stumble across any Tibetan's trying to protest against their treatment they will be allowed to persecute, beat or shoot at the protester's before they are taken away into solitary confinement? Or is that not what the spokesperson wanted us to remember about the relevant Chinese laws.

Shèngmu Feng Speaketh

After all the careful preparation, and trying to control everything, Chomolungma (Qomolangma) "the Goddess Mother of the Earth" if you're Tibetan, Sagarmatha "Goddess of the Sky" if you're Nepali, or if you're from Darjeeling Deodungha "The Holy Mountain", or just plain Shèngmu Feng to the Chinese or Everest to the rest of us seems to have spoken and taken things into her own hands.

Having closed both the Chinese and Napalese approaches to the World's highest peak for the ascent of the Olympic Torch. But high winds are reportedly delaying what must have surely been hoped by the Chinese authorities to be the crowning coup of the international relay. Especially in light of the protests against their actions in Tibet more or less everywhere, with the exception of North Korea. However, there is so much secrecy surrounding the 31 Chinese climbers who are apparently attempted to summit with the torch hat I'm sorry I haven't a clue just how well this is going. Nor has the worlds media as we are all relying on reports from the official Chinese media sources.

Tim'rous Beastie Brown

Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!

To a Mouse Robert Burns

Well echoing the words of Scotland's bard Gordon Brown could well be discribed as a Timorous beastie. First there is his confised state of what he's doing over China and Tibet, then the Prudent Chancellor seems unable to take responsible action for the economy now he has his coveted top job. Now to get another panic off his breastie he's sneaked out a hard hitting statement to Robert Mugabe under the cover of the papal visit at the same time.

Admittedly Brown did say Mugabe must not be allowed to steal the Presidential election. Also he did say it to the United Nations security council. However, he hasn't been this forthright on that issue for the last almost 3 weeks since the elections took place for which we are still awaiting a result.

Of course Brown's statement in going to get lost on a good media day to bury a story as the Pope criticised the US Bishops for their handling of the child sex scandals. So much for Brown being different from Blair in not spinning his message.

Maybe like the end of Burn's poem Tim'rous Beastie Brown is just like the poet:

But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!

When is a Boycott not a Boycott?

In March when Gordon Brown announced that he would be meeting with the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, Beijing tried to point out how they felt about this.

When Nicolas Sarkozy came a calling he announced he was considering boycotting the Olympic opening ceremony. No. 10 issued advise that Gordon Brown was against such a response.

That was until yesterday when Gordon did a spectactular U-turn denying that he had ever intended attending the opening ceremony, despite evidence to the contrary and said he now wasn't attending. The timing of course is only a few days after the first major protests affected the international Olympic Torch relay in Gordon's own capital city, followed by even worse reaction in France and a diverted route yesterday in San Francisco which upset the 20% of San Francisco's population who are Chinese by extraction.

The Truth Behind Torch's Guardians

Driving into work this morning I heard Sarah Kennedy's paper review on BBC Radio 2 she was telling us about the true make up the Olympic Torch protection squad.

They come from the Chinese Armed Police Academy and are part of the paramilitary security force. Their role back home is ensuring riot control, domestic stability and the protection of diplomats. Believe it or not this is the same force that was sent in to deal with recent protests within Tibet. So while Lord Coe says 'I think they are thugs' and Konnie Huq calls them 'robotic'. Yet while these 30 blue track-suited guys have been trained to escort the torch their colleagues have been trained and will be on standby in the words of Tibet's Governor Qiangba Puncog to 'severly punish' anyone who tries to obstruct the passage of the torch through Tibet.

We've seen how they react where they do not have any jurisdiction of their own in London and Paris. What else might unfold when the Torch returns for its domestic travels?

LINK Free Tibet

China Prove the Demonstrators Point

Well hats off to the Chinese authorities for actually proving a large number of the points that protesters have been, and will aiming at them in this Olympic year.

First the act of disagreement with the authorities is frowned upon, hence the curfew they set up in Tibet, the pressure they brought to bear on India to halt the march to India.

Second there is the misinformation or non-information. I was in the USSR when Iraq invaded Kuwait and didn't know about that until I returned to Berlin. Our interpreter got the newspaper every day and we didn't see anything about this. The same is happening within China the media is controlling just what the people get to here. Elsewhere in 1988-9 this was attempted as pro-democracy hit out across the communist world only in Beijing was the surge halted and brushed away.

Thirdly the generosity that those who give themselves up by Monday will be treated leniently. What does leniency mean in this case. The authorities have already been shooting to kill. So maybe the leniency will mean their lives are spared. It may not mean that they will not be placed in solitary confinement or possibly tortured to find out more information about the protests and fellow protesters.

So the protests being about suppression, and others against China's human rights record are being proven right now as having validity. I once condemned the IOC for awarding China this year's Olympiad, now in a way I'm glad as all media attention is now focusing on China. Maybe at last human rights will hold sway there as a result.