But in the blinkered worldview of China, the mere fact that the event wasn’t disrupted as in London or Paris counts as a “joyous celebration” of the “sacred flame” and Olympic spirit.
HONG KONG: The vastly-abridged torch relay in Delhi may be seen in some quarters as a farcical playing out of the Olympic spirit.
But in the blinkered worldview of China, the mere fact that the event wasn’t disrupted as in London or Paris counts as a “joyous celebration” of the “sacred flame” and Olympic spirit.
“Chinese leaders have a long memory, and if anything had gone wrong in Delhi today, they would have remembered it till the end of time,” says an observer of Sino-Indian relations. “To that extent, India has as much to feel relieved about today’s peaceful rally.”
“In the ledger book that China maintains, India will likely gain a few brownie points after today,” the observer adds.
The Indian leg of the torch relay was always going to be hugely challenging, he acknowledges. And the potential for a serious disruption was high, given the large numbers of Tibetans living in exile in India, and the enormous popular support the movement enjoys.
Though Tibetans and supporters in Delhi did stage protests – and a parallel torch relay – the fact that the official event wasn’t breached by swarms of Tibetan-flag-waving demonstrators is “as good as it gets for China”, he notes.
The philosophy that governs media reportage in China is summed up by the expression “bao xi bu bao yu” (report the good news, not the bad). True to that spirit, Chinese media have celebrated the few trouble-free legs of the torch relay — in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) and Islamabad (Pakistan) – as shining examples of the “tremendous goodwill” that Beijing enjoys as it prepares to host the Olympics this August.
The official news agency Xinhua noted that the torch relay in New Delhi “ended peacefully”, and was “greeted by schoolchildren who had lined up alongside the Rajpath, waving the Indian and Chinese flags”.
venky.vembu@gmail.com 
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