I went to San Francisco in hopes of witnessing the Olympics Torch Relay and came back disappointed and confused.

As many times as I saw Chinese flags, I also saw a variety of “Free Tibet” banners. I was utterly confused. Free Tibet from what?

And since the pro-Tibet protestors were screaming their “Free Tibet” slogans at Chinese people, I assume their claim to be “China should free Tibet.” And by “freeing,” I assume they mean “China should allow Tibet to be its own sovereign state”.

But what is behind this claim?

Wikipedia (an American-founded website, by the way) states: “In 1951, representatives of Tibetan authority participated in negotiations in Beijing with the Chinese government. It resulted in a ‘Seventeen Point Agreement,’ which affirms China’s sovereignty over Tibet. The agreement was ratified in Lhasa a few months later.”

Tibet had been a part of China. This is history, and a legitimate fact.

There is a claim that China used force to occupy Tibet and disturb Tibetans’ lives. But did the Europeans and British never kill native Americans when they came to the America to set up their colonies?

Blood and violence fill every page of history – not just in China. So who is to blame China, even if it used force to occupy an area more than 50 years ago? How would you name what the United States is doing to Iraq right now?

Plus, the mention of “force” is beside the point. Sad but true, what makes a country’s sovereignty legitimate is not the means employed to occupy said area, but the declaration made by the stronger side. I learned this from my American History class.

Use of the word “force” is manipulative and creates a bloody image of the Chinese government.

There is no reason for China to “free Tibet.” Does every country allow its states or provinces to declare independence whenever they feel like it? Should the United States “free California,” for instance, if Californians should want independence?

I listened intently to people’s intense debates the day the Olympic torch came to San Francisco.

A middle aged, tall, white guy, his cheeks reddened by anger and excitement, yelled to a Chinese guy, “You people are so brainwashed. Your government lies to you. Your media is so biased.”

The claim that “Chinese people are brainwashed” was said many times by many people that day.

But when I turned on the TV the night of the Torch Relay, I only saw images of the pro-Tibet activities- even though there were many, if not more, Chinese flags and thousands of people who were not involved in the “Free Tibet” protests.

The Olympic Torch Relay left me sad, not only because of the torch that I did not see, but also because of the hatred I saw towards China.

The Olympics is an international sporting event that has nothing to do with the China-Tibet issue. Bringing politics into the Olympics ruins the sacredness of the games.

We see the need to communicate and discuss, but before that, it is necessary to gather less biased information from a variety of viewpoints. We should aim at a meaningful and objective discussion, and not an emotional ethnic attack.

The terms “Tianmen Square” and “Communism” were thrown out randomly the day of the torch relay in San Francisco.

A Chinese guy waving the bright red national flag of the People’s Republic of China yelled back in the best English he could manage, “How much do you know? How much do you know?”