CHINA:CHINESE OLYMPIC officials have reacted angrily to the disruptions to the Olympic torch's passage through western cities, saying efforts to interrupt the relay were "despicable" and "in grave violation of the Olympic spirit".
Instead of being a symbol of unity and global goodwill in the run-up to the Olympic Games in August, as China had hoped, the torch relay has been hijacked by Free Tibet activists calling for independence from Chinese rule, as well as other human rights causes.
In Paris on Monday, the flame had to be put out and carried by bus after anti-Chinese protesters tried to grab it, while it had a difficult path through London the day before as activists shouted "shame on China" and waved Tibetan flags.
Qu Yingpu, spokesman for the torch relay centre of the Beijing Olympic Organisation Committee (BOCOG), said the relay started in Paris smoothly, but had encountered protests from "a few" pro-Tibet independence activists during the process, and said the welcome had generally been a warm one. The action of the Tibetan activists would "surely arouse resentment of the peace-loving people, and is bound to fail", he said.
One protester tried to use a fire extinguisher to put out the Olympic torch, but was stopped by police, while another failed in his attempt to snatch the torch from a torchbearer.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu issued a statement expressing "strong condemnation of the deliberate disruption of the Olympic torch relay by 'Tibetan independence' separatist forces". "Their despicable activities tarnish the lofty Olympic spirit," she said.
The torch will be relayed through San Francisco today, a city with a strong ethnic Chinese community but also home to many supporters of the Dalai Lama. The official Xinhua news agency prominently ran a story quoting Garvin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, promising security for the torch on its increasingly rocky "Journey of Harmony".
