Olympic Committee stands up

In an unprecidented move the IOC has released a statement admonishing the statements made by Tibet’s Communist party leader Zhang Qinglin during the closing ceremony of the Olymipic Torch relay.

"The IOC regrets that political statements were made during the closing ceremony of the Torch Relay in Tibet," the two-sentence IOC statement said.  "We have written to BOCOG to remind them of the need to separate sport and politics and to ask for their support in making sure that such situations do not arise again."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao also said he had no knowledge of the IOC letter, but insisted that Zhang's remarks had intended only to foster a "stable and harmonious environment for the Olympics," and did not constitute politicization.

 "The sky above Tibet will never change. The red five-star flag will always fly above this land," said Zhang  "We can definitely smash the separatist plot of the Dalai Lama clique completely."

Although the Chinese government says it opposes politicizing the Olympics, the strong political and nationalistic overtones of its preparation have been hard to ignore.