China expects Olympic torch 'trouble' in Tibet

Tibet’s governor said today he expects activists advocating independence to cause “trouble” for the Olympic torch relay when it comes through the Himalayan region on its way to Mount Everest next month.

Champa Phuntsok, the Chinese-appointed head of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, said he believes supporters of the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing has accused of instigating last month’s unrest, will seek to use the Olympics to publicise their cause.

“For these separatist forces, the Olympics in Beijing will be a rare opportunity,” he told a news conference in Beijing. “Therefore they wish to create major troubles or incidents. I don’t doubt they will create trouble during the torch relay in Tibet.”

Thousands of raucous protesters angry about China’s policies in Tibet and its human rights record have already disrupted the torch relay’s round-the-world tour at stops in London and Paris.

Heavy security has been deployed in San Francisco, the next stop, after protesters there climbed the Golden Gate Bridge to hang the Tibetan flag earlier this week.

However, Champa Phuntsok pledged that the relay will be “completely successful and safe” in Tibet, adding that authorities have made special security preparations.

“During the torch relay in Tibet and in climbing Mount Everest, if anyone should attempt to disrupt or undermine the torch relay, then they will be dealt with severely according to the law,” he said.

The torch relay, the longest in Olympic history, was intended to showcase China’s rising economic and political power.

Instead, Chinese leaders have come under increasing international criticism following their crackdown in March on massive anti-government demonstrations in Lhasa.

Those protests, the largest challenge to China’s rule in two decades, began peacefully on March 10 but exploded into violence four days later as Tibetan demonstrators set fire to buildings and cars and attacked Han Chinese.

Chinese officials said 22 people died in the ensuing violence, while Tibetan exile groups said at least 140 were killed.