If he only knew the U.S. can’t stand up to China

 Japan, a little irked at China’s belligerent rhetoric, will allow protests when the torch visits. Democracy rules.

A pro-Tibet rally took place in Jakarta Tuesday as the torch made its way through Indonesia’s capital.

 And China’s changed the way the media will cover the Everest/Tibet portion of the flame’s route:

China is altering plans for media coverage of the Olympic flame’s ascent of Mount Everest, with officials saying Tuesday that harsh weather is making reporting conditions difficult.

The changes, in effect, mean that foreign reporters would likely spend only 10 days overall in Tibet — about half the time initially planned. Officials denied that the changes were connected to protests and riots in Tibet against Chinese rule last month. After the protests, the government allowed a group foreign reporters to visit the Tibetan capital of Lhasa only to have the carefully scripted trip upended by a protest by monks at an important Buddhist shrine.

“This has nothing to do with the situation in Tibet,” Wang Hui, a spokeswoman for the organizing committee, known as Bocog, told foreign reporters. “It’s all because of the uncertain weather conditions.”

Thank you for subscribing to Tricycle! As a nonprofit, to keep Buddhist teachings and practices widely available.