Opinion
Olympic Torch Relay Ceremony:
China makes a Geopolitical Statement
by
Dr. Adityanjee
Government of India must have heaved a sigh of relief after
the Beijing Olympics torch passed through India’s “forbidden city”
without any untoward incident thereby pleasing their Chinese masters!
The riveting drama of the Beijing Olympics Torch relay started on April
1, 2008. Since then the Olympic torch relay has been in news perpetually
owing to the noisy protests by Tibetan independence activists, Buddhists
and international human rights activists against the Chinese
government’s repression of Buddhist monks in Tibet.
China conveniently
denounces all these protests as sacrilege against the holy spirit of
Olympics. Trying to take a high, moral ground, China has accused the
protestors of mixing politics with sports. For the first time in the
history of Olympics, the so-called sacred flame has aroused intense
passions far and wide.
The 2008 Olympic torch relay has obviously brought the focus
of the whole world’s attention on China’s annexation of Tibet and
continued repression. In 1896, at the time of re-introduction of Olympic
Games, the Olympic torch relay was not part of the official ceremonies.
Only a ceremonial fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of
the ancient Olympic games in Greece. Per Greek mythology, Prometheus
stole the fire from the Greek god Zeus and the ancient Olympics
ritualized that Greek mythical story.
The ceremonial Olympic Fire was
reintroduced at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, and it has been part of the
modern Olympic Games ever since. The international Olympic flame (torch)
relay was not a time honored ceremonial ritual and was invented in 1936
by Hitler and his cronies as a pan-Aryan gesture.
Nazi Invention Of Olympic Torch Relay
The modern Olympic torch relay was masterminded by Dr. Carl Diem, a Nazi
commander and Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the notorious Minster for Information
and propaganda for the Nazi Germany. This newly introduced ceremonial
ritual was part of an effort to turn the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games into
geo-political glorification of the resurgent Nazi Germany under the
Third Reich. This journey of “Aryan Supremacy” from Greece to Germany
was carried out in relay by more than three thousand “Aryan Blonde”
athletes and the whole drama was filmed by Leni Riefenstahl in his movie
“Olympia” released subsequently in 1938. The passage of Olympic
torch through the European countries was cheered by their citizens in
the name of German glory. It was the Nazis’ way of demonstrating to the
whole world how Aryan athletes, like the mighty and powerful Greek Gods,
were meant to rule the world.
The geo-political, economic and cultural
power of the Third Reich was projected internationally by this newly
crafted ceremony. This torch relay had nothing to do with the spirit of
the Olympic sports and everything to do with the politics of power
projection. Unfortunately, the torch relay, was adopted as an Olympic
ritual later on, albeit, in a very low key manner. Sydney Olympics in
2000 publicized and politicized the torch relay around the Pacific Rim
island nations. This torch relay covered 27,000 kilometers over 127 days
again with a view to power projection, i.e. identifying the Australian
sphere of geo-political influence. More recently, Athens Olympics staged
an extensive torch tour clocking 86,000 kilometers over 142 days in 2004
to mark the Games’ return to their ancient home. It did not generate any
commotion or controversy as Greece was not perceived an oppressing
nation by the international community.
Chinese Version Of Olympic Torch Relay
In a strange twist of irony, China decided to recapitulate the
foot-steps taken by the Nazi Germany and also for similar reasons,
mainly power projection and making a geo-political statement. It is an
aggressive and resurgent China, analogous to the aggressively resurgent
Germany under the Hitler regime, economically rising and full of
national pride — that set up this unprecedented 137,000 kilometers long
epic journey. This grandiosely planned torch relay is the longest in
Olympic history and has the most torchbearers. Billions of dollars have
been lavished on the Olympic Games by Beijing, which hopes to showcase
China's rising economic and political power. In this longest torch relay
in Olympic history, the torch was supposed to have been taken on a
130-days’ “Journey of China’s Glory” around the world.
China is now angrily denouncing the international protestors as the
“Torch of Tyranny” relay faces insurmountable protests and highly
adverse publicity. The spokesperson for the Beijing Organizing Committee
for the Games (BOCOG), Sun Weide has categorically announced: “No force
can stop the torch relay of the Olympic Games”, as if China owns the
Olympics torch and not the International Olympic Committee (IOC). London
and Paris legs of the relay were indeed marred by noisy protests. San
Francisco leg was secretively and stealthily re-routed to avoid more
protests. These continuing protests by Tibetan independence activists
have forced changes in the torch relay route. Under pressure from China,
Pakistan reduced the ceremony to just a ritual in the Jinnah stadium
without exposing the Olympic torch to the streets of Islamabad. India
cut down the torch route from two cities to only one with reduction in
the route to only 2.3 kilometers instead of originally planned nine
kilometers. To plagiarize a radio journalist, the China’s
characterization of Olympic torch relay as the "Journey of Harmony," has
already been metamorphosed into the “Flame of Shame”.
