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China has very tactfully and diplomatically used the occasion of Everest Torch run to ease tension regarding the Tibet issue and hand over the olive branch to Tibetans. The Chinese government recently announced the 50 member squad which will take the Olympic flame to the world’s highest peak the Mt. Everest, for the first time in the history of Olympic Games.
China, in the 50 member squad, has included ethnic minorities, the Tibetans, Tu, Hui and Tujia besides the Han Chinese. Zhang Zhijijan, a spokesperson for the Chinese Mountaineering team remarked that climbing the Everest is a collective job, nobody can do it alone. The Olympic torch for the Everest run is also designed specially which can last the windy and oxygen thin climate at the highest peak of the world.
The Olympic flame finally returned to China on Thursday, May 1, 2008 after facing protests across the globe on the Tibet issue. Political experts feel that the move of including ethnic minorities and especially the Tibetans is aimed at China trying to cover up for its criticism by human rights activists, on violation of rights of minorities and the uproar created by the Tibet issue. A final date for the Everest Torch run has however not been disclosed as yet.
