Torch Journey: Asia

Nagano, Japan


Seoul, Korea


Pyongyang, North Korea
Ochenta personas fueron seleccionadas para llevar la Antorcha, según los medios oficiales norcoreanos
AFP
Beijing, China (28 abril 2008).- Después de un recorrido mundial salpicado de incidentes por reclamos sobre la situación en Tíbet, los relevos de la Llama Olímpica de los Juegos de Beijing tuvieron este lunes en la capital de Corea del Norte, país comunista aliado de China, una etapa mucho más tranquila, ante miles de espectadores.

Ante cientos de miles de personas, según los organizadores, agolpados a lo largo de las calles de la capital, la Antorcha inició un recorrido de 12 kilómetros.

El trayecto unió dos de los grandes símbolos del régimen comunista de Corea del Norte: la salida en la Torre de la Idea de Juché y la llegada en el estadio Kim Il-Sung. El Juché (autosuficiencia) es la ideología del país y Kim Il-Sung es el fundador del régimen norcoreano.

En la salida del recorrido, hombres con traje negro y mujeres con el vestido tradicional agitaban ramos artificiales de kimjongilia, la flor nacional bautizada con el nombre del "querido líder" Kim Jong-Il, según imágenes de televisión.

En ausencia del líder Kim Jong-Il, Kim Yong-Nam, jefe de Estado de facto, pasó la Antorcha al primer relevista, Park Du-Ik, que formaba parte del equipo norcoreano de fútbol en el Mundial de 1966.

Park se convirtió en héroe nacional al marcar el gol de la victoria ante Italia (1-0) y el paso a los Cuartos de final, uno de los mayores éxitos deportivos de Corea del Norte.

"Estoy muy honrado con haber sido designado a mi avanzada edad", declaró Park Du-Ik, de 71 años, citado por la agencia japonesa Kiodo.

El último relevo fue asegurado por Jong Song-Ok, vencedor de la maratón en los campeonatos mundiales de atletismo de 1999, quien concluyó la ceremonia bajo el sonoro aplauso de miles de personas, de acuerdo con la agencia Nueva China.

Ochenta personas fueron seleccionadas para llevar la Antorcha, según los medios oficiales norcoreanos.

Los relevistas son "responsables meritorios y atletas reputados que han contribuido al honor de la República Popular Democrática de Corea en competiciones internacionales, trabajadores de diferentes sectores, coreanos del extranjero y extranjeros residentes en el país", precisó la agencia oficial KCNA.

La Llama llegó la noche del domingo al aeropuerto de la capital, donde la recibieron un millar de estudiantes norcoreanos y chinos reunidos en el aeropuerto, según Nueva China, uno de los contados medios extranjeros autorizados en Corea del Norte.

Mientras que las etapas precedentes, en particular por ciudades occidentales, fueron muy movidas, el vicepresidente del comité organizador norcoreano, Li Chong-Sok, declaró de antemano que Corea del Norte, régimen comunista aliado de Beijing, iba a "dejar estupefacto al mundo" con su gestión del paso de la Llama.

Pyongyang, estrecho aliado de Beijing, ha criticado con severidad las numerosas manifestaciones protibetanas que han marcado varias etapas del periplo de la Llama Olímpica. En Corea del Norte, las manifestaciones sin previa autorización están estrictamente prohibidas.

La Llama Olímpica pasó el domingo por Seúl, capital de Corea del Sur, donde fue saludada por una multitud de chinos alborozados y se registraron algunos choques con manifestantes contrarios, rápidamente reducidos por más de 8 mil policías desplegados para evitar perturbaciones.

El Gobierno surcoreano lamentó el comportamiento radical de algunos estudiantes chinos en una nota remitida al Embajador chino en Seúl.

La llama proseguirá viaje el martes rumbo a Vietnam, luego a Hong Kong y posteriormente a Macao.


Vietnam


La Llama partirá el miércoles hacia Hong Kong
AP
Ciudad Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (29 abril 2008).- Miles de personas vitorearon el paso de la Antorcha olímpica por la ciudad más importante de Vietnam, donde terminó el tramo internacional del relevo después de semanas de protestas e interrupciones de parte de manifestantes antichinos.

La Antorcha ahora será llevada a los territorios chinos de Hong Kong y Macau y luego al resto del país anfitrión, incluyendo el Tíbet y la cima del Monte Everest.

El relevo tuvo un comienzo problemático en Ciudad Ho Chi Minh cuando la Llama se apagó poco después de ser encendida a las afueras de un teatro de ópera del siglo XIX. La antorcha fue
prendida pocos minutos después.

Ciudadanos chinos, la mayoría que trabajan o estudian en Vietnam, fueron los más ruidosos entre el público en esta ciudad antes conocida como Saigón. Ondeando grandes banderas rojas, corearon "¡Beijing! ¡China!" al paso de la Antorcha.

"Esto me pone feliz", dijo Emily Chen, una obrera china que trabaja en una fábrica de Nike en Vietnam. "Esto le da más poder a China".

Vietnam le prometió a su poderoso vecino norteño y aliado comunista que no permitiría que manifestantes interrumpieran el relevo, aunque algunos realizaron una breve protesta en la capital.

Los manifestantes fueron detenidos después de desplegar un cartelón anti China y por gritar "boicot a la olimpiada de Beijing" en un mercado en Hanoi, dijeron dos testigos bajo la condición de permanecer en el anonimato por temor a meterse en problemas con las autoridades. La policía no comentó al respecto.

El relevo de la Antorcha ha sido entorpecido por manifestaciones y ha sido custodiado por medidas extremas de seguridad desde que salió de Grecia el 24 de marzo, convirtiéndose en una pesadilla de relaciones públicas para China.

China y Vietnam tuvieron una guerra fronteriza en 1979, pero las relaciones entre ambos países mejoraron en años recientes.

La Antorcha llegó a Vietnam procedente de Corea del Norte.

*NOTE:
People should not be against other people! It is all about human rights and dignity!


People should not be against Chinese, or the Chinese against anyone. It is all about respect!
No one should attack no one.
The World is against a GOVERNMENT that uses it´s power to violate human rights, to take away dignity and to torture, to kill. That is the call, against Chinese Government, and NOT AGAINST CHINA (The People). That would be stupid and contradictory!
The World is rising it´s voice in the name of Human Rights and attacking in the name of Human Rights makes the call just ironic and stupid.
The World is claiming respect for Tibetans AND Chinese! The Chinese Government violates the human rights (liberties) of Tibetans AND Chinese! And that is what we claim: HUMAN RIGHTS FOR EVERYONE: Tibetans and Chinese.
The People of China should not feel outraged, the claim is NOT against the Chinese People.
We want, the world wants Dignity for EVERYONE in EVERY CORNER OF THIS WORLD. So we can really make a reality the "One World, One Dream" Motto.

Stop The Violence!
I Am You We Are The Same

Greenpeace Message

Dear friends,
An important vote on GMOs is due to take place on 7 May in Brussels. The agro-chemical industry wants to get EU permission to grow pesticide-producing maize plants and a GM potato that contains an antibiotic resistant gene. We want EU Commissioners to say NO when they discuss the applications on 7 May. Our petitions, postcards, emails, blog comments and actions have helped bring the EU to this historic moment. Now, this is it!
Can you join us in writing directly to all the European Commissioners this week?
The agro-chemical industry is already bombarding the Commission with lobbyists and messages. Greenpeace activists and campaigners are on the ground in Brussels, too. But with your voice, and your network of friends, we can deliver a louder, more direct message to Europe's top politicians.
We have contact details for all 27 European Commissioners, talking points you can use in your message to them, and links to further reading. The vast majority of EU citizens are opposed to GMOs, and emails direct from people who care ? in Europe, around the world ? can really work.
Please click here to take action.
Thank you for taking action before 7 May and for campaigning this far with us already.
We will keep you informed!
Everyone at Greenpeace International

*IamYouWeAreTheSame does not belong to Greenpeace, although we support some of their causes.