Future Sovereignty And Suzerainty
The Beijing Olympic torch has already raised geo-political disputes
about the sovereignty of the regions that it passes. In Chinese feudal
mindset, the regions/ land-masses (countries) where the Olympic torch
passes will be under Chinese suzerainty in future. That does include
Taiwan, Tibet and the Mount Everest. Plans to carry the 2008 torch up
the North face of Mount Everest have also been met with supporters of
Tibetan independence. No wonder Chinese army entered Nepal to quieten
down the Tibetan protestors in Nepal.
For the same reason, Chinese government insists that the
Olympic torch must pass through Tibet to buttress the China’s newly
discovered “historical” claims over the entire Tiebtan plateau.
Similarly, the organizers of the Beijing Games had originally planned
for the torch to pass through Taiwan before going to Hong Kong and then
to mainland China implying that Taiwan is only a province of China and
not an independent country.
Taiwan rejected this proposed route because Taiwanese
government wished the flame to enter and leave their country by a “third
country”, so that the torch will not downgrade Taiwan's de facto and de
jure sovereignty. Negotiations broke down when Taiwan demanded that the
flag and anthem of the Republic of China be displayed on the route,
instead of the Chinese Taipei flag and anthem. Ultimately, Taiwan
refused to buckle down under Chinese pressure.
Taiwan did not allow the torch to pass through the Taiwanese
territory denying China a golden opportunity to misuse the Olympic torch
route for making future geo-political claims on Taiwanese land.
China’s pursuit of aggressive imperialism and regional
hegemony is now beginning to be obvious to the whole world. The
symbolism of the unquenchable sacred flame is getting identified with
China’s un-quenching thirst for continued expansionism and
neo-imperialism. This Olympic torch relay euphemistically characterized
in the Chinese ‘double-speak” as the “Journey of Harmony” needs to be
understood in geo-political terms as the “Journey of Chinese Triumph”
over the world.
Chinese Mindset And Historical Distortions
In the imperialist Chinese mindset, Admiral Ho in 14th century conquered
whole of the South East Asia, therefore, modern China has historical
claims over the whole of that region. This is the basis of Chinese
claims over the Paracel islands. Similarly, if any king sent an emissary
with tribute to the Chinese emperor as a gesture of goodwill, feudal
China interpreted that state as a vassal state or tributary state under
Chinese jurisdiction/ suzerainty “in perpetuity”. The historian RC
Mazumdar has noted the “aggressive imperialism that characterized the
politics of China through the course of her history … if a region once
acknowledged her nominal suzerainty even for a short period, China would
regard it as a part of her empire for ever and would automatically
revive her claim over it even after a thousand years”. Unfortunately,
China continues to make claims on other nations’ territories as a result
of this expansionist and hegemonistic mindset. China’s planning of the
Olympic torch relay route is definitely influenced by a hidden agenda
which the IOC and the international community failed to understand
before this became a controversy.
The Chinese Version Of The Ancient
Ashwamedha Yajna
By this real-life, modern Chinese Opera on the “pilgrimage of the Sacred
Flame of the Holy Olympics” one is reminded of the ancient Hindu ritual
of Ashwamedha Yajna during which the sacred horse passing through any
territory had to be protected by the vast army of soldiers of the King
performing the Yajna. If anyone interfered with the journey of the
sacred horse, that person was eliminated on the spot by the army
guarding the sacred horse. The land through which sacred horse passed
had to either accept the suzerainty of or fight the King-Emperor
performing the yajna. There are clear parallels in the grandiose Chinese
plan for the Olympic torch relay route and the pressure by the Chinese
government on the host nations for the security of the torch as well as
on the IOC to support the Chinese government’s action against the
Tibetan protestors on foreign soils. The “sinister men in blue”
accompanying the torch everywhere have been scuffling with policemen and
the public as if naturally entitled to do so. These blue track-suited
Chinese commandos guarding the “sacred flame” and brutally man-handling
the protestors on the soil of third countries concretely symbolize the
geo-political aspirations for world domination by a resurgent and
aggressive China.
China's Covert Statement of Hegemony
Viewed in this light, Chinese over-reaction is very much an imperialist
threat of retaliation against those who do not protect Chinese interests
during the “Journey of the Harmony”. Going by the past precedents, it is
not unlikely that future Chinese historians will claim all these
lands/territories where the Olympic torch passed as part of the Chinese
empire because the states were vassal states paying obeisance to the
Chinese Emperor Hu Jintao! While usurping the Olympics for geo-political
purposes, China is articulating a hegemonistic doctrine albeit couching
it in acceptable diplomatese double-speak with a lot of ambiguity for
future interpretation. Although the official Chinese motto for the 2008
Olympics is “One World, One Dream”, it is incomplete and half-said. What
Communist China actually would have liked the motto for Beijing Olympics
is really: “One World, One Dream, China Supreme”.
