By John Sexton

The conspiracy theorists of the blogosphere are at it again. First they said China staged the March 14 Lhasa riot using troops dressed as monks (see the story). Now they claim the pro-Tibet demonstrator who tried to snatch the Olympic Torch from disabled athlete Jin Jing was a Chinese agent.

The implication is that the Chinese government fabricated a story that would play well at home to counteract the torrent of bad publicity surrounding the torch relay.

As with the soldier-monks story, the evidence presented consists of a few eye-catching photographs.

Wheelchair-bound fencer Jin Jing became a national hero on April 7 during the Paris leg of the torch relay when she prevented a pro-Tibet demonstrator from running off with her torch. The demonstrator, pictured here struggling with Jin Jing, wore a brightly-colored hat, an olive green shirt and blue jeans.

Other photographs show the same man walking to the torch relay alongside a group of young people, some carrying Chinese flags. Clear evidence, according to the conspiracy theorists, that he was at best a supporter of, and probably a secret agent of the Chinese government.

Some bloggers also pointed out the convenient absence of the famous blue and white shell-suited guards during the attack. The guards in their dark glasses and strikingly unfashionable outfits have otherwise stuck like limpets to the torch.

We can accept that photos were not digitally manipulated, and that they depict the same man. They show dozens of spectators and demonstrators hurrying to the torch relay. There are several people of East Asian appearance, some carrying Chinese flags, and at least one draped in a Tibetan flag. There are also at least five young white people.

But do the photographs really support the suggestions that the man who tried to snatch Jin Jing's torch traveled to the relay as part of a group of Chinese supporters, or is a government agent?

Is it obvious that all these people are traveling in a group? Are the young white people part of the pro-Chinese group? Given the state of Western public opinion on China and the Tibet issue in particular, that is unlikely. The idea that they are part of a conspiracy to stage a stunt at the relay seems absurd. But if they are not part of the pro-Chinese group, why should we assume the man who tried to snatch the torch was?