China ignores pro-Tibet demos as Olympic flame arrives in Tiananmen Square

[DeadlyNightshade]

The Olympic flame arrived in Beijing this morning amid tight security after attempts by pro-Tibet protesters in Athens to block its path.

Hundreds of children waving Olympic flags greeted the Air China plane which brought it to the Chinese capital's from Greece shortly before 6.30am.

An official welcoming ceremony was held in Tiananmen Square ahead of the start of the round-the-world relay.


Fire starter: President Hu Jintao lights the Olympic cauldron with the torch in Beijing

President Hu Jintao handed the flame to China's Olympic and world champion hurdler Liu Xiang.

The ceremony, 130 days before the start of the Games, comes a week after the lighting ceremony in Greece was marred by protests.

Trouble started when a demonstrator protesting against Chinese media curbs disrupted the opening address.

That was followed by protests across Greece over a crackdown on dissent in Tibet and members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is banned in China.

Yesterday, some two dozen activists in Athens chanted “Save Tibet!” and unfurled a banner reading “Stop Genocide in Tibet” before police intervened, detaining 21 protesters outside the Panathenian Stadium.

The torch relay officially starts tomorrow.

The Kazakhstan capital Almaty is the first stop on an odyssey through 20 countries that is followed by an epic three-month tour around China.

A guard of Chinese students is to protect the torch from pro-Tibetan protestors as it passes through London on Sunday – raising fears of violent clashes with activists calling for Tibet's independence.

A group calling itself The Overseas Chinese Students for the Olympic Association has told its supporters they must divert global attention away from anti-China demonstrations.

Up to 1,000 Tibetan supporters are expected to mobilise as the torch makes its way along a 31-mile route from Wembley to Greenwich on Sunday.

Police have been told to prevent clashes between the two sides and to ensure the safe passage of the flame.

source: daily mail, uk

[collegeboy]

this is showing super bad for china...they have to stop what's happening in the Tibet rather than focusing on stoping the instoppable(which is the media and info's spread)

i really don't like how things are starting for these olympics