Eight protesters were detained briefly in Hong Kong today on the first leg of the Olympic torch's tour in China.
Security around the flame was tight today, with roads closed, crowds kept at a distance, and at least 16 Chinese security guards in blue and white track suits and police on motorcycles alongside the torch bearers.
Authorities in the former British colony have drawn criticism for taking an uncharacteristically tough line including blocking several people from entering the city, among them three pro-Tibet campaigners and a Danish artist and rights activist.
The torch's 20-nation journey has been dogged by protests, mostly over China's human rights record and Tibet, which have deeply embarrassed Beijing and provoked retaliatory rallies at home and abroad by patriotic Chinese.
Many in China will be breathing a sigh of relief that the international leg is finally behind the flame as it embarks on a domestic leading up to the August 8th opening ceremony in Beijing.
"It is a great and solemn honour for Hong Kong, Asia's world city, to welcome back the Olympic flame on behalf of our proud nation," Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang said at the relay's start.
But the protests and trouble continued today. Pro-Tibet supporters were joined by democracy protesters and activists demanding a truthful account of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square on June 4th, 1989.
As the relay started under an overcast sky, police prevented demonstrators calling for religious freedom in China from raising a Tibetan flag on a street where the torch would pass and led the eight protesters to a van. They were later released and told they had been taken away for their own safety.
Another man (72) holding a placard urging dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama was surrounded by bystanders who heckled him with profanity, pushed him around, called him a traitor and said he was "mentally sick".
In Kowloon, near where the torch relay started, about 25 democracy protesters and a large group of Chinese students faced off in a shouting match as police kept watch.
In Paris and London, the torch was a target for protests by rights and pro-Tibet demonstrators who, in several cases, lunged at the flame, even grabbing it, and tried to douse it with water.
American actress Mia Farrow entered Hong Kong yesterday to call on China to do more to end the violence in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan. She was questioned by immigration authorities before being allowed into the city and was told torch relay disruptions would not be welcome.
In the United States, conservative and liberal members of Congress joined forces yesterday to urge a US government boycott of the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Games, accusing China of gross human rights violations.
After leaving Hong Kong, which has been under Chinese rule since 1997, the torch goes to the Chinese gambling hub Macau and then starts its journey through the mainland. A sister flame is awaiting good weather to summit Mount Everest.