Friday, December 28, 2007

Group Asks Rose Parade Spectators To Shun Olympic Float

Human rights groups, frustrated that Pasadena will not allow them to protest a Rose Parade float touting the 2008 Olympics in China one minute before the parade begins, asked spectators Friday to turn their backs to the float when it goes down Colorado Boulevard next week.

"We are asking all Rose Parade attendees to show their support for human rights in China by turning their backs as it passes by," said Tseten Phanucharas, president of Los Angeles Friends of Tibet.

"We, as a coalition, support this wholeheartedly, and we will be out on the parade route urging everyone to turn their backs."The float -- sponsored by Pasadena-based Avery Dennison Corp. and the Roundtable of Southern California Chinese-American Organizations -- is the first touting China in the 119-year history of the Rose Parade.The float is intended to celebrate next year's Olympic games, but the Caltech chapter of Falun Gong and other human-rights groups have protested its creation -- calling it a "propaganda vehicle" -- because of China's human rights violations. (more)





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