Tibet hangs heavy over Beijing's torch relay

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By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING (Reuters) - Mount Everest was supposed to be the scene of the crowning glory of the Beijing Olympic torch relay, but unrest in Tibet, where the ascent of the world's highest mountain will begin, now threatens to dominate the event.

China had hoped the 130-day relay, which starts when the Olympic flame is kindled in Ancient Olympia on Monday and ends at the Games' opening ceremony on Aug. 8, would be "a journey of friendship, peace and harmony".

"It will be the longest torch relay in the history of the Olympic Games with the most participants. Millions of people will join, watch and experience this magnificent celebration of mankind," Beijing Olympic executive vice president Jiang Xiaoyu said on Wednesday.

Political fallout from anti-Chinese riots in Tibet, however, means demonstrations are likely on the 19-city international leg of the relay, while security concerns may dominate parts of the 115-city domestic leg.

"There will be major protests at China's triumphalist use of the Olympic flame for their own propaganda purposes by taking it through Tibet and up Mount Everest," said Matt Whitticase of Free Tibet Campaign.

"Hundreds, if not thousands, of Tibetans will be coming from all over Europe to protest in London ... and when it goes to Tibet it could set off another round of protests, it will be hugely inflammatory."

The flame will arrive in Beijing from Greece on March 31, to be welcomed by state leaders at a "grand ceremony" on Tiananmen Square.

A separate flame will then be taken to Tibet for the attempt to take it to the top of Everest on a day in May when the weather conditions are most suitable.

However the climbers fare, the designers of the torch are confident the flame will not be extinguished even in the thin air at 8,848 metres above sea level.

"The torch has been through rigorous testing," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Chinese PC-maker Lenovo, a sponsor of the torch relay and designers of the torch.

"The climbing team has tested the torch on mountains and we are confident it will perform as expected."

From Beijing, the main relay goes to Almaty, a city on the old "Silk Route", and then into Europe at Istanbul and onto St Petersburg.

Critics of China's policy on the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan are also hoping to use the torch relay to put pressure on Beijing, especially on the next three stopovers -- London, Paris and San Francisco.

"Another major focus of activity will be around the official Olympics torch," Jill Savitt, director of Dream for Darfur, said in a teleconference this week.

Buenos Aires and Dar Es Salaam see the relay through South America and Africa respectively -- it will pass through all five inhabited continents -- before a return to Asia in Oman.

The flame will not be stopping in Taiwan, which China considers its own, after the self-ruled island decided to withdraw from the relay. Hong Kong and Macau round out the relay outside the mainland proper.

"CHINA'S HAWAII"

The domestic leg begins on May 4 in Hainan Island, once a place of political exile but now marketed as "China's Hawaii".

All 31 provinces and regions will be visited, including Tibet again on June 19-21, and the far Western province of Xinjiang, home to 8 million Uighur Muslims and where China said police shot and killed two members of a "terrorist gang" last month.

The flame's 137,000-km journey concludes with three days in Beijing before it takes centre stage at the Bird's Nest National Stadium for the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, which will burn for the duration of the Games.

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley and Ben Blanchard)

(Take a look at the Countdown to Beijing blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)

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