The Sun-Herald

Face to face with imported hate

It gives me absolutely no pleasure to say I told you so after on Thursday we received a frightening glimpse of the Chinese bullying and nationalism that I had predicted was about to be unleashed here.

As the Olympic torch hit town, so did more than 10,000 revved-up, flag-wielding Chinese, many with something far less innocent in mind than celebrating the Olympics. They weren't protesters, because protesting is about justice, not about loudly and publicly condoning mass murder and oppression. The best term for this bunch would be genocide cheer squad.
Right up until the start of the day I had hoped the aggressive rhetoric and fanatical nationalism spouting from some members of the Chinese community represented the extreme views of a minority. Sadly, they appear to be the prevailing viewpoint, and certainly that of the crowds who bussed into Canberra with mayhem in mind.
The first scenes as I arrived at Canberra's Parliament Lawn at 8am on Thursday morning were dismaying. Groups of yelling Chinese were running through the assembling Tibetan protesters, swiping them with their huge red flags and barging them out of the way. The first person I met was Deborah Macdonald from Brisbane, who was standing, shell-shocked at the edge of the lawn. The pro-Tibet protester had just been set upon by one of these groups. "They surrounded me, about 40 of them," she told me. They were pushing and shouting at me and they ripped my Tibetan flag from me, threw it on the floor and stamped on it until the stick snapped.
"I saw them treating a Tibetan monk the same way. He just kept saying to them: 'I wish you well,' but they wouldn't back off. They were screaming insults at him."
I stayed close to the Tibetan protesters for the duration of the relay. I wanted to witness first-hand what happened to them. I'd doubted it would be pretty, but I hadn't been prepared for the overwhelming torrent of hatred which gushed forth from this massive Chinese crowd; foul language, jeers, threats and, at times, violence. What shocked me most was that their vitriol was not just reserved for Tibetans and their supporters. It was liberally dispensed to everyone who wasn't Chinese.
Although there was nothing to identify me as a Tibetan supporter apart from my proximity to the Tibetan contingent, I was repeatedly sworn at and harrassed. At one point a snarling young man thrust his face into mine and screamed: "One China! F*** Tibet!" His features were contorted with hate and I was convinced he was going to hit me. Luckily there was a policeman nearby so he didn't get the chance.
I was luckier than many. Ben Jones, an Australian Tibetan supporter, was surrounded by a mob who wrenched his flag from him and beat him. "They punched me in the stomach until I managed to run away," he said. "They are preying on people who are on their own. They're just bullies."
A Sydney Tibetan, Kunchok, was also cornered when alone. "About 30 of them surounded me and ripped my flag from me and then kicked and punched me," he said. "I just smiled at them and this seemed to make them more furious. They said: 'why are you smiling? Why aren't you getting angry?'"
Kunchok's attackers were stopped by onlookers so he could escape, but he was followed and assaulted again. "I am still not angry," he said. "They don't know any better, that's all."
In contrast, whenever lone Chinese demonstrators became entangled with Tibetan groups, they were treated kindly. When one Chinese girl was overcome with emotion and began to cry, a Tibetan woman tried to comfort her.
One frightening scene followed another. As we approached the Commonwealth Bridge, attempting to follow the relay, we were confronted by a sea of red flags and enraged faces. "They look like an attacking army," said one man. "It doesn't feel right."
Further along, we found our way intentionally blocked by baying hordes. They closed in, surrounding us on all sides. The police struggled to force them back. They and we were outnumbered. Eventually they had to divert us away from the area for our own safety. It was terrifying.
One of my most disturbing memories of the day is of a group of about 100 Chinese waving their flags and chanting, in perfect unison: "We are the future." It chilled me to the bone.
I witnessed a Tibetan child forced to see his mother having her hair yanked and another Tibetan pursued into a public bathroom by a group of Chinese youths where, he later told me, he was punched in the stomach and winded.
Once safely coralled inside a park by the river, the Tibetans sat down while monks led them in prayers for peace. But they were to be granted none; within moments another screaming group had descended on them, drowning out the monks' chants with foul language. The police had to move them on.
It was a graphic illustration of the abuse Tibetans have been trying to convince the world about for so long - with one crucial difference. Here, they were not carted off to jail, tortured or 're-educated' for praying and protesting, as they would have been inside Tibet, because Australia is a free country. This fact was lost on the mob, though. If they had been allowed to hurt the Tibetans more, they would have. They appeared determined to import the brutality of their motherland here.
For the first time, I learned how it felt to be on the receiving end of unbridled persecution and contempt. I experienced the attempted suppression of free speech and of the right to protest. I saw, up close, the ugly face of a despotic regime and its rabid supporters and their hostility towards the rest of the world. It was indefensible behaviour and I never want to see it happen here again.
If that's the sort of hospitality in store at the Beijing Olympics why would anyone want to go near it? Personally, I'll be booking a trip somewhere safer: the Gaza Strip perhaps, or a Shia militia outpost in Iraq.
Meanwhile, as the totalitarianism roadshow of the torch relay continues to appall the world, we can only hope to see intensifying pressure on China to clean up its act and control its knuckle-headed ex-pats abusing the tolerance of other countries to preach - and practice - hate.
As I write, news has come in that Chinese leaders have agreed to talk to the Dalai Lama. It's a step in the right direction and should be applauded. It may not be too late to undo the damage caused by days like Thursday.