Australia bans Chinese Olympic guards
The Chinese “thugs in blue” seen guarding the Olympic torch on its journey around the world will not be allowed to run alongside it in Australia.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said today they would be banned following their heavy-handed tactics in earlier legs of the relay.
The men in bright blue tracksuits were specially selected by Beijing, but have already caused concern in London and Paris, with Lord Coe the top official for the 2012 London Olympics calling them “thugs”.
The torch is due to pass through the Australian capital of Canberra on April 24, but the Chinese security agents will have to travel in a bus Mr Rudd said.
“The total security needs of the Olympic torch during its visit to Australia will be provided by the Australian security authorities,” he said in Beijing, after meeting his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao.
Mr Rudd said the security agents will get off the bus only when needed _ for example, when the torch is passed from one runner to another.
The guards formed a tight pack around torchbearers in London and Paris, and prevented the torch from being seized or extinguished during the chaotic, protest-filled runs. They also jogged alongside the torch yesterday in San Francisco, where the route was shortened and changed several times to foil protesters.
But torchbearers have complained of aggressive behaviour, including agents yelling orders and snatching Tibetan flags from runners. Lord Coe, chairman of the London 2012 Olympics, also had a run-in with the paramilitary troops.
“They tried to push me out of the way three times. They are horrible. They did not speak English. They were thugs,” Coe, a double Olympic gold medalist, was quoted as saying earlier this week.
The Conservative party has called on Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to release more information about the Chinese security agents, such as who in the British government had authorised their presence.
The organising committee of the Beijing games has said only that the unit’s mission is to guard the flame, in keeping with practices of past Olympics.
But the state-run China News Service has reported that members of the unit were special agents picked from the People’s Armed Police, China’s internal security force.
Special police units are the top tier of the paramilitary corps, chosen for skills in martial arts, marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat.
The protests along the route of the Olympic torch relay have prompted speculation that it could be shortened or possibly cancelled in some areas to avoid violence.
Officials in Indonesia said today they will significantly shorten the torch’s route there because of security concerns.