Video

Not only Bill of Rights, Not only American People. But the International Declaration of Human Rights and THE HUMAN BEINGS!

Unilever. Dove products vs. Orangutans and Rainforests

Unilever buys its palm oil from suppliers who destroy Indonesia's rainforests for their palm plantations, leading to further climate change and killing orang-utans and other endangered species in the process. By their own admission, Unilever is the biggest single user of palm oil in the world, which is why they can't wash their hands now of this problem. We mustn't let them.

A truly responsible company would not buy from suppliers who trash forests. But Unilever needs to be moved into action, which is what the international Dove campaign is about.

Talk to Dove before they destroy Paradise Forests:http://www.greenpeace.org/dove
Unilever, the makers of Dove beauty products, are buying palm oil from suppliers who destroy Indonesia's rainforests....

Hunger auf drei Kontinenten

Dossier Tageschau

Steigende Lebensmittelpreise führen zur Krise
Der Hunger kehrt zurück
Vielen galt der Hunger weitgehend als besiegt - jetzt steuert die Welt durch Dürren, Missernten und massive Preissteigerungen bei Grundnahrungsmitteln auf eine neue Ernährungskrise zu. Auf mehreren Kontinenten gibt es hungerbedingte Ausschreitungen. Die Weltbank warnt vor politischer Instabilität in den betroffenen Ländern. Ein Überblick.

Fragen und Antworten zur Hunger-Krise

Einer von sieben Menschen weltweit geht hungrig zu Bett, insgesamt haben 850 Millionen zu wenig zu essen. Was sind die Gründe für die Nahrungsmittelkrise? Wie kann man sie in den Griff bekommen? tagesschau.de hat Fragen und Antworten zusammengestellt. [mehr]
Weltagrarrat fordert Rückkehr zu traditionellen Anbauweisen.
Forum: Essen soll weltweit bezahlbar bleiben .

Debatte um Agrarsubventionen
Exportiert die EU die Nahrungsmittelkrise?

Die Landwirtschaft in den Entwicklungsländern soll produktiver werden, fordert die Bundesregierung. Doch die EU erschwert das seit langem. Exportsubventionen für EU-Produkte stören die Wettbewerbschancen der Bauern in armen Ländern. Erst 2013 sollen die Subventionen auslaufen. [mehr]
Hunger als Preis für den Wohlstand.
Milchbauern drohen erneut mit Lieferstopp.
Dossier: Hungerkatastrophe auf drei Kontinenten.
Werner Eckert mit Einschätzungen zur Nahrungsmittelkrise.

Sturz der Regierung Haitis verschärft instabile Lage
"Ein hungriger Mann ist ein wütender Mann"

Die Hungerrevolte hat Haiti fast ins Chaos gestürzt. Der Regierung wurde gesürzt, aber die Menschen protestieren weiter gegen die hohen Lebensmittelpreise. Die Entwicklung zeigt beispielhaft die Risiken für die politische Stabilität. Michael Castritius zeigt die Gefahren des Hungers. [mehr]
Haiti: Gewalttätiger Protest im Armenhaus der Karibik.
Haiti: Hunger, Wut und Gewalt.
Regierung wegen hoher Lebensmittelpreise gestürzt.
Hunger-Unruhen in Haiti [M. Castritius, ARD Mexiko City].

Gestiegene Lebensmittelpreise in Marokko
"Bürger sind in jämmerlicher Lage"

Auch in Marokko leiden die Menschen unter den Erhöhungen der Lebensmittelpreise. Ihr Zorn richtet sich vor allem gegen die Monopolisten auf dem nationalen Markt. Ihnen wird vorgeworfen, ihre Stellung brutal auszunutzen. Marc Dugge über Wut und Hunger in Marokko. [mehr]
Dossier: Hungerkatastrophe auf drei Kontinenten.
Forum: Essen soll weltweit bezahlbar bleiben .
Demonstrationen gegen hohe Preise [M. Dugge, ARD Rabat].

Hohe Lebensmittelpreise in Ägypten
Um sechs Uhr beginnt der Kampf ums Brot

Ein Generalstreik sollte Ägypten zum Erliegen bringen. Doch Viele waren nach massivem Druck der Regierung offenbar eingeschüchtert, es gab nur wenig Resonanz auf den Aufruf. Der Anlass für die Wut der Menschen bleibt: Die Preise für Lebensmittel, die sich viele nicht mehr leisten können. Golineh Atai berichtet. [mehr]
Weltspiegel: Nächste Sendung um 19.20 Uhr [daserste].
Generalstreik im Keim erstickt [J. Stryjak, ARD Kairo].

Exportbeschränkungen in mehreren Ländern
Biosprit-Anbau lässt Reispreise steigen

Weltweit werden immer mehr Flächen genutzt, um Rohstoffe für Biosprit anzubauen. Die Folge: Weniger Nahrungsmittel werden produziert, die Preise steigen dramatisch - beispielsweise für Reis. Mehrere Länder in Asien erließen inzwischen Exportverbote, um die Versorgung sicherzustellen. Bernd Musch-Borowska berichtet. [mehr]
Biokraftstoff verstärkt Hungerproblem [video].
Biosprit statt Nahrungsmittel [J. Diehl, NDR Tokio].
Sprit statt Nahrungsmittel [B. Musch-Borowska, ARD Singapur].

Mexikaner leiden unter Boom der Biokraftstoffe
Tortillas werden zum Luxusartikel

In Mexiko sind Tortillas Grundnahrungsmittel Nummer eins, aber der Verbrauch ist um ein Drittel zurückgegangen. Grund sind die stark gestiegenen Preise. Denn Mais wird in den USA zu Biokraftstoff verarbeitet. Der Sprithunger raubt mexikanischen Bauern die Existenzgrundlage. Stefan Schaaf berichtet. [video]
Biokraftstoff verstärkt Hungerproblem [video].

Teure Lebensmittel
500 Millionen Dollar gegen Hungerrevolten

Wegen der weltweit gestiegenen Preise für Nahrungsmittel sieht die Weltbank in 33 Ländern die Gefahr von Unruhen. Weltbank und IWF forderten daher von Geberländern 500 Millionen Dollar, um die Uno beim Kauf von Lebensmitteln zu unterstützen. Klaus Kastan stellt die Pläne vor. [mehr]
G8-Treffen: Der Hunger gerät wieder ins Blickfeld.
Forum: Essen soll weltweit bezahlbar bleiben .
Weltbank und IWF warnen vor Krisen [K. Scherer, Washington].
Soforthilfe gefordert [J. Borchers, HR Washington].

UN-Klimabericht
Die Folgen des Klimawandels für die Kontinente

Der Klimawandel wird vor allem die Landwirtschaft in den ärmeren Ländern treffen. In der Folge werden gerade dort, wo die Lebensmittel eh knapp sind, noch knapper - das prognostiziert jedenfalls der UN-Weltklimabericht. [mehr]
Der Klimawandel ist nicht zu stoppen.
Infografik: Der Treibhauseffekt.

Torch Journey

Kuala Lumpur

Jakarta


Canberra


El recorrido de la Llama Olímpica seguirá por Indonesia, Australia, Japón, Corea del Sur, Corea del Norte y Vietnam
AFP
Kuala Lumpur, Malasia (21 abril 2008).- La antorcha de los Juegos Olímpicos de Beijing terminó este lunes sin incidentes su recorrido por la capital de Malasia, Kuala Lumpur, en medio de fuertes medidas de seguridad.

La Llama Olímpica, que llegó el domingo desde Bangkok, partió de la plaza de la Independencia, donde se congregaron unas 500 personas, tras una corta ceremonia.

Terminó su recorrido de 16.5 kilómetros al pie de las emblemáticas torres gemelas Petronas.

Unos 80 atletas se encargaron del relevo de la llama durante todo su recorrido, que se realizó en medio de una fuerte vigilancia policial, con unos mil efectivos.

