Last Sunday, I went down to the River Thames to view the Olympic torch relay. I had a good vantage point as I was able to get up, close and personal with a metal barrier. As the torch passed by me, a man seemed to morph (he didn't jump over the barrier as this unfolded right in front of me and I would have remembered) through the barrier and he proceeded to get up, close and personal with the torch's escorts whilst shouting pro-Tibet slogans. He was quickly man-handled to the ground by a combination of the men in the blue tracksuits and the real men in blue aka the police while the torch bearer made a handover to the next bearer.
Two things occurred to me while I was thawing out (it was bitterly cold) later on; 1) I would make an unreliable witness as I could not positively say what had transpired and 2) who knew that Chinese people were that tall or maybe the torch bearers were extremely short.
With regard to the protests that have dogged the torch relay processions around the world, I think you'll find that the vociferousness of the protest was directly proportional to the amount of trade a country does with China. All those calling for a boycott of the Olympics should ask their respective governments to consider a trade boycott too, after all why should an athlete who has shed copious amounts of blood, sweat and tears over the last 4 years, in order to qualify for the Olympics, be asked to sacrifice their dream yet at government level, trading with China continues apace.
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