UK Indymedia Photos&Video Of London Tibet Protests

Police were forced to bring in reinforcements to marshal the Olympic torch relay through London after a series of protests along the 31-mile route by demonstrators angered at China's human rights record. More than 35 people have been arrested, all for public order offences.

Throughout the day there were incidents and flashpoints, the most serious occuring in Ladbroke Grove when a Free Tibet protestor slipped through a 50-strong pack of British police and Chinese security guards before attempting to wrestle the Olympic flame from Blue Peter TV presenter Konnie Huq. The episode was brought to an end when the protestor was bundled to the ground.

Two others were also taken away after trying to put out the flame with a fire extinguisher in Holland Park, and the procession was later forced into a temporary halt as the torch made an unscheduled switch to a bus while police pondered how to safely negotiate a crowd of protestors at Fleet Street. The move briefly prevented further disruption but negated the spectacle, with the torch bearer completely hidden from the throngs lining the route from Wembley Stadium to Greenwich.

At several times during the day protestors threw themselves in front of the runners and there were also scuffles between police and demonstrators. At one point, the torch procession even went the wrong way down a one-way street and was forced to turn round.

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The Olympic torch relay was hit by demonstrations by Tibet campaigners as it made its way through a snowy London today.

Police made 15 arrests during the morning as protesters tried to board the official bus, to jump in front of it, to put out the torch and to grab it off TV presenter Konnie Huq during her run.

Britain's greatest Olympian, the five-times rowing champion Sir Steve Redgrave, took the first leg of the 31-mile trip passing the Olympic flame to 16-year-old schoolgirl Cheyenne Green at a frosty Wembley Stadium.

British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan told crowds: "The power of this Olympic torch will shine a light on the recesses of the host city and China's record."

Tens of thousands of spectators were expected to line the route from Wembley to Greenwich, along with 2,000 Metropolitan Police - including airborne, mounted and river units - for the eight-hour event.

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The Olympic torch landed in Britain last night, and today is due to be passed between 80 runners on an eight-hour journey from Wembley Stadium to Greenwich. The Chinese authorities hope it will act as a beacon to draw visitors to China, but at the same time, are continuing to ban tourists from Tibet.

When rioting erupted in Lhasa and around Tibet on 14 March, all permits for tourists to visit Tibet were immediately suspended, and since then British tour operators have had to cancel all departures. Around 130 people have so far been killed in the unrest, according to the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Last week Tibet's Bureau of Tourism announced that foreign visitors would not be allowed into Tibet until 1 May.

'Obviously it's good news that the ban will be lifted, but we are still very nervous that if there are any more disturbances in the coming months - which you have to say is highly likely - the authorities will slap the ban straight back,' said one British operator, who didn't want to be named for fear the Chinese government would hinder permit applications in future. 'We've had to tell our clients it's just a case of fingers crossed.'

The timing looks far from promising. May is when the torch is due to be taken through Tibet and to the summit of Everest, an event likely to act as a flashpoint for a more widespread uprising. 'The peak seasons for visitors are spring and autumn and even if the ban is lifted in May, we've missed the boat for all our spring departures,' said Kit Wilkinson of KE Adventure Travel. 'This has to be putting tourists off.'

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Um... yeah, Britain. We all know what a shining example they set for the world...

...in Afghanistan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Afghan_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_influence_in_Afghanistan#Return_of_Dost_Mohammad_and_The_Second_Anglo-Afghan_War.2C_1843.E2.80.931880
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_influence_in_Afghanistan#Third_Anglo-Afghan_War_and_Independence

...in India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_India

...or, heck, for that matter, in China:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Chinese_Wars

....oh, but that was different, because now Britain is an honest broker in Asia... right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_quartet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Security_Assistance_Force
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO#Expansion_and_restructuring

BTW, what is Britain's position on Tibetan "independence"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_sovereignty_debate#Third-Party_views

...and the United Nations, what do they have to say about Tibet?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=United+Nations+Tibet

That's right... not much. Because it's an undisputed part of China, except among some bourgeois elements in the West, who are in love with the Dalai Lama, if not quite the principle of theocracy for which he stands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theocracy

So c'mon, "Free Tibet" advocates, let's see some moral consistency, for once!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_robertson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Coalition_of_America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_right

...and don't forget everyone's favorite Christian-theocratic fascist:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell

I mean, if it's good enough for Tibet, why not have it at home, right? Hey, these people value compassion, too...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassionate_conservatism

But give British protesters this much, at least they're consistent.... well, the Anglicans among them are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_England#Structure

Republicans, more of a stretch there.... too bad they're not allowed to say so, though, eh?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_republicanism#Prohibition_of_republican_advocacy

So much for the theory of freedom of conscience under a theocratic monarchy, eh?