"Los malasios apoyan totalmente los Juegos Olímpicos y el relevo de la Antorcha", aseguró Imran Jaafar, presidente del Comité Olímpico de Malasia. "La atmósfera es de fiesta aquí (...), esto demuestra las buenas relaciones que mantenemos con Beijing", añadió.

Al principio del relevo se produjo sin embargo un incidente, cuando una pareja de japoneses con su hijo agitaron una bandera tibetana y fueron atacados por los seguidores chinos de los Juegos Olímpicos que gritaban: "Taiwán y Tíbet pertenecen a China".

Los manifestantes chinos les golpearon con palos utilizados para aplaudir y hacer ruido en las manifestaciones deportivas, según informaron la policía y un periodista de la AFP.

La policía intervino rápidamente y se llevó a la familia japonesa para "comprobar sus documentos de viaje".

Una ciudadana británica, que también mostraba una bandera tibetana, fue detenida, indicó la policía.

"Queremos verificar sus papeles", precisó Muhammad Sabtu Osman, jefe de la policía en Kuala Lumpur.

Las autoridades malasianas habían hecho un llamado el domingo para no relacionar la política con los Juegos Olímpicos, preocupadas por evitar cualquier incidente en el país, de mayoría musulmana, y muy vinculado a China.

"Malasia aprovecha esta ocasión para reafirmar que los Juegos Olímpicos de Beijing no tienen que ser politizados, y confía en que los Juegos estarán organizados con éxito en agosto de 2008", había indicado el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Rais Yatim.

La comunidad china representa el 25 por ciento de la población de Malasia y Beijing es uno de los principales socios comerciales de Kuala Lumpur. Las exportaciones de Malasia hacia China superaron los 16 mil millones de dólares en 2007.

Kuala Lumpur constituye la cuarta etapa del itinerario asiático de la antorcha después de Islamabad, Nueva Delhi y Bangkok.

Después de Malasia, el recorrido de la Llama Olímpica seguirá por Indonesia, Australia, Japón, Corea del Sur, Corea del Norte y Vietnam antes de su llegada a China.

El lunes, las autoridades australianas anunciaron que la mitad de la policía de la capital, será movilizada para proteger la Antorcha Olímpica cuando llegue a la ciudad.

Canberra, la capital australiana, es la próxima parada del Fuego

Reuters

Yakarta, Indonesia (22 abril 2008).- La policía de Indonesia dispersó a unos 100 manifestantes anti-China y detuvo a un activista extranjero en el marco del relevo de la Antorcha olímpica por Yakarta, en el más reciente incidente con la Llama en su viaje por el mundo.

Los manifestantes fueron dispersados tras un enfrentamiento de 30 minutos con la policía frente al principal ingreso al estadio Bung Karno, donde 80 atletas, funcionarios y estrellas de la televisión y el cine iban a transportar la Antorcha.

Autoridades indonesias desplegaron unos 2 mil 500 policías y mil efectivos militares para proteger el relevo de la Antorcha, que ha sido un imán para protestas contra China durante su paso por Europa y América tras la represión ordenada por Beijing contra manifestaciones en el Tíbet.

La trayectoria de los relevos iba originalmente a pasar por largos trechos de la capital indonesia, pero autoridades deportivas dijeron que la ruta estaría restringida a las inmediaciones del Bung Karno.

Sólo unos 5 mil invitados y periodistas acreditados tenían permitido el ingreso al complejo deportivo, según informaron las autoridades el lunes.

China tenía esperanzas de que el paso de la Antorcha por los cinco continentes fuera un símbolo de unidad en la cuenta regresiva hacia los Juegos Olímpicos en Beijing, pero la Llama ha despertado protestas contra China y crecientes manifestaciones a favor de China, muchas de ellas protagonizadas por estudiantes chinos en el extranjero.

Los manifestantes en Yakarta, congregados bajo el nombre de Sociedad Indonesia por un Tíbet Libre, gritaban "¡Libertad en Tíbet!" y sostenían carteles en los que se leía "Los Juegos Olímpicos y los crímenes contra la humanidad no pueden coexistir".

La policía arrestó a un ciudadano holandés que participaba de la protesta cuando el individuo no mostró su pasaporte para ser identificado, dijo el subjefe de la policía local, Herri Wibowo.

Otros siete manifestantes fueron momentáneamente detenidos pero se los liberó cuando la multitud aceptó dispersarse, dijo el líder de la protesta, Muhammad Gatot.

La Llama viajará próximamente a la capital australiana, Canberra, donde los organizadores dijeron que estaban rediagramando la ruta que recorrerá por miedo a choques entre manifestantes a favor y en contra de China.

Canberra, Australia (23 abril 2008).- La Policía arrestó el jueves a siete personas después que manifestantes tibetanos y chinos residentes en Australia protagonizaran algunos incidentes, en el inicio del traslado de la antorcha olímpica en Canberra.Miles de partidarios de Beijing fueron transportados en autobuses hacia la capital australiana para presenciar el paso de la llama olímpica por la ciudad, superando a los cientos de activistas que abogan por el Tíbet.La Policía tomó medidas de seguridad sin precedentes y arrestó a siete personas.Dos activistas del Tíbet se acercaron peligrosamente al convoy de la antorcha mientras el mismo se acercaba al Parlamento y fueron separadas del lugar por la Policía. Una de ellas gritaba: ellos están torturando a mi país.En tanto un hombre, que se sentó en la calle ante el paso de la caravana gritando dejen de matar al Tíbet, fue retirado rápidamente por los efectivos policiales.Los cánticos de "Una China" vociferados por los defensores de Beijing, sumados a los zumbidos de los didgeridoos -instrumentos musicales de los aborígenes de Australia-, ensordecieron a los espectadores antes del inicio del relevo.Docenas de banderas chinas y olímpicas flameaban al límite del Lago Burley Griffin de Canberra, ubicado frente al edificio del Parlamento.China esperaba que el relevo de la antorcha olímpica fuera un símbolo de unidad de cara a los Juegos de Beijing en agosto, pero el evento se vio opacado por las manifestaciones contra el país organizador que tuvieron lugar en varios países con motivo de su represión frente a las protestas en el Tíbet.Cientos de policías extras fueron solicitados para proteger la llama, que será trasladada por 80 portadores a través de 16 kilómetros de calles con barricadas.Los activistas tibetanos de Canberra, que alzaron banderas con leyendas como "No incendien al Tíbet" y "Derechos Humanos para un Tíbet Libre", dijeron que planeaban realizar una manifestación pacífica, aunque temían ser abrumados por el gran número de partidarios de Beijing."Estamos algo inseguros, pero realmente esperamos que nuestra voz pueda ser escuchada en Beijing", expresó el tibetano Tenzin Dhargy.

