Discord overshadows Lenovo's Olympic torch

The curved red and silver shaft of the 2008 Olympic torch, called "Cloud of Promise," was designed by Lenovo Group to symbolize the harmony of Chinese culture and Olympic ideals. But that's not what most people will remember about the ongoing relay that will carry the torch to 20 countries before it finally arrives in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The lasting memories of the torch relay will be the demonstrations in London, Paris, San Francisco, and elsewhere by protestors angry about a recent Chinese crackdown in Tibet and the response -- an outpouring of Chinese anger, on the Internet and in person, over criticism of the government's actions in Tibet and a perceived Western media bias against the country. This leaves Olympic sponsors like Lenovo and Samsung  in a bind, facing the risk their brands and products will be associated with the controversy.

The 2008 Olympic Games is meant to be a coming-out party for Beijing, a chance for China to celebrate the great economic and social progress made since the government embarked on reforms 30 years ago. But events leading up to the Games have done more to highlight the gulf that exists between how China sees itself and how many Westerners view the country, underscoring the need for better understanding and a willingness on both sides to consider different views.

There is much to be concerned about.

Images that circulated online of a pro-Tibetan demonstrator attempting to snatch the torch from a former Chinese Paralympic athlete, Jin Jing, during the Paris leg of the relay are disturbing, showing a level of physical confrontation that ignores repeated calls for only peaceful demonstrations by the Dalai Lamai, Tibet's spiritual leader and head of the Tibetan government in exile.

In turn, threats made by Chinese Internet users against Grace Wang, a Chinese student studying at Duke University in North Carolina, reveal a darker side of Chinese nationalism.

Wang, who tried to mediate between pro-China and pro-Tibet groups during a campus protest, was widely vilified as a "traitor to the Han race" on Internet bulletin boards, a reference to China's Han ethnic majority. One discussion thread also provided detailed information about her parents, including their names, home address in the Chinese city of Qingdao, and identification card numbers.

China Central Television (CCTV), the country's state-owned broadcaster, went after Wang as well, calling her "the most hideous student studying abroad" on its Web site.