Absurdity, Allegory and China

They’re going to clean up Beijing (and, no, that’s not a Nick Cave line). The China Daily’s reporting that there’s now a plan to make the air cleaner for the Olympics, one that even has a firm date (July 20). Work at Beijing construction sites will be suspended in the run-up to, and during, the [...]

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The most curious aspect to the current Olympic torch relay is, of course, the security team, or, as they are better known around this household, the BOGSFPU (Beijing Olympic Games Sacred Flame Protection Unit), the special unit of the People’s Armed Police (PAP) who are shadowing The Flame on its whirl around the globe. There [...]

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So what’s happened to BOCOG Executive Vice-President Jiang Xiaoyu? He was on the ground in San Francisco, through the besieged triple legs – four thru six – and arguably the longest row in the field. There’s a photo purported to be Jiang Xiaoyu, or at least his hands – the left wrapped around the ring [...]

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In what has essentially become another private Olympic torch event – the route kept secret until television news ‘SkyChopper’ helos spotted the security column skirting any potential scenes of demonstrations – Leg 6, the American leg, was as removed from the public as The Flame’s initial presentation on Tian’anmen Square, though there they bussed both [...]

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“We had a hard time explaining to them that we couldn’t just ban all protesters from the street.” – Marie Lajus, spokeswoman for the Paris police, commenting on a meeting between the Paris police and Chinese embassy officials weeks before the torch relay fiasco. (fm the WSJ) ________ Two days ago I referred to the [...]

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The IOC has raised the question of possibly cancelling the remainder of the international portion of the Olympic torch relay. In Beijing, the IOC president, Jacques Rogge, said his executive committee would discuss the matter on Friday, when the flame will still have a dozen cities on its route, starting with Buenos Aires and arriving [...]

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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 [...]

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From the AFP’s pre-Olympic torch relay coverage: In Paris, police plan to secure a perimeter of some 200 metres (yards) around the torch as it is carried in relay by 80 runners on a 28-kilometre (18-mile) route from the Eiffel Tower to a stadium in the south of the capital. The torchbearers will be protected [...]

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It’s hard to know where to step in on this one. Do you go with the hopes and dreams or with the bruises? You can almost read the tale of this leg of The Flame from the hyperlinked headlines. Let’s first take a look at Xinhua: Olympic flame crosses London amid snow That’s one way [...]

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It started out well enough, a harmonious photo on the red-carpeted tarmac as the “Sacred flame” arrived in London, the host city for the 2012 Olympic. The photo is charming, showing five well-dressed people beside The Flame, which is perched on a handsome steel pedestal. You can tell from all the unruly hair, as well [...]

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