Cartoons of the week

China: problems with Human Rights & Pollution

China Falls Short on Vows for Olympics'Long Way to Go' On Rights, Pollution And Press Freedom
By Jill Drew and Maureen FanWashington Post Foreign ServiceMonday, April 21, 2008; A01
BEIJING, April 20 -- China has spent billions of dollars to fulfill its commitment to stage a grand Olympics. Athletes will compete in world-class stadiums. New highways and train lines crisscross Beijing. China built the world's largest airport terminal to welcome an expected 500,000 foreign visitors. Thousands of newly planted trees and dozens of colorful "One World, One Dream" billboards line the main roads of a spruced-up capital. The security system has impressed the FBI and Interpol.
But beneath the shimmer and behind the slogan, China is under criticism for suppressing Tibetan protests, sealing off large portions of the country to foreign reporters, harassing and jailing dissidents and not doing enough to curb air pollution. It has not lived up to a pledge in its Olympic action plan, released in 2002, to "be open in every aspect," and a constitutional amendment adopted in 2004 to recognize and protect human rights has not shielded government critics from arrest.
The two realities show that when China had to build something new to fulfill expectations, it has largely delivered. But in areas that touch China's core interests, Olympic pledges come second.
"To ensure a successful Olympic Games, the government did make some technical and strategic efforts to improve the environment, human rights and press freedom. They did make some progress. But in these three areas, there's a long, long way to go," said Cheng Yizhong, an editor who tracks China's Olympic preparations.
With the Games less than four months away, the International Olympic Committee is scrambling to nail down specifics of how China will treat criticism of its actions during the event. Pressed this month, IOC President Jacques Rogge clarified that athletes would be allowed to speak freely in Beijing's Olympic venues, calling it an "absolute" human right.
"I can't help but feel cynical about all this," said David Wallechinsky, an Olympic historian, who said the IOC should have been more forceful with China earlier. "What are they going to do, take away the Games?"
Human Rights
China's commitment to improve human rights has always been vague. Its strongest public statement came from Beijing's mayor, the head of the country's bidding team, on the eve of the IOC vote in July 2001 to select the host city for the 2008 Olympics. Awarding the Games to Beijing, said Liu Qi, would "benefit the further development of our human rights cause."
Rogge says China made a moral commitment to improve human rights, but did not sign a contractual agreement. In 2002, he told reporters he was convinced the Games would improve human rights in China. The IOC, Rogge said, would confer regularly with Amnesty International, a human rights group, to monitor China's progress.
T. Kumar, Amnesty's Asia advocacy director, said meetings did take place, but mostly between low-level staff members of the two organizations. He said the IOC did not solicit ideas about how to press the Chinese on the problems Amnesty was raising. Two weeks ago, an IOC official publicly dismissed an Amnesty report that said China's crackdown on activists had intensified because of the Olympics.
"The IOC silence all these years is one of the reasons China felt no need to improve human rights in a meaningful way," Kumar said. "The IOC behaved in a very indifferent way."
China rejects global anger over its human rights record. Lifting 400 million people out of extreme poverty in recent decades, as the World Bank reports the government has done, is an overarching human rights achievement, Chinese researchers say.
"It is most important to compare human rights to the past to see if there is progress, not to compare it with other countries," said Luo Yanhau, professor of international studies at Peking University. Even with a fast-rising economy, she said, about one-tenth of the population still lives on $1 a day or less, according to 2006 World Bank statistics. "We have to fulfill the right to subsistence and development," she said.
In the past decade, China has passed laws to better protect the rights of the disabled, elderly, women, employees and migrant workers. Although enforcement of those laws is often lacking, rights experts say, the government has allowed a broader public discourse about these areas.
Li Shi'an, a history professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said China has fulfilled its commitment to Olympic officials on human rights, arguing that the country would not be as stable if people did not have rights.
China, which denies that widespread protests by Tibetans for more autonomy are a human rights issue, recently rejected a request by U.N. human rights experts to travel to Tibet. Chinese President Hu Jintao said last weekend that Tibet "is not an ethnic problem, not a religious problem, nor a human rights problem." In his first public comments on the issue, Hu said, "It is a problem either to safeguard national unification or to split the motherland."
Press Freedom
Wang Wei, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, told reporters in 2001 that the news media would have "complete freedom to report on anything when they come to China."
Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, last year signed temporary regulations to allow foreign journalists to travel domestically without advance permission until the Games are over. Reporters would still need permits to travel to Tibet, officials said, although that was not specifically mentioned in the regulations.
But recently foreign journalists have been detained while reporting sensitive stories and escorted by police out of several provinces that border Tibet, which is closed to foreign journalists and tourists. Chinese officials say foreign journalists are being excluded from the areas for their safety. Meanwhile, government spokesmen have accused international news media of biased reporting and some foreign journalists have received death threats.
"If there were no Tibetan issue, the Chinese government would follow their promises very well," said Zhan Jiang, journalism dean at China Youth University for Political Sciences in Beijing. "But with the Tibetan issue, they will not keep their commitment."
Chinese writers can publish on a broader range of topics today than in years past, domestic media watchers say, but criticizing the government or the Communist Party can still mean time in jail or a labor camp. Dissident writer Hu Jia was sentenced recently to 3 1/2 years for subverting state authority by giving interviews to foreign media and posting articles on the Internet that compared the Communist Party to the Mafia and called for greater autonomy for Tibet.
"China is suffering from its policy of suppressing press freedom," said Cheng, the editor who tracks Olympic preparations. He was editor in chief of Southern Metropolis Daily before he was arrested for publishing information in 2003 about the severity of the deadly SARS epidemic. He was cleared of corruption charges and is now deputy publisher of Sports Illustrated China.
"The government is suffering from its own propaganda system, which has been rigid for a long time," Cheng said. "China is lifting a rock only to drop it on its own feet."
Environment
The Olympics have been used both within China and internationally as an urgent prod to clean up pollution. "Deliver Clean Energy Towards a Harmonious World," declares a giant billboard in downtown Beijing.
China has spent about $20 billion over the past decade to clean up Beijing's air, government media have reported. Du Shaozhong, deputy director of Beijing's Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, said the government has shut down 200 heavily polluting factories since 1998. Another 19 heavy polluters will be forced to reduce emissions between now and the Aug. 8 start of the Games. Work must stop on construction sites starting July 20, Du said, and Beijing has warned motorists that sometime this summer private cars will be allowed on the road only on alternating days.
China had pledged that by 2008, measurements of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide would meet World Health Organization standards and airborne particle density would be reduced to the level of major cities in developed countries. But the IOC said last month that Beijing had so far met only WHO 2005 interim guidelines, which are significantly less restrictive.
"Official data during the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Olympic period indicates air quality was actually worse in 2006 and 2007 than in 2000 and 2001," Steven Q. Andrews, an independent environmental consultant, said in an e-mail interview. His analysis of August 2007 data found that Beijing's air registered 123 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter, more than double the WHO guideline of 50 micrograms per cubic meter for short-term exposure.
Du said there are contingency plans to take more stringent steps if needed to improve air quality during the Games. "We will do everything possible to honor the promise," he said.

Staff researcher Robert E. Thomason in Washington and researchers Zhang Jie and Liu Songjie in Beijing contributed to this report.

The Olympic Torch in Bangkok

The Economist publishes The silent tsunami

The silent tsunami
Apr 17th 2008
From The Economist print edition
Food prices are causing misery and strife around the world. Radical solutions are needed

