Torch arrives, departs Australia
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - April 23, 2008 Meanwhile in Nepal, authorities forced a mountain climber with a
"Free Tibet" banner in his bags off Mount Everest, which Chinese
climbers carrying the Olympic torch plan to ascend next month.
Criticism of China's human rights record has turned the torch
relay into one of the most contentious in recent history.
Anti-Chinese protests have dogged stops in Greece, Paris, London
and San Francisco. Many countries, including Australia, have
responded by modifying routes and boosting security.
Yard-high fences were being erected along the route through the
Australian capital, Canberra, where 80 runners will carry the torch
on Thursday. The torch will thread along a 10-mile route that
passes Parliament House and within 200 yards of the Chinese
Embassy.
Hundreds of police will guard the torch to prevent the type of
interruptions that have marked the relay in other cities in the
flame's global journey to the Beijing Olympics in August.
The flame arrived at an air base in Canberra from Indonesia and
was greeted by government and Olympic officials and Aboriginal
elder Agnes Shea, who said she hoped the torch's stay would
symbolize "good will for all mankind."
A group of four people waved Chinese flags outside the gate of
the base; there was no sign of protesters.
Officials said the flame's location was being kept secret
between its arrival and the relay Thursday because of the threat of
protests.
"I don't know, and I don't want to know," Australian relay
organizer Ted Quinlan told reporters. "Originally, it was going to
a hotel but there's a distinct possibility it's going to go to the
embassy."
The climber on Mount Everest, whose identity has not been
released, was caught with the banner at Everest's base camp, said
mountaineering officials in Nepal's capital, Katmandu. The
officials did not want to be named because they are not authorized
to speak to reporters.
The climber is the first to be stopped by soldiers and policemen
stationed on the Nepalese side of the world's highest mountain to
prevent anti-China protests during the planned torch run to the
summit of the world's tallest peak in the first days of May.
The officials said they were awaiting additional details due to
communication problems.
Small protests occurred Wednesday. In Sydney, police stopped two
people from unfurling a banner on the landmark Sydney Harbor Bridge
that demanded freedom for Tibet from Chinese rule. They were fined
$95. In Canberra, about 150 pro-Tibet supporters attended a vigil
Wednesday evening outside China's embassy, spelling out "Free
Tibet" with candles.
Police in Canberra sought to end lingering confusion about the
role of Chinese security agents in the relay. Police chief Mike
Phelan said three blue-clad Chinese "flame attendants" will
always be near the torch but will have no official security role.
Chinese ambassador to Australia Zhang Junsai told Channel Nine
television news Tuesday that Chinese security officials still may
intervene, saying: "If the flame is attacked I believe they will
use their body."
However, Australian officials said Wednesday that all security
would rest with them. "I don't know if I can be any clearer than
that," Phelan said. The officials have no special powers of arrest
or immunity from prosecution if they were to intervene during the
relay, he said.
One torchbearer withdrew from the relay earlier this week,
saying the symbolism of the relay had changed after China's Tibet
crackdown last month.
Other torchbearers said the Olympics were the wrong place to
make political protests. Ian Thorpe, a five-time Olympic gold
medalist swimmer who will carry the torch Thursday, said the
protests "shouldn't be centered around a specific event."
Pro-Tibetan and pro-Chinese demonstrations were expected
Thursday. Both sides say they want the event to be peaceful.
Simon Bradshaw, campaign coordinator of the Australia Tibet
Council, said he expected about 500 supporters for what he said
would be peaceful protests in Canberra.
"This is not an attempt to mar the Olympics, and it's certainly
not an attack on the Chinese people. It's a message of support for
Tibet," Bradshaw told The Associated Press.
About 4,000 Chinese students are expected in the capital to
support the torch relay.
At a news conference of relay officials that was dominated by
questions about security, Qu Yingpu, a spokesman for the Beijing
Games organizing committee traveling with the torch, conceded there
had been some problems said it had been a success so far.
"Definitely," he told a news conference. "Like everything
else, we have ups and downs, but we are quite easy with that."
---
Associated Press Writer Binaj Gurubacharya in Katmandu
contributed to this story.