Robert Sharp

So, the games have opened.  I am all for having a global party, and for the Olympics to be seen a symbol of peace and shared humanity, &ct &ct…  But surely these media claims that four billion people watched the ceremony is stinking hyperbole.  That’s pretty much two in every three people.  What with it being a working day in many parts of the world, what with legions of other people being asleep,  and millions more without access to a TV, I don’t think it would be possible – even if every person in China was watching.

Loving it:

The factory in Guangdong had been completing overseas orders for the flag of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Workers said they thought they were just making colourful flags and did not realise their meaning.

But then some of them saw TV images of protesters holding the emblem and they alerted the authorities, according to Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper.

Which is odd, because it means that footage of the Free Tibet Olympic torch harassing in London, Paris or San Francisco must have squeezed past Chinese censors.

As the farcical torch relay reaches India, and Western political leaders fret over whether to boycott the Beijing Games, Adrian Hamilton has a cheeky route out of the impasse:

I have a suggestion for breaking out of the impasse over the issue of Tibet and the Olympics. It is for the West to make the Dalai Lama the arbiter of whether we should attend the opening ceremonies or not.

Did I mention I’d met the Dalai Lama. I did? Oh, well, sorry to have troubled you.

This caption, from BBC News early on Saturday morning, caught my eye:

China Buddhism
New Regulations on Reincarnation

There is plenty of debate in the UK (and in Europe) about the parameters of political discourse, and the role played by religion. Our governments are accused of disingenuous behaviour and doublespeak. But let us be thankful that we do not have to deal with dictats so utterly senseless and evil as those reported here.

The move by the Chinese is another depressing chapter in their suppression of Tibet. My interview with the Dalai Lama is here.