PICTURES of hunger usually show passive eyes and swollen bellies. The harvest fails because of war or strife; the onset of crisis is sudden and localised. Its burden falls on those already at the margin.
Today's pictures are different. “This is a silent tsunami,” says Josette Sheeran of the World Food Programme, a United Nations agency. A wave of food-price inflation is moving through the world, leaving riots and shaken governments in its wake. For the first time in 30 years, food protests are erupting in many places at once. Bangladesh is in turmoil (see article); even China is worried (see article). Elsewhere, the food crisis of 2008 will test the assertion of Amartya Sen, an Indian economist, that famines do not happen in democracies.
Famine traditionally means mass starvation. The measures of today's crisis are misery and malnutrition. The middle classes in poor countries are giving up health care and cutting out meat so they can eat three meals a day. The middling poor, those on $2 a day, are pulling children from school and cutting back on vegetables so they can still afford rice. Those on $1 a day are cutting back on meat, vegetables and one or two meals, so they can afford one bowl. The desperate—those on 50 cents a day—face disaster.
Roughly a billion people live on $1 a day. If, on a conservative estimate, the cost of their food rises 20% (and in some places, it has risen a lot more), 100m people could be forced back to this level, the common measure of absolute poverty. In some countries, that would undo all the gains in poverty reduction they have made during the past decade of growth. Because food markets are in turmoil, civil strife is growing; and because trade and openness itself could be undermined, the food crisis of 2008 may become a challenge to globalisation.
First find $700m
Rich countries need to take the food problems as seriously as they take the credit crunch. Already bigwigs at the World Bank and the United Nations are calling for a “new deal” for food. Their clamour is justified. But getting the right kind of help is not so easy, partly because food is not a one-solution-fits-all problem and partly because some of the help needed now risks making matters worse in the long run.
The starting-point should be that rising food prices bear more heavily on some places than others. Food exporters, and countries where farmers are self-sufficient, or net sellers, benefit. Some countries—those in West Africa which import their staples, or Bangladesh, with its huge numbers of landless labourers—risk ruin and civil strife. Because of the severity there, the first step must be to mend the holes in the world's safety net. That means financing the World Food Programme properly. The WFP is the world's largest distributor of food aid and its most important barrier between hungry people and starvation. Like a $1-a-day family in a developing country, its purchasing power has been slashed by the rising cost of grain. Merely to distribute the same amount of food as last year, the WFP needs—and should get—an extra $700m.
And because the problems in many places are not like those of a traditional famine, the WFP should be allowed to broaden what it does. At the moment, it mostly buys grain and doles it out in areas where there is little or no food. That is necessary in famine-ravaged places, but it damages local markets. In most places there are no absolute shortages and the task is to lower domestic prices without doing too much harm to farmers. That is best done by distributing cash, not food—by supporting (sometimes inventing) social-protection programmes and food-for-work schemes for the poor. The agency can help here, though the main burden—tens of billions of dollars' worth—will be borne by developing-country governments and lending institutions in the West.
Such actions are palliatives. But the food crisis of 2008 has revealed market failures at every link of the food chain (see article). Any “new deal” ought to try to address the long-term problems that are holding poor farmers back.
Then stop the distortions
In general, governments ought to liberalise markets, not intervene in them further. Food is riddled with state intervention at every turn, from subsidies to millers for cheap bread to bribes for farmers to leave land fallow. The upshot of such quotas, subsidies and controls is to dump all the imbalances that in another business might be smoothed out through small adjustments onto the one unregulated part of the food chain: the international market.
For decades, this produced low world prices and disincentives to poor farmers. Now, the opposite is happening. As a result of yet another government distortion—this time subsidies to biofuels in the rich world—prices have gone through the roof. Governments have further exaggerated the problem by imposing export quotas and trade restrictions, raising prices again. In the past, the main argument for liberalising farming was that it would raise food prices and boost returns to farmers. Now that prices have massively overshot, the argument stands for the opposite reason: liberalisation would reduce prices, while leaving farmers with a decent living.
There is an occasional exception to the rule that governments should keep out of agriculture. They can provide basic technology: executing capital-intensive irrigation projects too large for poor individual farmers to undertake, or paying for basic science that helps produce higher-yielding seeds. But be careful. Too often—as in Europe, where superstitious distrust of genetic modification is slowing take-up of the technology—governments hinder rather than help such advances. Since the way to feed the world is not to bring more land under cultivation, but to increase yields, science is crucial.
Agriculture is now in limbo. The world of cheap food has gone. With luck and good policy, there will be a new equilibrium. The transition from one to the other is proving more costly and painful than anyone had expected. But the change is desirable, and governments should be seeking to ease the pain of transition, not to stop the process itself.

More About Hunger

Photo: Tyler Hicks/The New York Times


"They look at me and say, ‘Papa, I’m hungry,’ and I have to look away. It’s humiliating and it makes you angry."
SAINT LOUIS MERISKA, of Haiti, whose children went without food the day before.

As food prices for staples like beans, corn and rice grow out of reach around the world, hunger in Haiti has become fierce.

Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger
April 18, 2008
By MARC LACEY
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Hunger bashed in the front gate of Haiti’s presidential palace. Hunger poured onto the streets, burning tires and taking on soldiers and the police. Hunger sent the country’s prime minister packing.
Haiti’s hunger, that burn in the belly that so many here feel, has become fiercer than ever in recent days as global food prices spiral out of reach, spiking as much as 45 percent since the end of 2006 and turning Haitian staples like beans, corn and rice into closely guarded treasures.
Saint Louis Meriska’s children ate two spoonfuls of rice apiece as their only meal recently and then went without any food the following day. His eyes downcast, his own stomach empty, the unemployed father said forlornly, “They look at me and say, ‘Papa, I’m hungry,’ and I have to look away. It’s humiliating and it makes you angry.”
That anger is palpable across the globe. The food crisis is not only being felt among the poor but is also eroding the gains of the working and middle classes, sowing volatile levels of discontent and putting new pressures on fragile governments.
In Cairo, the military is being put to work baking bread as rising food prices threaten to become the spark that ignites wider anger at a repressive government. In Burkina Faso and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, food riots are breaking out as never before. In reasonably prosperous Malaysia, the ruling coalition was nearly ousted by voters who cited food and fuel price increases as their main concerns.
“It’s the worst crisis of its kind in more than 30 years,” said Jeffrey D. Sachs, the economist and special adviser to the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. “It’s a big deal and it’s obviously threatening a lot of governments. There are a number of governments on the ropes, and I think there’s more political fallout to come.”
Indeed, as it roils developing nations, the spike in commodity prices — the biggest since the Nixon administration — has pitted the globe’s poorer south against the relatively wealthy north, adding to demands for reform of rich nations’ farm and environmental policies. But experts say there are few quick fixes to a crisis tied to so many factors, from strong demand for food from emerging economies like China’s to rising oil prices to the diversion of food resources to make biofuels.
There are no scripts on how to handle the crisis, either. In Asia, governments are putting in place measures to limit hoarding of rice after some shoppers panicked at price increases and bought up everything they could.
Even in Thailand, which produces 10 million more tons of rice than it consumes and is the world’s largest rice exporter, supermarkets have placed signs limiting the amount of rice shoppers are allowed to purchase.
But there is also plenty of nervousness and confusion about how best to proceed and just how bad the impact may ultimately be, particularly as already strapped governments struggle to keep up their food subsidies.
‘Scandalous Storm’
“This is a perfect storm,” President Elías Antonio Saca of El Salvador said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Cancún, Mexico. “How long can we withstand the situation? We have to feed our people, and commodities are becoming scarce. This scandalous storm might become a hurricane that could upset not only our economies but also the stability of our countries.”
In Asia, if Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia steps down, which is looking increasingly likely amid postelection turmoil within his party, he may be that region’s first high- profile political casualty of fuel and food price inflation.
In Indonesia, fearing protests, the government recently revised its 2008 budget, increasing the amount it will spend on food subsidies by about $280 million.
“The biggest concern is food riots,” said H.S. Dillon, a former adviser to Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture. Referring to small but widespread protests touched off by a rise in soybean prices in January, he said, “It has happened in the past and can happen again.”
Last month in Senegal, one of Africa’s oldest and most stable democracies, police in riot gear beat and used tear gas against people protesting high food prices and later raided a television station that broadcast images of the event. Many Senegalese have expressed anger at President Abdoulaye Wade for spending lavishly on roads and five-star hotels for an Islamic summit meeting last month while many people are unable to afford rice or fish.
“Why are these riots happening?” asked Arif Husain, senior food security analyst at the World Food Program, which has issued urgent appeals for donations. “The human instinct is to survive, and people are going to do no matter what to survive. And if you’re hungry you get angry quicker.”
Leaders who ignore the rage do so at their own risk. President René Préval of Haiti appeared to taunt the populace as the chorus of complaints about la vie chère — the expensive life — grew. He said if Haitians could afford cellphones, which many do carry, they should be able to feed their families. “If there is a protest against the rising prices,” he said, “come get me at the palace and I will demonstrate with you.”
When they came, filled with rage and by the thousands, he huddled inside and his presidential guards, with United Nations peacekeeping troops, rebuffed them. Within days, opposition lawmakers had voted out Mr. Préval’s prime minister, Jacques-Édouard Alexis, forcing him to reconstitute his government. Fragile in even the best of times, Haiti’s population and politics are now both simmering.
“Why were we surprised?” asked Patrick Élie, a Haitian political activist who followed the food riots in Africa earlier in the year and feared they might come to Haiti. “When something is coming your way all the way from Burkina Faso you should see it coming. What we had was like a can of gasoline that the government left for someone to light a match to it.”
Dwindling Menus
The rising prices are altering menus, and not for the better. In India, people are scrimping on milk for their children. Daily bowls of dal are getting thinner, as a bag of lentils is stretched across a few more meals.
Maninder Chand, an auto-rickshaw driver in New Delhi, said his family had given up eating meat altogether for the last several weeks.
Another rickshaw driver, Ravinder Kumar Gupta, said his wife had stopped seasoning their daily lentils, their chief source of protein, with the usual onion and spices because the price of cooking oil was now out of reach. These days, they eat bowls of watery, tasteless dal, seasoned only with salt.
Down Cairo’s Hafziyah Street, peddlers selling food from behind wood carts bark out their prices. But few customers can afford their fish or chicken, which bake in the hot sun. Food prices have doubled in two months.
Ahmed Abul Gheit, 25, sat on a cheap, stained wooden chair by his own pile of rotting tomatoes. “We can’t even find food,” he said, looking over at his friend Sobhy Abdullah, 50. Then raising his hands toward the sky, as if in prayer, he said, “May God take the guy I have in mind.”
Mr. Abdullah nodded, knowing full well that the “guy” was President Hosni Mubarak.
The government’s ability to address the crisis is limited, however. It already spends more on subsidies, including gasoline and bread, than on education and health combined.
“If all the people rise, then the government will resolve this,” said Raisa Fikry, 50, whose husband receives a pension equal to about $83 a month, as she shopped for vegetables. “But everyone has to rise together. People get scared. But we will all have to rise together.”
It is the kind of talk that has prompted the government to treat its economic woes as a security threat, dispatching riot forces with a strict warning that anyone who takes to the streets will be dealt with harshly.
Niger does not need to be reminded that hungry citizens overthrow governments. The country’s first postcolonial president, Hamani Diori, was toppled amid allegations of rampant corruption in 1974 as millions starved during a drought.
More recently, in 2005, it was mass protests in Niamey, the Nigerien capital, that made the government sit up and take notice of that year’s food crisis, which was caused by a complex mix of poor rains, locust infestation and market manipulation by traders.
“As a result of that experience the government created a cabinet-level ministry to deal with the high cost of living,” said Moustapha Kadi, an activist who helped organize marches in 2005. “So when prices went up this year the government acted quickly to remove tariffs on rice, which everyone eats. That quick action has kept people from taking to the streets.”
The Poor Eat Mud
In Haiti, where three-quarters of the population earns less than $2 a day and one in five children is chronically malnourished, the one business booming amid all the gloom is the selling of patties made of mud, oil and sugar, typically consumed only by the most destitute.
“It’s salty and it has butter and you don’t know you’re eating dirt,” said Olwich Louis Jeune, 24, who has taken to eating them more often in recent months. “It makes your stomach quiet down.”
But the grumbling in Haiti these days is no longer confined to the stomach. It is now spray-painted on walls of the capital and shouted by demonstrators.
In recent days, Mr. Préval has patched together a response, using international aid money and price reductions by importers to cut the price of a sack of sugar by about 15 percent. He has also trimmed the salaries of some top officials. But those are considered temporary measures.
Real solutions will take years. Haiti, its agriculture industry in shambles, needs to better feed itself. Outside investment is the key, although that requires stability, not the sort of widespread looting and violence that the Haitian food riots have fostered.
Meanwhile, most of the poorest of the poor suffer silently, too weak for activism or too busy raising the next generation of hungry. In the sprawling slum of Haiti’s Cité Soleil, Placide Simone, 29, offered one of her five offspring to a stranger. “Take one,” she said, cradling a listless baby and motioning toward four rail-thin toddlers, none of whom had eaten that day. “You pick. Just feed them.”
Reporting was contributed by Lydia Polgreen from Niamey, Niger, Michael Slackman from Cairo, Somini Sengupta from New Delhi, Thomas Fuller from Bangkok and Peter Gelling from Jakarta, Indonesia.

