Hidden light, dark shadow

Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: April 11, 2008

Hiding the light from the world is a symbol that powerfully speaks for itself.
San Francisco officials understandably wished to prevent violence in their city as the Olympic torch made its way toward China. The ceremony is meant to be uplighting.
But hiding the torch from protestors and spectators alike serves as prima facie evidence of the debacle into which the Beijing Olympics has devolved.
Before Beijing was selected as the host site in 2001, complaints and protests arose that the Communist nation had not won the moral right to host an event dedicated to the ideals of sportsmanship, enlightened competition and international cooperation.
China is well known for its civil-rights abuses.
The argument seven years ago was that China was modernizing. Its economy was Westernizing; its government was growing more open. The assumption was that by 2008, China would have progressed far toward meeting the standards of behavior deemed civilized by most of the rest of the developed world.
All along there were signs that this was not the case.
Now, China’s recent brutality toward Tibetan protestors — protests nicely timed to coincide with world attention on the Olympics — highlights just how little progress the nation has achieved.
China invaded Tibet in 1950 to en-force claims that Tibet belonged to Chi-na. It has since engaged in religious, ethnic and political persecution there.
Chinese security guards have now been accused of inhumanely dealing with protestors when the Olympic torch appeared in Paris and violence erupted.
In London, the torch run was rerouted in an attempt to avoid protestors.
San Francisco chose a similar approach, sending the first torch-bearer into a warehouse and busing her and the other torch-bearers to a site far from the planned route. After the torch was passed around a few times, it was transported to the airport and unceremoniously loaded aboard a plane.
San Francisco’s mayor said the decision to reroute the run was made when pro-Chinese and pro-Tibet groups clashed even before the event started.
City officials understandably wished to prevent violence that could have led to injuries and property damage. Even with the torch removed, there were several scuffles and a crowd attacked a tour bus.
This desire to protect public safety rises above a concern about publicity.
China, however, surely was acting to quell unfavorable publicity when it sent its own “torch-minders” to accompany the symbolic flame.
Whatever the motivation, San Francisco chose subterfuge over openness in its handling of the torch run.
The torch run is supposed to be a unifying event, an inspiring visual to re-mind the world that athletes from all over the globe will engage in (ostensibly) friendly competition, in a village that will serve as a mini-United Nations.
Instead, this torch run vividly demonstrated the miscalculation of choosing China as host country.
Were not China so politically repressive, so environmentally insensible, so implacable in its opposition to freedoms of speech and religion, there would be scant motivation for these massive protests.