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San Francisco Takes Olympic Torch Off-Route
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"You know what it is? It's an education. Freedom of speech. And I just went for my interview for citizenship today."
Free speech, there was plenty of. Protests are held in San Francisco almost daily, and if the prospect of confrontation was too much for city and Olympic officials, it was catnip to the activists who brought the streets alive for much of the warm, sunny day.
"I'm actually surprised how many people have come out for this," said Dennis Chan, 17, who carried a sign reading: "Another Average Asian Guy For a Free Tibet." A high school student from Temple City, Calif., he had turned out to help pressure Beijing to end its crackdown.
Pro-Tibet activists were the most prominent Wednesday, a situation that irked the thousands of Chinese Americans who wanted to promote the Games in their homeland.
"I'm not brainwashed," said Ke Zhan, 36, of Palo Alto, Calif. "I have my PhD from the United States. I do research at Stanford. I have my own judgment. And I support the Olympics itself. The spirit of the Olympics should be honored."
Opposite the Ferry Building, in the park where several dozen Chinese Americans performed tai chi yards from Tibet supporters practicing their slogans, lawyer Edward Liu drew a crowd by confronting reporters.
"I've been here since 1970, and you know something? It pains me, the bigotry I see in these mood swings you see in America: the China-bashing," he said, to assent from the crowd.
"China may not give its media freedom of access," he said, "but you know what? We'll get there. It's our problem."
It was an extremely diverse protest. Forrest Schmidt, 31, held a sign warning the United States to lighten up on China. "We can't cloak hegemony and imperialism in the rags of human rights, freedom and democracy and have it be anything but imperialism," he said.
"Free Tibet? You Just Stole Kosovo!" read the sign Mark Beauchamp held over his head.
David Gemigniani strutted along in white pinstriped suit under a sign reading, "I Can't Afford an Actual Sign."
"Oh, I'm retired," he said. "I just play. I live in San Francisco. San Francisco is Oz."
A longtime psychiatric nurse, he goes to a lot of protests. "Both sides laugh at this sign," Gemigniani said. "It allows for free speech without fisticuffs."
Correspondents Kevin Sullivan in London and Maureen Fan in Beijing contributed to this report.