Food Prices and Supply

China seeks apology from CNN

China Spurns Apology, Keeps Pressure on CNN
By Jill Drew
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, April 18, 2008; A17
BEIJING, April 17 -- Ratcheting up a campaign against what it calls Western media bias, China demanded a "sincere apology" from CNN for comments made by an on-air personality who called the Chinese "goons and thugs" last week.
CNN had offered an apology Tuesday, but the Chinese rejected it as inadequate. CNN's Beijing bureau chief was summoned to a meeting at the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday night, and on Thursday a ministry spokeswoman said the global news network needed to do more to "take back the vile remarks."
China's fight with CNN is part of a broader effort to challenge those who question its response to last month's protests in Tibet or criticize the Olympic torch relay, which traveled Thursday through New Delhi under heavy guard on its way ultimately to Beijing.
Although Western news media are a particular target, political figures have also faced criticism. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) met with the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader whom China accuses of masterminding the Tibetan protests, an editorial in the official People's Daily said that if a poll were taken in China, Pelosi would probably be voted "the most disgusting figure."
CNN has been under fire since late March, when its Web site, CNN.com, ran a photo of the March 14 rioting in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, which was cropped in a way that cut out several Tibetan protesters pelting Chinese trucks with rocks. CNN issued a statement defending the photo, saying it was clear what was happening.
In the latest controversy, commentator Jack Cafferty, appearing April 9 on CNN's "The Situation Room," called Chinese exports "junk with the lead paint on them" and lamented the large U.S. trade deficit with China. "I think they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years," Cafferty said.
After an outcry, CNN apologized to anyone who took offense. It issued a statement that drew a distinction between its news reporting, which it defended as "objective and balanced," and its commentators, "who provide robust opinions that generate debate." Cafferty himself clarified that he was referring to the Chinese government, not the Chinese people.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said those moves did not go far enough.
"Their statement not only did not make a sincere apology, but also took aim at the Chinese government, attempting to sow dissension between the Chinese government and the people," Jiang said Thursday. "We cannot accept it."
CNN Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz declined to comment on the new demand or his meeting Wednesday night with Liu Jianchao, director general of the Foreign Ministry information department. A CNN spokesman also declined to comment.

Los guardias azules de la llama, India y Japón

Limita Japón seguridad de la antorcha
El evento de relevos también sufrió manifestaciones en Europa y Estados Unidos
Reuters
Tokio, Japón (17 abril 2008).- Los guardias paramilitares chinos que custodian la antorcha olímpica no tendrán ningún rol en la seguridad organizada por Japón para el relevo de la llama en ese país, dijo el jueves una autoridad local.La antorcha llegará el 26 de abril a Nagano, en el centro del país y donde tuvieron lugar los Juegos de Invierno en 1998, tras haber soportado caóticas manifestaciones -la mayoría debido a la represión china en el Tíbet- en varias de las ciudades que visitó anteriormente.
Dos guardianes de la llama correrán a la par de los portadores de la antorcha a lo largo de una ruta de 18.5 kilómetros que, más allá de las protestas, no fue alterada ni recortada, según una autoridad del comité organizador del relevo en Nagano."Escuchamos que se limitarán a supervisar el recorrido", dijo el responsable con relación al rol de los hombres de seguridad chinos vestidos con ropa deportiva azul-.
El escuadrón, conformado por alrededor de 70 miembros de la Armada de la Policía Pública de China, fue muy criticado por su mando dura para cuidar el progreso de la antorcha."No creo que haya ningún acuerdo para que esas personas de ropa azul participen", sentenció en una conferencia de prensa el Jefe de Gabinete, Nobutaka Machimura.
Jiang Yu, portavoz del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores chino, dijo que los custodios de la antorcha habían sido enviados de acuerdo a los precedentes olímpicos."Siempre se realizó la misma práctica en los Juegos anteriores, y el Comité Olímpico Internacional brindó su respaldo en un 100 por ciento", explicó Jiang."Usaron sus cuerpos para proteger la antorcha, por lo que sus actos deberían ser elogiados, mientras que los actos violentos de los activistas en favor de la independencia del Tíbet deberían ser condenados", agregó.
La llama arribó el jueves a Nueva Delhi y automáticamente se encontró con protestas de miembros de la comunidad tibetana más grande del mundo.
El evento de relevos también sufrió manifestaciones en Europa y Estados Unidos. En varias ciudades los manifestantes intentaron apagar la llama, lo que hizo que los organizadores debieran extinguirla para resguardarla.