Britain brought tropical medicine and disease control to India and other tropical colonies. It improved the public health of millions of people. Britain stopped suttee in India, so widows no longer had to be burned alive on the funeral pyres of their husbands. Britain brought railroads, schools, universities, and the English language to India, where it helped to unify the country with a common language of government and education. It is this that led to the millions of educated Indians living now in the West.

India was smart enough to accept these things and prosper. Britain offered much the same to colonies in Africa and Asia. Some took advantage, such as Malaysia and Singapore.

Some did not.

I suggest you read some history. Your shallow "anti-imperialist" rhetoric shows your ignorance.

The reasons why Americans may support Tibetan's struggle for freedom do seem at times suspect but the reasons Tibetans have for demanding independence is very similar to the demands for independence in Xinjiang or even demands for independence among Chechens in Russia and those in Kashmir who demands independence from India. Until recently Chinese racism against minority ethnic groups has trumped any attempts to develop the regions and even now recent development seems to have an aim of control more than one that considers the regions equal parts of China.

China has controlled Tibet for much longer than many of those who demand independence care to admit but one could have said the same thing about Ireland under British rule or the Kurds who clearly have an independent culture but have never really had political autonomy.

Demanding Tibetan freedom may seem different than demanding Palestinian freedom since in once case our government is arming the oppressor and in the other case our government is demonizing it but the US indirectly backs China even more than Israel through companies like Walmart, Lenovo etc..

India was pretty united under the Mughals and Britain worked to weaken the central government before it solidified its own rule. Britain's divide and conqour tactics also hlped create the divisions that resulted in Pakistan (and the bloodshed of partition).

Britain's imperialism in India did have some benefits in terms of infrastructure but only on the same scale as that China is building in Tibet.

I would guess that those arrested for disrupting the torch in Britain are equally opposed to British imperialism and Chinese imperialism (it isnt a matter of one or the other).

If your pro-imperialist rhetoric is "sophistication," I think I'll skip it, thanks.

But my my, the bourgeoisie does fancy its self-superiority, though, now dunnit?

All the British derive and enjoy the economic benefits of a "strong" economy, based on the continued resource extraction from (and related oppression in) "their" former colonies. Just like all Americans do.

To do so and yet to advocate "against" it is meaningless. Yet, to withdraw from a society is to cede your voice in it. There's the dilemma, for any honest western anti-imperialist.

The rest is just window-dressing for-- oh yes it's true-- the advocacy of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. A reincarnated god-king, I ask you...

He or she is joined by great thinkers like David Landes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_and_Poverty_of_Nations

and Andrew Roberts:
http://www.andrew-roberts.net/pages/books/history_of_english_speaking.htm
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Roberts

That type of logic is, of course, far from unrecognizable to even casual observers of 20th century history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudetenland#Sudeten_Crisis_and_German_annexation
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunboat_diplomacy
or for that matter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Corollary

Of course, market oppression is usually clothed as anti-imperialism, in Amerikkka anyways:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_American_War

...or, ironically, anti-monarchism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Hawaii

It all comes down to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_destiny

...and the freedom of (white) (Christian) Americans to dictate the terms and conditions under which other countries may live:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_overseas_expansion

or die:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_war

Take-home message: Be very, very skeptical of people telling you it's about "free"ing any other country, most certainly including the Tibetan part of the PRC:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_republic_of_china

EXACTLY THE SAME THING THAT THE US DID IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN IS TAKING PLACE IN CHINA. US OIL IMPERIALISM claimed to care about human rights in Iraq and Afghanistan, divided these countries, conquered and destroyed them FOR OIL. TIBET, AN 800 YEAR PROVINCE OF CHINA, HAS OIL, gold, uranium, copper. See
"The Tibet Card" by Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, 3/27/08 at
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8462
and
Alexander’s Gas and Oil Connections, 11/11/04, “Qiangtang Basin in Tibet estimated to Hold Oil and Gas Reserves
http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nts44532.htm
For the rest of the reading list, see:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/07/18490999.php