IOC Head: We Can Weather Torch 'Crisis'

Dalai Lama supports Chinese Olympics —and open protests
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 10, 2008 11:15 AM CDT
IOC Head: We Can Weather Torch 'Crisis'
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and officials with IOC heads Jacques Rogge, center, and Hei Verbruggen, right, in Beijing, April 9, 2008.    (AP Photo/Color China Photo)

The protests following the Olympic torch around the globe are a “crisis,” but the International Olympic Committee has faced worse, its chief said today. The Games, he said, would “rebound," the BBC reports. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama said China “deserved” to host, CNN reports. "We are not anti-Chinese," the Tibetan spiritual leader said. But he also supports the protesters' right to be heard: "Nobody has the right to tell them to shut up."

Rogge said while this year’s relay would continue, the Committee may not hold future international runs. He added that the Committee had hoped “awarding the games to China would advance the social agenda of China, including human rights." Replied a Chinese official: "We hope that the IOC officials can eliminate the disruptions and stick to the clearly stated principles in the Olympic charter." (More 2008 Beijing Olympics stories.)

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