El Recorrido en la India

India acoge desde 1959 a más de 100 mil exiliados tibetanos
AFP
Nueva Delhi, India (17 abril 2008).- India detuvo este jueves en Nueva Delhi y en Bombay a más de 200 tibetanos con motivo del paso por la capital federal de la Antorcha Olímpica, un acontecimiento reducido a media hora por el centro de la ciudad, convertido en un campo atrincherado.
Se preveía que la etapa de Nueva Delhi en el periplo mundial de la Llama Olímpica fuese delicada, debido a que en India viven unos 100 mil exiliados tibetanos y su líder espiritual, el Dalai Lama.
Entre 170 y 180 militantes tibetanos fueron arrestados en las inmediaciones del trayecto de la antorcha olímpica, declaró un oficial de la policía india.
Setenta de los tibetanos detenidos habían intentado organizar un relevo paralelo al oficial de la Llama Olímpica, desarrollado en el corazón de Nueva Delhi.
Además, 46 tibetanos fueron detenidos en Bombay, la capital económica india, después de que intentaran entrar en el consulado de China.
Flanqueados por guardias chinos y bajo la atenta mirada de 16 mil policías y militares, los relevistas de Nueva Delhi corrieron cada uno unos cuantos metros de los escasos tres kilómetros del recorrido, entre el palacio presidencial y la Puerta de India, un arco de triunfo militar.
Las fuerzas del orden mantuvieron alejada a la mayoría de los curiosos, con la excepción de los invitados seleccionados puntillosamente y los niños que agitaban banderas al paso de la antorcha por este barrio majestuoso de construcción británica que data de la década de 1920.
Las autoridades reconocieron temer manifestaciones de los tibetanos, y por encima de todo, "inmolaciones con fuego" ante las televisiones del mundo entero.
Bajo presión de China, India decidió a principios de abril acortar el recorrido de la antorcha, de los nueve kilómetros previstos inicialmente a menos de tres, y suprimir una etapa prevista en Bombay."Nos impresionó profundamente la belleza de Delhi y la pasión del pueblo indio por la llama olímpica", declaró Jiang Xiaoyu, vicepresidente chino del Comité Organizador de los Juegos Olímpicos de Beijing, que se celebrarán en agosto.
India había prometido a China, su vecina y rival frente a la que perdió una guerra en 1962, un paso de la llama sin tropiezos como los acontecidos en Londres y París, donde se produjeron incidentes.
En la capital francesa, el 7 de abril, los guardias chinos apagaron en cinco ocasiones la antorcha, supuestamente para protegerla de los manifestantes. Por el contrario, lo que es la llama en sí misma, no se ha extinguido nunca desde su encendido en Grecia a finales de marzo.
Aamir Khan y Saif Ali Khan, dos actores de Bollywood (la versión india de Hollywood, a causa de la gran cantidad de películas realizadas en hindi), el tenista Leander Paes y varios funcionarios de la embajada de China en Nueva Delhi participaron en los relevos.
Pero el capitán del equipo de fútbol indio, Bhaichung Bhutia, rechazó a principios de abril la invitación de llevarla, con lo que se convirtió en el primer deportista en el mundo en boicotear un acontecimiento de los Juegos Olímpicos en solidaridad con "la causa tibetana".
Las medidas de seguridad excepcionales no han logrado disuadir a los dos mil tibetanos e indios de lanzar un relevo alternativo, sosteniendo una antorcha que simboliza la lucha "por la libertad de Tíbet".
El Congreso de la Juventud tibetana, un grupo independentista, se había comprometido a intentar dar un golpe de efecto, según su vicepresidente Dhondup Dorjee, que trató de acercarse al máximo de la antorcha, aún exponiéndose a disparos de los guardias chinos.India, que reconoce la plena soberanía de China sobre Tíbet, acoge desde 1959 a más de 100 mil exiliados tibetanos, en particular en Dharamsala, donde reside el Dalai Lama.
Alrededor de 20 mil tibetanos se refugiaron en Nepal. Más de 500 de ellos fueron detenidos el jueves tras una manifestación cerca de la embajada de China en Katmandú.

Mehr über Mais Preise und Hunger

Energieerzeugung mit Biogasanlagen weniger rentabel
Der Mais-Preis und das Biogas
Von Dorothee Bürkle
Den Landwirten ging es schlecht, die Preise waren tief. Also wurde Werner Prümers vom Landwirt zum Energiewirt und investierte in eine Biogasanlage. Doch jetzt hat sich der Mais-Preis verdoppelt und damit ist der Mais viel zu teuer, um ihn zu verbrennen.

Landwirt und Energiewirt Prümers
Butterberge und Milchseen gab es so lange Werner Prümers denken kann und die Preise für landwirtschaftliche Erzeugnisse waren niedrig. Deshalb hat der Landwirt aus Steinfurt im Münsterland zusammen mit 75 Kollegen 2005 vier Millionen Euro in eine Biogasanlage investiert und verfeuert seither Gülle und etwa zehn Prozent seiner Maisernte. Für die Landwirte sollte die Anlage ein Einstieg in den lukrativen Energiemarkt werden.
Vom Landwirt zum Energiewirt - und wieder zurück

30 Tonnen täglich für die Biogasanlage
Doch das könnte eine falsche Entscheidung gewesen sein. Der Preis für Mais stieg in den vergangenen Monaten auf das Doppelte und ist jetzt zu teuer, um verbrannt zu werden. Aber die Biogasanlage, die Strom und Heizwärme für über 4.000 Haushalte liefert, muss befeuert werden, täglich mit 30 Tonnen Mais. 300.000 Euro im Jahr sollte der Betrieb der Biogasanlage kosten, so die ursprüngliche Kalkulation, derzeit müssen die Landwirte jedoch Mais im Wert von 550.000 Euro verbrennen. Werner Prümers ist verwundert, dass kein Experte diese Entwicklung der Agrarpreise damals absehen konnte.


"Diese Entwicklung hat alle überrascht"
Die Expertin Karin Holm-Müller, Professorin für Ressourcen und Umweltökonomik an der Universität Bonn, hat dafür eine Erklärung: Vor allem weltweit schlechte Ernten in den vergangenen Jahren und damit unkalkulierbare Ereignisse haben zu der Preisentwicklung geführt. "Im Nachhinein ist man immer klüger. Aber selbst renommierte Institute haben das nicht vorhergesehen, das hat alle überrascht."

"Chance für Kleinbauern"
Die Umweltökonomin geht davon aus, dass die Bioenergie dabei keinen großen Einfluss auf die Weltmarktpreise von Nahrungsmitteln hat, dazu sei ihr Anteil weltweit zu gering. Eine Ausnahme könnte Mexiko sein, wo große Mengen an Mais für den Benzinmarkt in den USA aufgekauft werden.
Karin Holm-Müller betont, dass die derzeitige Situation nicht nur Nachteile hat: "Den Landwirten geht es so gut wie lange nicht. Gerade auch in Entwicklungsländern können kleinbäuerliche Betriebe erstmals wieder von ihrer Arbeit leben."

