Protests hound Olympic flame

Anti-China demonstrators pursued the Olympic flame from London to Paris yesterday and took up positions in San Francisco ahead of tomorrow’s torch relay across the Golden Gate Bridge, forcing officials in the U.S. and Europe to scramble for balance between the Olympic spirit and the right to free speech.

From Washington, the State Department dispatched Diplomatic Security agents to San Francisco to help the local authorities prepare for thousands of protesters expected for the six-mile run — the flame’s only U.S. appearance during its 85,000 mile journey from Greece to the opening ceremony in Beijing this summer.

“You have, on one hand, the rights of people to have this event take place, and there are also the rights of people to freely express themselves,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. “Local officials are fully capable of … balancing these kinds of competing interests.”

Just as San Francisco police said they were taking unprecedented security measures, three activists climbed the cables of the landmark Golden Gate Bridge and unfurled Tibetan banners.

On the other side of the world, authorities dodged protesters who sought to block the relay by extinguishing the flame themselves and taking the torch on a bus to the next site along the 17½ mile route through the city.

By the end of the day, the French relay was aborted, prompting a rebuttal by Chinese officials who called reports of protests “false.”

“It is the responsibility of the host country to take every effective measure to ensure the safety and dignity of the torch,” said Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

“We hope that, through the joint efforts of the relevant departments of China and the United States, the torch relay will be smooth, peaceful and successful,” Mr. Wang said, referring to the planned journey through San Francisco.

Chinese officials in Britain and France said the public “warmly welcomed” the torch, and the relay in both countries “was completed safely.”

Protesters are targeting the torch to publicize opposition to China’s recent jailing of dissidents, its harsh crackdown in Tibet and Beijing’s reluctance to permit international intervention in the western Sudanese province of Darfur.

“Clearly, there’s been a lot of emotion surrounding this issue worldwide,” Mr. McCormack said, in reference to protests in London and Paris on Sunday and yesterday, as well as demonstrations in Olympia, Greece, at the flame-lighting ceremony.

In Paris, about 500 demonstrators brandishing Tibetan flags massed at the Eiffel Tower, where the relay began shortly after midday, guarded by 3,000 French police who followed the flame’s path on in-line skates, bikes and police cars.

The San Francisco Police Department said that several hundred police officers will be on hand for the relay there. It said that security would be noticeably tighter than previous appearances of the torch in the city in 1992 and 1996.

The three protesters on the Golden Gate Bridge unfurled a giant banner reading “One World, One Dream” and “Free Tibet 08” about 150 feet above traffic.

The California Highway Patrol said authorities would not try to go get the protesters out of concern for their safety.

“The leaders of China have said they’ll maintain order at all costs, and we know what that means — bloodshed and violent oppression,” demonstrator Laurel Sutherlin told the Associated Press by phone. “If the [International Olympic Committee] allows the torch to proceed into Tibet, they’ll have blood on their hands.”

The Save Darfur Coalition said it will mobilize more than 1,000 activists to line the torch route tomorrow, “urging China to extinguish the flames of genocide in Darfur.”

Both the Tibet- and Darfur-related demonstrations will feature celebrities, including actors Richard Gere and Mia Farrow.

Also yesterday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton called on President Bush to boycott the Games’ opening ceremony in Beijing.

“The violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for presidential leadership,” the Democratic presidential hopeful said. “These events underscore why I believe the Bush administration has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy towards China.”

Mr. Bush has insisted on attending the ceremony, saying that the Olympics are a sporting event and that he intends to bring up human rights issues in his meetings with Chinese leaders.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told The Washington Times last month that a boycott would be an insult to the Chinese people, and that American athletes should not be deprived of an opportunity they have been training for all their lives.

• Elizabeth Bryant contributed to this article from Paris, which is based in part on wire service reports.