China, Tibet: Patriotism planned at Potala Palace torch rally

From RFA’s Cantonese service. Reporter: Hai Nan. Translated by Shiny Li and Luisetta Mudie:

Authorities in Tibet are planning a mass rally of Han Chinese government supporters to support the arrival of the Olympic torch in Tibet’s iconic Potala Palace, former home of the exiled Dalai Lama.

Travel agencies in the Tibetan capital said they had received approval from the ruling Communist Party’s Youth League to organize a “patriotic activity” on the arrival of the torch at the palace, formerly the heart of Tibetan Buddhism.

China: Patriotism flares, government picks up fire-hoses

Professor Guo Quan of Nanjing Normal University told Mandarin reporter Ding Xiao that student counselors have been told to pay attention to students’ movements, and to make sure they are not going to stage public demonstrations:

All the student counselors have been told to ‘manage student sentiment’ and to learn what students are going to do, and to make sure that students don’t go out to demonstrate.

China, Tibet: Interview with Grace Wang

A Chinese student at Duke University in North Carolina who wrote “Free Tibet” on the back of an anti-Chinese protester during an attempt to mediate a campus dispute over Tibet is now hated by former classmates and teachers alike, a former teacher said.

China, Tibet: Paris protests

“No torch in Tibet!” reads the banner suspended from this Parisian bridge by protesters during the march of the Olympic torch, which makes its way to Beijing this summer.

Photo: Students for a Free Tibet photostream on Flickr.