SAN FRANCISCO—Confusion surrounded the start of the relay of the troubled Olympic torch through San Francisco on Wednesday, as thousands of China supporters and protesters converged along the planned route.
The first runner held the torch aloft and began the route, flanked by tall, blue-clad Chinese security officials.
But the group then promptly disappeared into a large waterfront warehouse complex—in what appeared to be a possible last-minute change of route by authorities to head off trouble.
What Chinese Olympic organizers called a "Journey of Harmony," quickly became the mystery of the missing flame.
The torch was a magnet for chaotic demonstrations in London and Paris in the last week over a range of China issues from China's crackdown on Tibet last month to human rights.
The protests have angered Beijing as it starts to count down to host the Olympic Games in August.
In San Francisco, a city with a large Chinese-American population many of whom were proudly waiting to see the torch relay, there were tense confrontations.
At least one pro-Tibetan demonstrator was detained even before the starting event, which began later than the scheduled 1 p.m.
Despite the protests in Europe and the threat of more protests in San Francisco, Olympics chief Jacques Rogge said there were no plans to cut short a global relay ahead of the Olympic Games opening.
as Torch Comes to the U.S.
The Olympic Games originally signaled an end to all warfare in the Mediterranean world, as every nation sent its best athletes to Greece to compete for nothing more that an olive wreath. The quadrennial Games marked the only time the Hellenic societies stopped fighting.
In modern times, sadly, the Games do not mean an end to conflict.
While the Olympic Torch, symbol of a world unified and peaceful enough to come together for sports competition, wends its way through the streets of San Francisco, Chinese soldiers are patrolling the streets of many Tibetan cities.
As Chinese-Tibetan writer Tsering Woeser explains in her blog, the Chinese regime's repression in Tibet is still threatening the lives and livelihoods of Tibetans.
Meanwhile the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China has stepped up as the Games approach, and Muslim Uighurs and house Christians are still at peril for practicing their faiths.
Janjaweed militia pursue their course of rape and genocide against South Sudanese in Darfur, armed with Chinese weapons.
Perhaps one day the true Olympic spirit of global peace will be realized; apparently not in time for these Olympic Games.
Heavy Security
On a beautiful spring day, San Francisco deployed hundreds of security officers, including agents from the FBI, backed by police cars with flashing lights, harbor boats, jet skis and helicopters.
Police warned anyone crossing barricades would be subject to arrest; officials shortened the route at the last minute and decided that two torch bearers should run concurrently. Many Chinese-Americans are proud that their ancestral home is hosting the global sporting event and resent the protests.
"I'm loyal to the U.S. but I love China because it's my motherland," said Alice Liu, 50, who came to the United States after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
Scott Bennett, 54, a Buddhist from San Mateo, California, who was carrying a Tibetan flag, was quickly confronted by supporters of the torch relay.
"They are very aggressive. They were in our face," he said.
Some protesters spray painted "Free Tibet" on a bus they thought was carrying the torch to the starting point. Police said the bus was empty and they did not make arrests there. City authorities stepped up patrols on the Golden Gate Bridge after three protesters scaled its cables on Monday to hang pro-Tibet banners.
The torch relays have also attracted other groups unhappy about a range of China-related issues, including its human rights record and policies on Sudan's Darfur region. Critics say China should use more of its clout with Sudan to ease the bloody conflict in Darfur. (Ignoring a U.N. embargo, China sells arms to the Sudan government, which in turn arms the Janjaweed militias.)
Hours before the San Francisco torch relay, President Bush urged China to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. He said he agreed at a meeting with Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong "that it would stand the Chinese government in good stead if they would begin a dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama."
Olympics chief Rogge told the Wall Street Journal that reports the International Olympic Committee executive board would consider scrapping the torch relay outside China, to avoid more ugly scenes, were "based on a misunderstanding."
The torch protests have stirred up patriotic resentment among many ordinary Chinese who feel they politicize a sporting event that should be a celebration of 30 years of economic development and opening to the outside world.
Western leaders are facing a delicate balancing act as calls mount for them to boycott the Olympics opening ceremony.
