Wrongturn Exclusive

Torched: San Francisco protests spoil China's Olympic celebration

Boyd Richard, Wrongturn.org Editor
April 9th, 2008 San Francisco CA

Following its appearance in Europe, the Olympic torch touched down in San Francisco with great reservation. Protesters in both London and Paris disrupted the torch-run bruising the image of China--the 2008 Olympic host. Now that it was in San Francisco--arguably the epicenter of all things protested in America--local politicians and Chinese officials knew that they would need to prevent protests from blocking the torch-run at all cost. And they did. Had they kept to their guns, so to speak, and not changed the torch-run route or continued with the closing ceremony, not only would there have been mass arrests of protesters but there would have been outbursts of fist-fights between the thousands of Chinese Nationalists and protesters. This is speculation, yes, however, considering the events of the day, I would not have ruled it out had the event continued as originally planned.

By 10:00 am the waterfront was filled with hundreds of red China Republic flags and Tibetan flags held aloft by supporters. At first glance the intentions of these groups seemed straightforward. The thousands of Chinese Nationalists gathered to celebrate China as proud host of the 2008 Olympics and the hundreds of protestors intended to inconvenience this celebration. Yet the relationship of these parties towards the event--an Olympic torch-run-- and each other were more complex. The protestors were made up of multiple groups protesting the nation of China for different reasons. No one was protesting the Olympics. Can you imagine banner-waving groups protesting something like the 3000m steeplechase? Well, maybe they would have a point but nothing of the like was going on here. The primary protesters were Free-Tibet crowds blocking the torch route in mass and China-out-of-Darfur members lining the sidewalks.

The difficulty of this type of protest lies in the fact that what was being protested was not related, directly, to the moment. Rather, unlike a picket line were protestors are physically emboding a cause, which, when obstructed becomes both a literal and symbolic gesture, what was happening here could only be the latter, a symbolic gesture. By using the torch-run sponsor of the event, China, as the subject of protest, the strength of the protest existed in the ability of observers to look beyond their literal actions (blocking a torch-run) and link China (torch-run sponsor) to the accusations of protesters. In this way the event was a channel available for the protestors to broadcast the discontent with the policies of the Chinese government.

After further review, however, it became obvious that the Chinese Nationalists were not there for the Olympics either. In what was a very obvious and concerted effort, organizers (likely sponsored by the Chinese government) bused and outfitted hundreds of Chinese Nationalists in hats and flags to visually and vocally combat the protesters. They were anti-protest protesters. Fearful that protesters would tarnish the image of China as "proud host", their response was big red flags and bigger red flags used to conceal the protesters. In the end an alternate torch route was made and the post-run ceremony was cancelled. Neither side was satisfied. The protesters could not stop the torch in its path and the Chinese Nationalists did not see or photograph the torch at all. Skirmishes broke out along the planned course route. In one case, a protester--who climbed up on the ferry building pillar and taped a Free-Tibet sign--was jabbed at by a group wielding a ten foot Chinese Republic flag. Once the sign was ripped down the group cheered frantically as it was torn to shreds to the chants of, "One China!"

All things considered the changed route was the only appropriate way to avoid the inevitable chaos which would have ensued. It would have made the outbursts in London and Paris look mild. Despite voices to the contrary, the torch-run, like the opening ceremony, is undoubtedly a political event for Chinese Nationalists that was rightly protested as such. (side note: the torch-run first made its appearance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin) For the casual observers it was pure confusion. Families and spectators in attendance along the planned route--people who actually were there to celebrate the Olympic spirit(?)--did not see the torch. Many of this group were upset at the "politicization" of the affair. Personally, I don't know what planet this group is living on. How can an event such as the Olympic games were nation states compete not have political implications. And how can a host-nation celebration in San Francisco not be considered a political event?

The following images were taken between the Ferry building and Pac Bell Park. The area I covered was supposed to be the first 1.5 miles of the torch route, however, because protestors had the road blocked off, the route was changed and nobody saw anything. Unlike the games themselves, where individual humans or teams match up against each other to win (for themselves, and their country), here, on the streets of San Francisco, winning amounted to which political message of the torch-run would prevail in the images produced by the media.

4/9/2008 Photo 1.

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In this image, Chinese Nationalists attempt to block the Free-Tibet protestors who've crossed metal barriers to enter the street. Throughout the day it was obvious that there was strategy of "image-washing" prepared by the counter-protestors who used the huge red flags to shield the protestors.

4/9/2008 Photo 2.

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Free-Tibet protestors stop and create some distance between themselves and the counter-protestors. At this early point, all indications to me were that the core of this group was prepared to be arrested peacefully. Their plan, from what I gather, was to march as far towards the beginning of the torch-path as possible, stop, and wait for the police to drag them away. Of course, that didn't happen.

4/9/2008 Photo 3 & 4

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Shortly after the previous image was taken, a motorcade of police cars sped toward the protesters along the torch route. The motorcade turned down Beale St. but before all the cars could turn, the protesters mobbed a bus. It looked empty, but, supposedly, there were 6 runners in it who were being taken to their relay positions along the route, 3 of whom dropped out--according to rumors. The police were calm and the protestors fired up. This incident may have been the decisive moment for Gavin Newsome who chose to move the torch-run route away from the waterfront and over to Van Ness Ave., a four-lane thoroughfair on the other side of the city.

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4/9/2008 Photo 5

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Free-Tibet groups continue their march toward the start of the route. In this image two Free-Tibet members hold up a poster that shows dead bodies, presumably those of Tibetans murderded by the Chinese Government. In response, the Chinese Nationalists returned, "liar," over and over again. And that summarizes, precisely, the major points and counter-points between these two factions throughout the day.

4/9/2008 Photo 8 & 9

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No announcement was ever made that the route had changed, however by this point it was looking very likely. This group of supporters amd protesters had been gathered for hours, waiting. San Francisco is not Paris, really? Like most of the days events, this sign left me puzzled. As the march toward the 2008 summer games advances perhaps the meaning of the Olympics and the politics of the host nation will come into better focus. Perhaps not.

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