The New Dominion

Updates: Reuters has an informative article on the broken promise of press freedom in the Xinjiang and Tibet torch relays, part of a series on the Olympic flame. The New York Times also has an interview with noted Tibet scholar Dr. Robert Barnett on the relays in western China.  Here’s a quote: “[W]hat you tend to see is sullen resentment of these major government-organized activities. They’re just huge inconveniences and nuisances for everyone who isn’t a Chinese patriot.”

The Olympic torch has passed through Urumchi and gone. The flame was carried from a quiet, orderly official ceremony — described by XJTV news as renao (lively!) — at 9/7:35 AM yesterday morning. It passed from torch to torch between 209 runners, including members of 47 minzu, famous athletes, a famous dancer (Rena Abdukerim, who did not “sway her hips“), and several pudgy middle-aged men.

A couple of days ago, I wrote of my sincere hope that someone in Urumchi would actually be able to see the Olympic torch relay. Rumors abounded that the whole city would be on lock-down for the day. My hopes were not fulfilled. (See a piece by the BBC’s James Reynolds, which I think is right on the money.)

The vast majority of spectators were danwei-organized official cheering teams, no more than two rows deep, wearing matching outfits and sporting the official cheer and its accompanying arm movements. They arrived at their designated areas by 7/5:30 AM or so and dispersed in an orderly fashion following the torch’s passing. They were not allowed to leave their spots until that time. The crowds were monitored by rows of police, soldiers, and volunteer community deputies, who also watched the roads the previous nights. Many people reported seeing snipers at major intersections. All windows along the route were kept closed — open windows were shut by police.

I will grant that, for reasons certainly unknown to me, such security measures may have been entirely necessary. However, they gave Urumchiliks a pretty negative impression, especially to the few unofficial spectators. These people had to stand further away from the relay route, beyond specially-erected barricades.

The majority of people were, indeed, completely unable to see the torch relay in person, even as it passed by their homes. Even individuals who lived along the torch route were told to sit inside and watch it on television — and, indeed, they mostly did, though some, it seems, peeked out from their locked gates. Many people tried to stay in hotels along the route, which, by police decree, were not allowed to rent out rooms facing the route itself. Luckily, due to bureaucratic oversight, rooms slightly to the side were available. Hotels on the route were locked from around 8/6:00-11/9:00 AM or later, depending on their location. Shops and apartment complexes were likewise kept closed. Of course, the flame steered clear of the Uyghur part of town, where its reception would have been, perhaps, less warm.

We can compare the Urumchi relay, perhaps, to other Olympic relay events in China so far. From what I am told, many cities have seen what appear to be campaigns of misinformation — much as in Urumchi, people receive many conflicting reports of where the torch might be and at what times. Specific groups, mainly consisting of students and members of favored danwei, have been invited and organized, as in Urumchi. However, I am not aware of any previous official warnings to stay inside and actually avoid the event, as in Urumchi. The result is, in any case, more or less the same. History passes on by, and many people are left with a distinct feeling of anticlimactic disappointment and resignation.

The flame has proceeded today to Kashgar (referred to on this map as “Kashen”, an incorrect reading of 喀什), and it will be in Shihezi and Changji (”pearl of the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains”) tomorrow.