San Francisco: The Olympic torch's round-the-world trip is the longest in Olympic history, and is meant to highlight China's rising economic and political power. But on the torch's sole North American stop, activists are also calling attention to the Olympic host's human rights record.
Runners were to carry the torch on its 10km route yesterday. They were expected to compete not only with people protesting China's grip on Tibet and its support for the governments of Myanmar and Sudan, but also with more obscure activists. They include nudists calling for a return to the way the ancient Greek games were played.
Local officials say they support the diversity of viewpoints, but have heightened security following chaotic protests during the torch's stops in London and Paris and a demonstration on Monday in which activists hung banners from the Golden Gate bridge.
Two goals
"We are trying to accomplish two goals here. One is to protect the right to free speech and the other is to ensure public safety, and here in San Francisco we are good at both of those things," said Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for Mayor Gavin Newsom.
The torch is scheduled to travel a route hugging San Francisco Bay, but security concerns could prompt a last-minute change. Already, one runner who planned to carry the torch dropped out because of safety concerns, officials said.
The flame was whisked to a secret location shortly after its pre-dawn arrival in San Francisco on Tuesday. It began its 136,800km journey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing on March 24, and was the focus of protests from the start.
On Tuesday, hundreds of activists carrying Tibetan flags gathered in United Nations Plaza, a pedestrian area near City Hall, to denounce China's policy toward Tibet.
Kiran Bedi withdraws
In India, a top former police official yesterday said she was pulling out of the Olympic torch relay to be held in New Delhi.
Kiran Bedi is the second Indian to withdraw from the relay. "If Tibetans are asking for their own home, then where are they going wrong?" she asked reporters.
Bedi, who built a reputation as a plain-speaking officer and an "honest cop" in a country where police are often regarded as corrupt, said she would find it stifling to "run in a caged environment."
Meanwhile, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said it had invited several young politicians, including Rahul Gandhi, scion of India's famed Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty and touted as a future premier, to carry the torch.
Games: Rudd opposes boycott
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd used his fluent Chinese yesterday to stress his opposition to boycotting the Beijing Olympics while pressing China to address unrest in Tibet through dialogue.
Rudd, a former diplomat who speaks precise, well-toned Mandarin, used a speech before Chinese university students to set the tone for talks with Chinese leaders in coming days.
China has been shaken by unrest in Tibetan areas since monk-led marches turned violent in the regional capital Lhasa on March 14. Some foreign groups and politicians have seized on Beijing's subsequent security drive to press other governments to boycott at least part of the August 8-24 Olympic Games.
Rudd stressed that he disagreed.
"Some have called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics because of recent problems in Tibet. As I said in London on Sunday, I do not agree," Rudd told students at Peking University yesterday.
- Reuters
