Absurdity, Allegory and China

The Journey of Contusions continued today, in an even less harmonious setting than it had been in London. The Guardian, as well as several other foreign news organizations, reported that the torch was extinguished three times on its trip through Paris, and, due the persistent threat by large numbers of protesters, ended up having to catch a bus to the finish.

At 21:56 BST 7 April 2008, while the relay was still in progress, the People’s Daily Online reported:

Spokesman of the torch relay center of the Beijing Olympic Organization Committee Qu Yingpu said that the torch relay started in Paris smoothly, but has encountered protests during the process. Due to safety reasons, the relay team had to extinguish the flame twice and put the torch onto the bus before the relay was resumed towards the south of Paris.

But later at 01:58 BST 8 April 2008, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson claimed that the foreign reports were false, despite the People’s Daily reporting at least two official dousing four hours earlier.

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) — Foreign media reports saying the Olympic torch was forced to be extinguished during the relay in Paris were false, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said early Tuesday morning.

The modes of the relay in Paris were temporarily changed to safeguard the security and dignity of the Olympic torch under the circumstances there, Jiang said in a statement released by the ministry.

“The reports by foreign media are false in claiming that the Olympic torch was forced to be extinguished during its relay in Paris,” said Jiang.

The torch relay in Paris has now safely completed as scheduled, she said.

Round 2 of the cultural media war has two different stories swirling around the interpretation of a single event. This time, though, the drama was played out in public for the whole world to see, to photograph, to video, and to draw their own conclusions. If the Chinese response continues to be “all the rest of the world has an imperfect understanding if they don’t agree with us,” it is not going to work this time. A quick run-through of several western media sources generally tell the same story as the People’s Daily: the torch had to be extinguished at least more than once, from AFP, NYT, NPR, etc.

The AP is reporting that the torch was extinguished five times along the route, that the final six miles of the relay had to be canceled, and that The Flame had to take a bus to the end of the line, where a torchbearer hopped out and darted into Stade Charlety, the terminus of the relay.

Chinese organizers finally gave up on the relay, canceling the last third of what China had hoped would be a joyous jog by torch-bearing VIPs past some of Paris’ most famous landmarks.

Five times, the Chinese officials in dark glasses and tracksuits who guard the torch extinguished it and retreated to the safety of a bus — the last time emerging only after the vehicle drove within 15 feet of the final stop, a track and field stadium. A torchbearer then ran the final steps inside.

Clearly someone has gotten the wrong information. None of the western reports insinuate that the “sacred flame” was extinguished, since, clearly, it was safe in the bus. They are reporting however that the torch, the instrument of public display and the symbol of international harmony, had to be extinguished in order, I imagine, to keep the demonstrators from claiming that they had succeeded in dousing it themselves. Either all the western media along with the People’s Daily have gotten it wrong, or the Chinese Foreign Ministry has. Here is the next scab to be picked at, to keep the all bad blood flowing. The Flame has become the next frontline in the media wars of credible reportage, and I must say that the official Chinese Foreign Ministry story seems more like a fish tale in reverse than a fair representation of what actually happened, and what will, no doubt, continue to happen, as Paris was only the fifth stop in the twenty-two leg tour.

There are frightfully few details in the official Chinese media reports which go out of their way to mollify the extent of the protests, the numbers of demonstrators involved, as well as any particulars of the demonstrations. There is no mention of the black banner that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) unfurled on the Eiffel Tower showing the Olympic rings as linked handcuffs which, according to reports, hung for several hours before finally being taken down. Nor is there any mention of the flag and banner that were draped from City Hall. Nor are there any specifics of any number of unflattering accounts that are peppered through other media, and not, I might add, just the western sources.

Molly Moore, Washington Post Paris correspondent, reported in an NPR interview that several Olympic committee members are considering the possibility of discontinuing the international relay, which still has 17 locations to visit. At this point, they are most concerned with what might happen in the next leg, San Francisco, which they rightfully expect will be even more contentious than both London and Paris.

This should be an interesting one to watch. If this is actually going to be stopped, the IOC would actually have to step up and step in, since the Chinese have never been and will never be the first one to give up an ‘uncle.’ When it comes to pain, the Chinese are masters at putting up with massive amounts of it, even when they don’t have to. Or, more accurately, even when we think they don’t have to. And that’s a critical difference that must be understood.

But don’t anyone dare to think that if they pulled the plug, that that will be the end of it. It’s really only beginning. The ‘frontlines’ of Paris and London are comparative nirvanas when held up to the dimmer-lit places where all of this will eventually be paid back. And if you haven’t gotten it yet, let me tell you once again, there is always payback here, and unfortunately, that cost is always wrung from the weakest among us, who, by the way, are not in Europe nor India. I would dare not criticize dissent and free expression, as long as it’s undertaken with informed assent – that you know what you are doing, are aware of the consequences, and consciously chose to go ahead based on your full-as-to-be-reasonably-expected understanding of numbers 1 & 2. I am reminding you about some basic laws of physics that, at times, seem to apply in some socio-cultural models, which is, more or less, cloud-tagged around Newton’s Third Law of Motion, the one that deals with action and it’s opposite.

The Chinese government has painted themselves into a very small-and-getting-smaller corner, and their understanding of the unfolding situation is that this is, like everything else, a zero-sum game, where win-win isn’t really an alternative. And once they finally understand that they are losing, their response to it will let everyone know how they see themselves on the world stage, and where they see themselves going. It’s in their hands, as it has always been. Good luck with it this time.

PS to the IOC: Here come the chickens!

And San Francisco? I don’t know what to tell you. The party may be cancelled before it meets the bay, due to persistent bruising.

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