China welcomes home Olympic flame
SANYA, China (AFP) — China welcomed home the Olympic flame on Sunday with a celebrity-packed start to the mainland torch relay, hoping to extinguish the memories of a global journey marred by protests over Tibet and other controversies.
Amid heavy security, speed skating Olympic champion Yang Yang was the first to carry the torch on the southern tropical island of Hainan, with basketball star Yi Jianlian and current Miss World Zhang Zilin also making appearances.
From Sanya, the torch will travel through more than 100 cities and scenic spots in China, including Tibet and Xinjiang where protests have erupted in recent weeks against Chinese rule.
The Sanya leg of the torch relay got off to a trouble-free start amid a visible security presence, as China sought to ensure no repeat of the kinds of protests that interrupted the flame's journey in other cities around the world.
China had hoped the global leg of the relay, which traversed five continents, would offer the world an Olympic spirit of friendship and harmony, and showcase the nation's rise as a peaceful power.
But many groups used the relay to highlight a range of controversies swirling around China, including its rule of Tibet and the communist government's human rights policies.
The Hainan leg comes as two Dalai Lama envoys were set to hold talks with Chinese officials Sunday amid global pressure over the controversy in Tibet.
In what some may view as a bad omen for China's relay, Yang's run got off to a shaky start when the torch appeared to go out after just a few steps.
Yang was told to stop by security guards as the broadcast on national television cut away to images of the crowd.
Footage panned back to Yang as security guards relit the torch amid chants from the crowd of: "Jia You!", or: "Go, go, go!"
But Yang, who became China's first winter Olympic gold medallist with two victories in the 2002 Games, appeared undeterred by the hiccup.
"I felt both excited and nervous to be the first torchbearer in the Chinese mainland," a smiling Yang told reporters afterwards.
Yang passed the torch to Yi, who made his debut in the NBA this year with the Milwaukee Bucks, and the relay kicked off in earnest with 208 people carrying the sacred flame through Sanya, the capital of Hainan.
Thousands of supporters lined the streets of the city, waving national flags and those carrying the logos of the main Olympic sponsors.
Douglas Jackson, an executive at Coca Cola, one of the big sponsors of the Olympic Games that has come under pressure recently by activists over Tibet and other human rights issues, was the first foreigner to carry the torch in China.
Jackie Chan, the kung-fu superstar actor, was due to be the last personality to carry the flame in Sanya.
On the global leg, the Tibet issue was under a particular fierce spotlight amid unrest that began in the Himalayan region on March 10 that led to a highly controversial crackdown by Chinese military and security forces.
Tibet's government-in-exile says more than 200 people were killed in the crackdown, which included sealing off the region to foreign reporters, making accounts of bloodshed impossible to verify.
China says about 20 people had been killed by Tibetan "rioters," although state media reported last week for the first time that police had shot dead a Tibetan pro-independence "insurgent."
Tibetan exiled leaders have said the plan to take the torch into Tibet is an insult to the people there considering the current situation.
However, aside from the regular relay through Tibet's capital, Lhasa, in June, China is also preparing to take a separate Olympic torch to the top of Mount Everest within days.
No firm day has been set for the torch to scale the world's highest mountain, which is inside Tibet.
But a heavy snow fall late last week appeared to have pushed back the timeframe and the event was not likely to happen until Monday, state press reported over the weekend.
