'Ethnic minority' children at Olympics ceremony were fake: report

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — Children from China's dominant Han population were used in a key part of the Olympics opening ceremony, not youngsters from all 56 ethnic groups as claimed, an official said in comment published Friday.

If true, it would be the third high-profile faking incident of the ceremony, after it was revealed a girl was substituted as a singer because she was deemed too ugly, and supposedly live fireworks on the TV broadcast were pre-recorded.

The 56 children who carried out the Chinese flag in a moment meant to showcase national harmony were all from the Han majority, an official with the dance troupe that they belonged to told the Asian Wall Street Journal.

"I assume they think the kids were very natural looking and nice," the paper quoted Yuan...