"Bioenergie hat Potential"
Auch Bernd Geisen, Geschäftsführer beim Bundesverband für Bioenergie in Bonn, hält es prinzipiell für ein positives Signal, dass Lebensmittel nicht mehr zu Dumpingpreisen verkauft werden. Ein großes Potenzial für Bioenergie, deren Anteil am End-Energieverbrauch im vergangenen Jahr bei 6,2 Prozent lag, sieht er auch bei anhaltend hohen Preisen für Agrarprodukte: "Es gibt viele Abfall- und Restprodukte in der Landwirtschaft, wie zum Beispiel Gülle, Stroh oder Waldrestholz, die zur Erzeugung von Bioenergie eingesetzt werden können."
Geisen räumt aber ein, dass die Investitionen in neue Biogasanlagen derzeit nahe Null sind. Das liege aber nicht nur an dem gestiegenen Preis für Agrarprodukte: "Im Sommer entscheidet der Bundestag über ein neues Gesetz zu erneuerbaren Energien. Ob die Bioenergie Zukunft hat, hängt jetzt vor allem von der Politik ab."
Natürlich freut sich auch Werner Prümers, dass er für seine Erzeugnisse heute einen guten Preis bekommt. Wenn da nicht diese riesige Investition wäre: "Zum heutigen Zeitpunkt würde ich nicht mehr in die Biogasanlage investieren." Aber das sei wirtschaftliches Risiko, das er zum Glück nicht alleine geschultert habe.

Links
Vom Energiewirt zum Landwirt[Markt 02.04.07]
Interview: Wie der Biosprit das Brot verdrängt[14.04.08]

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Interview mit CCC-Experte Jens Ohlig
"China kennt verschiedene Formen der Internetzensur"
Zur Person: Jens Ohlig hat an der Universität Bonn Koreanisch und Englisch studiert. Seit 1991 ist er im Chaos Computer Club aktiv. Seine Schwerpunkte sind das Internet in Asien und Internetzensur.

Wie ist es möglich, dass ein Staatsapparat anscheinend in der Lage ist, den Internetverkehr zu überwachen? Wie macht ein Staat wie China klar, was online nicht erwünscht ist? Und wieso halten sich die User dran? tagesschau.de sprach darüber mit dem Asien-Experten des Chaos Computer Clubs, Ohlig.

tagesschau.de: Herr Ohlig, mit welchen technischen Mitteln wird das Internet in China zensiert?
Jens Ohlig: Da gibt es verschiedene Möglichkeiten. Es wird zum Beispiel im Internetverkehr nach Schlüsselwörtern wie Tibet, Taiwan und Unabhängigkeit gesucht und gesperrt, wenn solche Inhalte gefunden werden. Die Suchmaschinen - auch Microsoft, Yahoo und Google - zeigen nur zensierte Treffer an. Bestimmte Webseiten werden umgeleitet. Schließlich kann auch die gesamte Kommunikation zeitweise gesperrt werden. Begibt sich ein Internetbenutzer auf kritische Seiten oder stellt Suchanfragen zu unbequemen Themen, kann es passieren, dass mitten im Surfen die Verbindung abbricht.

tagesschau.de: Welche Seiten sind davon betroffen?
Ohlig: Das ist schwierig zu sagen, denn es gibt keine klare Linie. Komplett gesperrt sind Seiten, auf denen sich der Dalai Lama äußert oder die Glücksspiele und Pornografie anbieten. Bei anderen ist das nicht so klar zu sagen. In Krisensituationen kann es so weit gehen, dass alle westlichen Medien - speziell die, die auf Chinesisch oder Englisch publizieren - zensiert werden. Aber das kann eine Woche später schon wieder vorbei sein. Technische Internetzensur ist nie lückenlos und kann mit entsprechendem Aufwand umgangen werden. Wichtig ist den offiziellen Stellen, dass die Botschaft ankommt, dass jederzeit überwacht werden kann. Der Benutzer soll selbst verinnerlichen, was staatlich nicht erwünscht ist.

tagesschau.de: Spielen auch gesellschaftliche Zwänge eine Rolle bei der Zensur?
Ohlig: Das ist der zweite Pfeiler der Zensur. Nur wenige Chinesen besitzen ihren eigenen PC und gehen deshalb in Internet-Cafés. Gemeinschaftliches Surfen ist weit verbreitet. Es herrscht also eine soziale Kontrolle, weil andere sehen, auf welchen Seiten ich surfe. Außerdem braucht jeder Betreiber einer Internetseite eine Lizenz vom Staat. Um diese nicht zu verlieren, beschäftigen alle größeren Internet-Portale "große Mamas". Das sind Mitarbeiter, die die Foren überwachen und kritische Inhalte sofort löschen.

tagesschau.de: Steuert die Regierung gezielt Internet-Kampagnen - wie etwa den Aufruf die tagesschau.de-Umfrage zu beeinflussen oder den Boykott von französischen Produkten?
Ohlig: Es ist schwierig, solche Aktionen detailliert zu planen und zu steuern. In Foren und Blogs kann sich ohne zentrale Steuerung schnell ein Internet-Mob organisieren. Das ist aber ein Phänomen, das nicht nur in China zu beobachten ist. So wendet sich im Moment gerade eine weltweit über Diskussionsforen lose organisierte Gruppe im Internet gegen die Scientology-Kirche. Natürlich begünstigt die Stimmung in China, dass sich solche Bewegungen formieren. Die bevorstehende Olympiade und der ausgeprägte Nationalismus wirken in einem autoritären Staat wie sozialer Kitt. Allerdings beeinflusst der Staat solche Phänomene, indem er sie bei ideologiekonformen Themen einfach laufen lässt und bei kritischen Themen unterdrückt.


tagesschau.de: Welche Macht haben die chinesischen Nutzer?
Ohlig: Die Zahl der chinesischen Internetnutzer ist mittlerweile größer als die der amerikanischen. Weltweit gibt es mehr Chinesen im Netz als User von anderen Nationen. Allein durch ihre Masse können sie Macht ausüben. Trotzdem sollte man den Einfluss des Internets in China nicht überschätzen. Es ist immer noch so, dass nur ein ganz geringer Anteil der Chinesen Zugang zum Internet hat. In der Mehrheit sind es junge Menschen, die eine gute Schulbildung haben.

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Aufenthaltsgenehmigungen für Ausländer in China

Verwirrung um Visa für ausländische Studenten
Die Meldung, dass tausende ausländische Studenten im Sommer das Land verlassen müssten, sorgte am Mittag für Schlagzeilen. ARD-Korrespondentin Petra Aldenrath kann dies so nicht bestätigen. Nach ihren Informationen gibt es zwar verschärfte Einreisebedingungen während Olympia, allerdings ist dies schon länger bekannt.

Von Petra Aldenrath, ARD-Hörfunkkorrespondentin, Studio Peking

Während der olympischen Spiele im Sommer dieses Jahres müssten tausende ausländische Studenten China verlassen, meldete die Nachrichtenagentur dpa aus Peking. Der Agentur zufolge kommt die Anweisung von höherer Stelle, sie gelte für alle Universitäten.

Aus Kreisen der Pekinger Universität klingt es etwas anders: Es handele sich bei den Bestimmungen nicht um Ausweisungen ausländischer Studenten, lediglich auslaufende Visa würden nicht verlängert. Auch das chinesische Außenministerium bestätigte die Regeln nicht.

Eine deutsche Studentin, die an der Pekinger Beida Unversität eingeschrieben ist, bestätigte der ARD, dass sie keine Probleme mit ihrer Aufenthaltsgenehmigung habe. Sie sei für ein Jahr eingeschrieben und könne auch in Peking bleiben.

Nach Auskünften der Universität in Würzburg hatten deutsche Studenten das Problem einer Visa-Verlängerung bereits im vergangenen Sommer. Auch damals war es nur schwer möglich den Aufenthalt über die Semesterferien hinaus zu verlängern, heißt es aus Würzburg.

Visa-Bestimmungen während Olympia bereits im Vorfeld verschärft
Für die Zeit der olympischen Spiele in diesem Jahr hat die chinesische Regierung ihre Aufenthaltsbestimmungen aber generell verschärft. Auch die Vergabe von Visa an Ausländer wurde eingeschränkt. So werden keine Visa mehr vergeben, die eine mehrfache Einreise nach China erlauben. Diese Änderungen treffen vor allem Geschäftsleute hart, die häufig nach China reisen müssen.