Olympic torch carried through San Francisco in subterfuge (Roundup)

Apr 10, 2008, 10:04 GMT

A pro-China protester is detained by San Francisco Police during the running of the olympic torch through San Francisco streets in San Francisco, California, USA, 09 April 2008. The Olympic torch relay was the only stop in North America -- en route to Beijing, where the Summer Olympics will be held in August. EPA/MONICA M. DAVEY

San Francisco - The symbolic Olympic flame was spirited Wednesday through San Francisco in the face of demonstrations against the Beijing-bound torch relay.

Officials devised numerous ploys to keep the torch far from thousands of protestors who lined the official route, hiding it a warehouse, transporting it by bus, police boat and amphibious vehicle and redirecting runners far from the original path.

Finally, authorities cancelled the official farewell ceremony and secreted the torch to the city's airport, where it was flown quietly to Argentina, the next stop on a global tour plagued by demonstrations against China's crackdown in Tibet and other human- rights policies.

The San Francisco strategy was successful in avoiding the scenes of mayhem that accompanied the torch in London and Paris, where human rights activists protested China's policies in Tibet, Sudan, Myanmar and elsewhere.

But the result was just as far from the celebration that traditionally has marked the torch's passage. Instead of being paraded proudly through cheering crowds, it was transported under a heavy veil of secrecy for practically every minute of its only stop in North America.

Local TV station KNBC said that the diversionary tactics were worked out by federal officials in close cooperation with the Chinese government.

The switch was condemned by many in the crowd who had waited for hours to cheer or jeer the torch. Political opponents of Mayor Gavin Newsom also blasted the changes.

'Gavin Newsom misled supporters and opponents of the run. People brought their families and their children,' said Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin. 'He did it so China can report they had a great torch run. It's the worst kind of government - government by deceit and misinformation.'

Newsom justified the controversial strategy.

'We felt it was in everyone's best interest that we augment the route,' Newsom said. 'I believe people were afforded the right to protest and support the torch. You saw that in the streets. They were not denied the ability to protest.'

Peter Ueberroth, head of the US Olympic Committee, also praised the effort. 'The city of San Francisco, from a global perspective, will be applauded,' he said.

After the havoc that haunted the legs in London and Paris this week, IOC president Jacques Rogge said the situation in San Francisco 'was better.'

'It was, however, not the joyous party that we had wished it to be,' he said at an Olympic meeting in Beijing.

In the crowds in San Francisco, protestors from both sides said they were disappointed. Waving a small Tibetan flag, student Mary Brigham voiced 'a lot of frustration' after waiting for four hours along the parade route.

'They fooled us by announcing the original route,' she said. 'We've been walking miles and miles to see the torch, but we don't know where it is.'

'What a letdown,' said the city's main paper The San Francisco Chronicle in an editorial. 'The Olympic torch run turned into a barely seen security entourage, which dodged the thousands who turned out to watch.'

Officials decided on the drastic changes to the route of the torch after thousands of protestors lined the original route and blocked some points, according to police. Minor skirmishes broke out throughout the morning as pro-Beijing supporters waving huge red flags confronted demonstrators protesting China's policies.

'Liars, liars, liars,' hundreds of ethnic Chinese shouted at protestors who held a Tibetan flag and signs saying 'Save Darfur.' Elsewhere, people draped in Tibetan flags lay in the streets in an attempt to disrupt the torch relay.

Adding to the volatile mix was San Francisco's large Chinese emigre community, many of whom see China's hosting of the Olympic Games as a source of ethnic pride.

'This has been a dream for China to show the world what kind of progress we have made,' said Han Moy, who was born in China but has lived in the United States for 50 years.

Ambulances were stationed at strategic points along the planned thoroughfare, where police teams placed barriers to control crowds and secure the planned 10-kilometer torch route.

Police Chief Heather Fong said that officers had adjusted their strategies after watching events unfold in Europe.

'What is most important is, at the end of the day the people are peaceful and safe, and it's a successful situation,' Fong said. 'If there's violence and people get hurt, then it hurts every opinion that is out there.'

Most protesters pledged to act peacefully and not attempt to disrupt the passage of the torch as happened in London and Paris. The tone was set early Wednesday, when groups of Tibetan monks marched across the Golden Gate Bridge.

On Tuesday night, actor Richard Gere and Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu led a peaceful human-rights vigil, after other demonstrators lit what they called the Tibetan Freedom Torch.

'It is fantastic what people have been doing,' Tutu told reporters at the Candle Lights for Human Rights vigil at San Francisco's United Nations Plaza.

The scenes of mayhem prompted speculation that future legs of the torch tour would be cancelled to avoid further anti-China protests. Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Wednesday that they have ruled out cutting short the protest-plagued international tour of the Olympic flame.

Mario Vazquez Rana, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees, said Tuesday night that IOC President Jacques Rogge was '100-per-cent convinced' not to make any changes to the international relay.

IOC Vice-President Thomas Bach said he expected 'that it will continue,' and Swedish executive board member Gunilla Lindbergh also shared this view.

'My opinion is that we have to do exactly what we planned,' she told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 'The torch has to complete its international trip.'