I watched CNN’s[1] live coverage of the Olympic Torch relay in San Francisco yesterday. It turned out to be an enormous victory for the anti-Chinese protesters even though they never even caught sight of the actual flame – a brilliant, absurd turn of events facilitated entirely by the wonders of US live action news.

After the London and Paris protests[2] the US news media geared up for a live extravaganza not seen since the OJ White Bronco chase. With protests on both sides (pro- and anti-Chinese) by thousands starting the day before the actual relay those newsrooms must have been cooking through the night. In the end the world’s hungry eyes weren’t disappointed.

pro-Chinese Activism

The protesters showed up(again on both sides), the Chinese musical revue showed up for the relay end ceremony, the news helicopters showed up in force[3] – but no flame. Actually, what they did do was to light the torch and then to jog it into a warehouse where it stayed for some 10 minutes or longer. The warehouse (under the watchful eye of the news helicopters) then spat out a convoy of buses and a decoy of a boat and jetski’s in the harbour to confuse the protesters as to where the torch was. Meanwhile the protesters waited patiently and peacefully along the originally planned route. An hour later the torch magically appeared on an empty street more than two miles from the original route. The relay’s closing ceremony was also canceled and the poor Chinese musicians had to pack up their stuff with their hopes of 15 minutes of network news coverage dashed. And it was all captured in glorious colour by CNN.

anti-Chinese Activism

Here’s some of what people said on the subject:

We assessed the situation and felt that we could not secure the torch and protect the protesters and supporters to the degree that we wished. As a consequence we engaged in subsequent contingency planning that we felt would keep people safe.
SF Mayor

I think we were cheated, because I think the meaning of the relay was to show the whole world that our country is hosting the Olympics
the pro-Chinese

I think it’s cowardly. If they can’t run the torch through the city, it means that no one is supporting the games.
the anti-Chinese

So then, no arrests and everyone went home. Well done to the protesters(on both sides) – you showed up and stood your ground. But why was this such a victory for the anti-Chinese protesters? They got very little face time while this was going on. It’s brilliantly simple really; because Americans (and by extension the US media) looove breaking news – unforeseen developments. Had the relay gone on as planned and there had been some scuffles and arrests the TV-watching public would have nodded in agreement with whichever preconceived notion they had; either ‘Damn right! China out of Tibet!’ or ‘Damn right! Politics out of sport!’. But it didn’t happen that way. Instead the uniform message that the news monster broadcast was that China and their San Franciscan hand-holders were so shit scared of running the peaceful gauntlet that they jumped in a van and hid the flame beneath their tracksuit shirts. An outrageous victory for the anti-Chinese protesters.

Phew! At least the flame survived

In closing I’d like to comment on the sentiment of some politics-out-of-sport groups about whether these types of protests should be linked to the Olympic Games. The argument that they are pushing is that, given the world’s economic intertwinedness with China[4], people should be protesting at the doorstep of the global corporations doing business in China before they dump on the poor athletes who only want to achieve their potential.
There is some merit in this thinking, but the fact is that this is not just an Olympic Games. It is, what has been elegantly called, Beijing’s coming out party. This is a very powerful moment for Beijing and the Chinese. This is their debutant show on the world stage; their first run as a global city; a centre of culture and glorious achievement. How can anyone be part of this level of hypocrisy without saying something?
By all means, do not boycott the actual games. All the athletes should attend and achieve their best. But why should they do so silently? Why not wear a Kasaya armband? Again I am preaching without actually doing anything[5] – but the athletes have a wonderful opportunity to show up, rock the house with their excellence and still tell China that they do not fall for the glorious delusion of the Bird’s Nest stadium.