Yesterday Lhasa Rising reported that the International Olympic Committee and Beijing were in crisis talks about what to do about the massive, global protests that are taking places where ever the Olympic Torch Relay stops. Surely the huge banner hang off of the Golden Gate bridge has contributed to the IOC and Beijing’s fears about what may happen when the torch reaches American soil and a city with a large local Tibetan population. CNN has reported that the IOC is considering canceling the remainder of the torch relay – a decision that would surely reduce tensions in connection to the Beijing Olympics. The BBC, however, is reporting a more misguided, milquetoast response to the torch relay crisis:

What is most likely is that the Beijing international relay will continue, and a decision will be taken after the Games in China about the desirability of holding international relays before future Games, our correspondent adds.

So the IOC is sticking to their crack “Close the barn door after the horse has escaped” strategy. Brilliant!

Via SFist, CBS 5’s Eye on Blogs reports that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has decided to alter the SF torch relay route and will not make any changes to it public.  Newsom said:

“The bottom line is we’ve said from Day One, we will continue to adapt. This route is not fixed. It will continue to change. It will change up until that torch is passed–potentially through even the middle of the relay.”

This is a laughable imitation of disclosure. Brock at SFist asks of the SF torch relay, “Can we watch it? Will it be inside a gymnasium? On the beach? Virtual?” Newsom seems to be ready to replicate the failed tactics of the London and Paris torch relays, which continued to change their route throughout the run. But neither worked. The London police commander in charge of the route was furious that the Olympic Committee was given full control over the course of the relay, leaving his officers in confusion and failing to keep things calm. The route in Paris was so disrupted by protests and five occasions where officials extinguished the Olympic flame and put it on a bus (guarded by over 60 police), that the relay itself was canceled, along with the accompanying ceremony. In short, Newsom is about to institute tactics that are already proven failures.

What’s worse is that in so doing, Newsom is making a mockery of the notion of a transparent, civil torch relay. He is replicating the policies of Beijing in an American city. He is specifically and concretely trying to stifle lawful acts of protest. Given the large Tibetan community, San Francisco’s liberal streak, and widespread media coverage following this weekend’s protests, I expect the SF relay to be just as disastrous – if not more – than the stops that preceded it. Newsom should change course and cancel the torch relay in San Francisco.

Whatever decision may be made to alter the torch relay to cease the public, 24/7 coverage of the protests related to the Games and China’s oppression in Tibet it’s clear that China has been shamed. They are not being welcomed onto the international stage as a respected member of the global community and this must be a humiliating defeat for Hu Jintao and the CCP cadre that planned to use the Olympics as a means of secure much-wanted prestige. It’s sad that an American city is about to facilitate a rise in the tension and chaos associated with the Beijing Olympics.