The torch thing was quite a bit of a mess
here (they actually stopped the ceremony at some point due to demonstrations all along the way & it was not "several hundred" but many thousands... & erm... i was a bit around, just to add my voice...).
I think the IOC is one of the biggest bunch of cynical corrupted people (but everybody knows that...).
There are constant debates on tv & newspapers here & when a Chinese representative dares to speak or express an official position it invariably starts with "well, you don't know anything about Chinese history & you should not forget that Tibet belongs to China since 12th century..."
I think China anyway needs the resources that Tibet owns & the also wants to own the land which is the border with one of their "best" enemy (China). The other thing is that their not really reporting in Chinese medias what's
really happening here & there in the world, plus internet is totally under control there (thanks yahoo & others...)
China is NOT a democratic country anyway & the 1st mistake was the IOC giving the Olympic Games to Beijing (with the absolutely fake pretext that it'll be good for democracy & changes there
).
I think boycotting the Games is for nothing (it's too late & it'll only affect the athletes...) but everybody here & there should speak, shout, demonstrate, resist, wear a badge or a t-shirt, carry a Tibet flag, do whatever possible & something will always remain if there are millions of people expressing their disgust of that situation...
VoilĂ*. Nothing is never for nothing.