04-24-08

法國前總理批評巴黎授予達賴喇嘛榮譽 (Former French PM Criticizes Paris Honor for Dalai Lama)

一位法國前總理就授予西藏流亡精神領袖達賴喇嘛榮譽市民批評巴黎市長。拉法蘭星期四在北京對中國官方媒體說，巴黎市市長貝特朗-德拉諾埃的舉動是一個政治錯誤。

他指的是巴黎市長批准巴黎市議會決定授予達賴喇嘛榮譽法國公民稱號。他說，這一舉動損害法國修補與中國緊張關係的努力。

A former French prime minister has criticized the mayor of Paris for honoring Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. In comments to Chinese state-media today (Thursday) in Beijing, Jean-Pierre Raffarin said Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe's
action was a political mistake. 

He was referring to the mayor's approval of a Paris city council decision to grant the Dalai Lama honorary French citizenship -- a move he said had hurt France's efforts to mend strained ties with China.

中國的支援者和抗議者雲集澳大利亞奧運火炬傳遞 (Chinese Supporters, Protesters Gather in Australia for Olympic Torch Relay)

澳大利亞的奧運火炬傳遞星期四在首都堪培拉成功地完成，沒有發生重大事件。大約80名火炬手沿著16公里長的戒備森嚴的路線傳遞火炬。當局加強了安全部署，防止在倫敦和巴黎發生的混亂抗議活動重演。

數以千計揮舞中國國旗的支援者遠遠超過高舉西藏旗幟或抗議北京人權記錄標語牌的抗議者的人數。當局說，雙方之間爆發了肢體衝突，至少7人被捕，其中包括一名從人群中跳進了火炬接力通道的男子。

The Australian leg of the Olympic torch relay was successfully completed today (Thursday) in the capital city of Canberra without major incident. About 80 runners carried the torch along the heavily guarded 16-kilometer route. Authorities increased security to prevent a repeat of chaotic demonstrations that marred the torch's relay in London and Paris. 

Thousands of supporters waving Chinese flags easily outnumbered protesters carrying Tibetan flags or placards criticizing Beijing's human rights record. Authorities say clashes broke out between the two groups, and at least five people were arrested, including one man who leaped from the crowd into the path of a torch carrier.