Tokyo - A Buddhist temple in the central Japanese city of
Nagano withdrew Friday as the starting venue of the Japanese leg of
the Olympic torch relay in protest of China's suppression of the
Tibetan people, a temple spokeswoman said.
Zenkoji Temple, the city's main landmark, had been slated to also
host an opening ceremony April 26 for the torch run.
The city government on Friday accepted the monks' wish to pull
out. Major changes were now expected to be made to the 18.5-kilometre
run in Japan, where 80 athletes were to carry the torch.
'[The Chinese government] is suppressing Tibet's religious leaders
who stood up [to protest China's rule over Tibet],' Shinsho Wakaomi
of the Zenkoji Temple said at a press conference. 'We came to this
decision as a Buddhist temple.'
Another monk was quoted by Jiji Press as saying, 'We have the
strong feeling that we are the same Buddhists as the Tibetan people.'
The city decided to respect the temple's decision, said the city's
torch relay committee chairman, Kunihiko Shinohara.
Safety concerns were also part of the temple's decision to pull
out of the relay, Wakaomi said.
Concerned over possible protests, Nagano prefectural police and
special forces have increased their number of security officers to
about 2,800 for the relay.
Three sponsors - the Coca Cola Japan Co, Lenovo Japan Ltd and
Samsung Japan Corp - had earlier decided to cancel the dispatch of
their commercial vehicles to accompany the runners.
The companies cited tight security and cost as reasons to pull out.
Nagano, which hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics, earlier had
cancelled an Olympic-related event to be held next week, mainly so it
could strengthen security and management of the torch run.
The event at a park was to feature photo sessions with the Olympic
torch, music performances and sales of Olympic-related goods.
The organizers' decision to cancel the event followed
demonstrations and protests during the torch run in London, Paris,
San Francisco and New Dehli.
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