China's Pressure on Other Countries
China had expressed its displeasure at protests in London and Paris
forcing the San Francisco mayor to change the route stealthily at the
last minute. The police chief in Paris promised to look after the torch
as he would guard a head of state. Some protestors in San Francisco got
arrested for ‘conspiracy’. The Chinese government has insisted on blue
track-suited Chinese commandos guarding the torch. Lord Sebastian Coe in
London described these Chinese commandos as thugs and hoodlums who
manhandled the torch-bearers including him. TV images world-wide showed
how these Chinese commandos without batting an eyelid manhandled the
protestors in various European countries breaking the local law as if
they had the divine mandate to use brutal force. China has also
“instructed” the IOC president Jacques Rogge not to comment on the
protests and political aspects relating to Tibet and focus on the smooth
passage of the Olympic Games. China has criticized Nicolas Sarkozy for
his decision to boycott the opening ceremonies and indirectly threatened
with strained bilateral Sino-French relations. Although some nations,
including India, succumbed to Chinese bullying tactics, Australia has
already warned that these Chinese commandos will have to travel in a bus
following the torch relay. Any security to the torch will be provided by
the Australian security forces and not by the Chinese commandos. In case
any of these commandos manhandled a protestor, he will be immediately
arrested for violating the Australian law. Australia is definitely
guarding her sovereignty by not allowing Chinese commandos violate the
local laws of an independent and democratic country.
Alongside this paranoia is the Chinese attempt to play the protests down
by sheer misreporting, and by repeatedly asserting, that there is
nothing political about the Olympics. China ostensibly claims that these
games are all about reconciliation, hope, peace and harmony.
Unfortunately, China is not alone in keeping up this spuriously
apolitical rhetoric. The Olympics have become a tool of geo-political
statements and assertions. IOC has become a party to this charade. China
has aggressively targeted media outlets that have covered these protests
without censorship. CNN has been singled out by the Chinese government.
Unknown activists (of Chinese origin) have reportedly phoned and
e-mailed death threats to reporters. Most of the criticism of the CNN
concerns a photograph posted on its Web site weeks ago which cropped out
Tibetans throwing stones at Chinese security forces.
China's Pressure on India
The torch relay passed through New Delhi at the cost of India’s
democratic credentials under Chinese pressure. By turning the 2.3
kilometer route under massive security lock-down, and by disallowing any
democratic expression of people’s feelings about Chinese repression in
Tibet, the Government of India did not cover itself in glory. The
communist China was able to dictate to Government of Republic of India
on this particular issue. In return, the Government of India got a pat
on its back and a certificate of good behavior from the high and mighty
neighbor from the North.
Paranoid about the security of the torch, China had earlier sought
permission from India to track the relay from the air, and evacuate it
in case of an emergency. The request had originally come to the
directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA) through the external
affairs ministry. This impudent request from China to guard Indian
airspace had come before the torch ran into trouble in London and Paris.
India had refused to allow Chinese air surveillance of the Olympic torch
in Delhi, claiming that it could provide “foolproof” protection to the
torch after consultations with the top brass of intelligence and
security agencies. However, keeping diplomatic sensitivities in mind,
the government of India allowed permission to a Chinese cargo carrier to
fly to Mumbai and Chennai.
Resisting the pressure from communist China and their Indian lackeys,
some of the Indian sportspersons and media personalities rightly pulled
out of this bizarre torch relay drama. Baichung Bhutia, captain of the
Indian football team was the first one to refuse stating, "I sympathize
with the Tibetan cause. This is my way of standing by the people of
Tibet and their struggle." Those who chose to run the torch relay will
perhaps be remembered in the history as being the “traitors to
democracy”! Tibetan activists were able to organize their protests
earlier. That was the saving grace for India that has historical,
cultural and civilizational links with Tibet. The more prudent approach
for the Government of India would have been to cancel the tainted torch
relay on the Indian soil sending a firm message to both communist China
and the international community.
Future Of Olympic Torch Relays
It is likely that the International Olympics Committee would amend its
rules so that host nations don't have to take the torch across
international borders and expose it to security breaches. The IOC will
consider doing away with overseas relay of the Olympic torch in the
future. This may, indeed, be the last Olympic torch relay for displaying
geo-political power by the host nation. If that turns out to be the
case, the international protest against Beijing Olympic torch relay will
become an historical case study for political science students.
On a separate note, China’s leaders may regret their decision to
politicize the Beijing Olympics from day one by foolishly bringing
issues of sovereignty to the Olympic torch relay route. The churning of
international public opinion though restrained at this time will
eventually facilitate a change in attitude of the international
community leading eventually to independence of Tibet and Taiwan and
unmasking of the Chinese geo-political game for what it is!
April 22, 2008
Dr. Adityanjee is the President of
Council for Strategic Affairs, New Delhi and can be contacted at
adityan@pol.net
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Government of India must have heaved a sigh of relief after
the Beijing Olympics torch passed through India’s “forbidden city”
without any untoward incident thereby pleasing their Chinese masters!
The riveting drama of the Beijing Olympics Torch relay started on April
1, 2008. Since then the Olympic torch relay has been in news perpetually
owing to the noisy protests by Tibetan independence activists, Buddhists
and international human rights activists against the Chinese
government’s repression of Buddhist monks in Tibet. 