Madam, - In the wake of the vociferous protests in London and Paris, there has been much talk, particularly from China, of the demonstrations being an "attack on the Olympic spirit of harmony, peace and friendship". There's a tragic irony there, seen from the Tibetans' point of view.
The Olympic spirit is one thing, and the torch has represented that since the 1920s. However, the torch relay was started by Hitler and Goebbels in 1936 as a Nazi propaganda tour to show Aryan superiority in Europe. Chinese "laogai" victim and dissident author Harry Wu has described the Beijing regime as "nationalist, socialist, totalitarian, in a word, Nazi". So, what's new? Whatever about the torch, the torch relay is about politics, not sport. It certainly should not be allowed through Tibet, nor up Chomolungma, the Sacred "Mother of the World" that we in the West call Mount Everest. - Yours, etc,
ANTHONY OBRIEN, Tibet Support Group Ireland, Bunowen, Louisburgh, Co Mayo.