China sending flags to overseas demonstrators: Media

Chinese citizens are donating thousands of flags to be used in pro-China rallies overseas and the government is shipping some of them free of charge, state press reported.

Chinese citizens are donating thousands of flags to be used in pro-China rallies overseas and the government is shipping some of them free of charge, state press reported on Wednesday.

The China Daily newspaper said the campaign was initiated by major Chinese Internet portals, whose activities are closely supervised by the government.

“We received 13,000 national flags since last Friday, when the appeal was made online,” Jiang Ziniu, spokesman for Internet portal Sohu, was quoted as saying, without giving further details of how the flags were donated.

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The flags were being sent to countries through which the troubled Olympic torch is to travel, including Australia, South Korea and Japan, the newspaper said.

Protests aimed primarily at China’s crackdown on unrest in Tibet have dogged the torch relay from its beginning in Greece, with demonstrations disrupting it or forcing route changes in London, Paris, San Francisco and other cities.

Sohu had sent more than 3,500 of the country’s red, five-starred flags to 4 cities in Australia South Korea, the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Britain and France, Jiang said.

Sina.com, another major portal, said it had received 4,200 flags by Monday, and on Tuesday sent 1000 of them to South Korea — where the torch will arrive on Sunday.

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One flag-maker also donated 1,000 flags via Sohu, China Daily said.

An official at Beijing’s postal authority said the flag were being mailed free of charge to some destinations, it added.