China's cheerleaders take to the streets

From Manchester to Qingdao, Paris to Xi'an, the world is witnessing an extraordinary display of Chinese nationalism, as expatriates and students take to the streets to express their anger about growing anti-Olympic sentiment and attack what they see as biased Western coverage of last month's crackdown in Tibet.

Anti-Chinese protests on the Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay and President Nicolas Sarkozy's threat to boycott the Beijing Games' opening cere-mony have led to demonstrations outside the French-owned Carrefour supermarkets, of which there are 112 in China. In Paris, there were displays of support for the Olympics by expatriates saying, "Love Our China".

In Manchester and London, Chinese students staged silent protests against what they claim is distorted coverage by the BBC of Tibet. "We are here in a quest for objectivity, fairness and justice," an organiser.

Internet users are organising online protests against CNN over commentator Jack Cafferty's description of the Beijing government as "goons and thugs", while there have been street demonstrations in Washington and in Los Angeles. The focus on CNN is remarkable as most Chinese people cannot watch the channel because it is available only in compounds where foreigners live and in a few hotels.

"We don't have the right to watch CNN but we have the right to reject it," said a comment posted online, while another said Cafferty was "a pig full of faeces ... a demented Frenchman". CNN was described as a "heinous mad dog". Chinese hackers are attacking the CNN website and the state-run All-China Journalists Association has asked CNN and Cafferty to apologise.

It is hard to say whether the demonstrations are being organised by the government in Beijing, but it is well known the embassies maintain ties within overseas student communities. Canadian and Australian secret services have uncovered monitoring and organisation of local Chinese student groups by embassy staff.

The demonstrations are strong evidence of just how important the Olympics are to Chinese people, for whom the Games in Beijing mark the end of decades of isolation. Attacks on the torch relay in London, Paris, San Francisco and New Delhi were a source of shame and sadness among ordinary Chinese.

Protesters in the US carried banners saying: "American media, you can muzzle our voices, but cannot smother the truth!" and "No media distortion" but the demonstrations have highlighted the huge information gulf between what news the Chinese people receive via the tightly controlled state media and what is shown in the West.

Reporting of the Tibet protests in March focused on the attacks on Han Chinese settlers by Tibetans. Beijing says 18 civilians and one police officer were killed in the riots, while overseas Tibetan groups say 150 people died.

In the eastern city of Qingdao, which will host the Olympic sailing events, protesters burnt French flags in front of French-owned supermarkets, and there were demonstrations outside Carrefour outlets in Xi'an.

At a Carrefour branch in Beijing, people were shopping but they were aware of the boycott. A driver called Yang said he supported the boycott. "But we ordinary people have to lead a normal life. Carrefour is the nearest supermarket to my home. I have to buy things to live. Political matters should be solved by government not by civilians," he said, shortly before security guards intervened to stop the interview.

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