Tuesday, April 8, 2008

China vows to keep torch on track

Beijing has said no force can stop the world relay of the Olympic flame as it faces new protests on the Californian leg of its journey.
Seven Pro-Tibet demonstrators were arrested in San Francisco after tying anti-Chinese banners to the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The flame is due to arrive in the city on Tuesday following a troubled relay through Paris and London.
The torch was put out three times in Paris because of pro-Tibetan protests.
But the flame itself was kept alight in a safety lantern.
The flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, on 24 March and is being relayed through 20 countries before being carried into the opening ceremony at the Beijing Games on 8 August.

Demonstrators are protesting at China's security crackdown in Tibet after recent unrest against Chinese rule.
Tibetan exile groups say Chinese security forces killed dozens of protesters. Beijing says about 19 people were killed in rioting.
Protest climb
Condemning the disruption to the relay in Paris and London, Beijing Olympic organising committee spokesman Sun Weide told reporters the torch relay would continue as planned.

"No force can stop the torch relay of the Beijing Games," he said in Beijing.
Chinese state TV said the protesters in London and Paris were a "handful of Tibetan separatists".
Police in San Francisco, where the torch is due to be relayed on Wednesday, arrested seven people and charged them with conspiracy and causing a public nuisance.
The three climbers among them faced additional charges of trespassing.
They had scaled the bridge to perch 150 feet (46m) above traffic, attaching "Free Tibet" banners and a Tibetan flag.
One of them, Laurel Sutherlin, spoke by mobile phone to reporters.
"If the IOC [International Olympic Committee] allows the torch to proceed into Tibet they'll have blood on their hands," he said.
US Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has called on President George W Bush to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics unless China improves its human rights record.
Black banners
The Paris relay started to go wrong almost from the start, despite the presence of 3,000 police along the route.
It was cut short with the torch finally carried by bus to the relay's end point.
Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe cancelled a ceremony to welcome the torch relay after Green party activists hung a Tibetan flag and a black banner depicting the Olympic rings as handcuffs from the city hall.
Activists also hung Tibetan flags or black banners from several other Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame cathedral.
On Sunday, 37 people were arrested in London as protesters disrupted the torch relay there.

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