2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS

Japan Buddhist temple boycotts torch relay

Friday 18 April 2008

Protesting against Chinese repression in Tibet, Buddhist monks at the Zenkoji temple in Japan have pulled out of the upcoming Olympic torch relay. The temple in Nagano was scheduled to be the starting point of the relay.

Buddhist monks at a temple scheduled to be the starting point of the Japanese leg of the Olympic torch relay have announced the temple was pulling out of next week’s relay.

The monks at the Zenkoji temple in the central Japanese town of Nagano said they would not host the Olympic torch to protest against China’s repression in Tibet.

Nearly 84 percent of Japan’s 127 million population are Shinto-Buddhists.

The flame is set to arrive in Japan on April 26, after stops in Canberra and Seoul.

Disruptions have plagued the torch’s worldwide journey ahead of the 2008 Beijing Games, with unruly disruptions especially in London and Paris in early April.

‘We do not welcome chaos’

The Zenkoji temple boycott is a potential source of embarrassment for the Japanese hosts. But Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura insisted the change of plans was only due to security reasons.

“We decided to have it in Nagano, so we would like to carry it out properly with good security,” said Machimura. “We do not welcome chaos.”

About 2,000 police officers, including riot police, will be deployed to protect the flame along its route, according to Japanese officials. A concert initially planned in Nagano’s Olympic stadium has also been canceled due to security fears.

Nagano hosted the Winter Games in 1998.

Chinese premiere to make historic Japan trip

Japanese officials are keen to avoid the sort of unruly scenes on display during the Paris and London legs of the relay. They fear an embarrassing incident during the relay could stoke tensions between Tokyo and Beijing, just days ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s trip to Japan in May.

But in Tokyo on Friday, Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda bluntly told China that Tibetan unrest had become an international issue, contradicting Beijing's official line, and hinted it could affect the Olympics. Fukuda's comments came during a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, ahead of Hu’s much-anticipated Japanese trip.

"Prime Minister Fukuda stated that there was a need to face up to the reality that the matter has become an international issue and that it should not affect the Olympics," a foreign ministry statement said. "It is desired that the Chinese side does all it can to solve the matter," it quoted Fukuda as saying.

Vidéo

• 

  IN THE FIELD

  'Thailand not expecting major protests'. 18/04 8am (GMT+2) Dean Adams reports.
• 

  JAPANESE TEMPLE BOYCOTTS TORCH RELAY

  Monks protest Tibet repression - 18/4
• 

  IN THE FIELD

  Japanese temple bans Olympic flame. 18/04 7am (GMT+2) Nathalie Tourret reports.

Pour aller plus loin

17/04/2008 Olympic torch in India, Tibetan refuge country
17/04/2008 Scores arrested as Indian leg of Olympic relay ends
16/04/2008 Olympic torch reaches Islamabad amid tight security