San Francisco Braces for Olympic Torch Protests

The torch's 85,000-mile global trip is the longest in Olympic history, and it is meant to shine a spotlight on host country China's rise in economic and political power. Activists, however, have seized upon the torch procession as a backdrop for protests against China -- and particularly its rule of Tibet --- angering Beijing.

As runners carry the torch on its six-mile route through San Francisco, they will compete not only with demonstrations over China's rule of Tibet, its human rights record toward Falun Gong practitioners and its support for the governments of Myanmar and Sudan, but also with more unusual activists. They include nudists calling for a return to the way the ancient Greek games were played, according to The Associated Press.

Some 700 security officers were deployed in San Francisco and the Federal Aviation Administration imposed airspace restrictions. Barricades were erected outside the city's Chinese consulate.

One torchbearer, Jaclyn Kimball, a 14-year-old cross-country runner, bowed out because of concern about the run, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The president of the International Olympic Committee told the Wall Street Journal that he condemned the worldwide protests and said they won't derail or cancel the torch relay outside China.

"I am saddened that such a beautiful symbol of the torch, which unites people of different religions, different ethnic origin, different political systems, cultures and languages, has been attacked," Rogge said of the protests.

"Politics invited itself in sports," he added. "We didn't call for politics to come."

Hours before the torch relay in San Francisco, President Bush urged China to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama over the recent disruptions in Tibet.

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," Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Congress was considering a resolution urging the president to boycott the opening ceremonies.

China sharply denounced comments by speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in support of anticipated protests.

"We advise those very few in the U.S. Congress (who are doing so) to immediately stop interfering with and bringing harm to the Olympics and the torch relay," spokeswoman Jiang Yu wrote in a statement on the Chinese Foreign Ministry Web site.

Some 2,000 exiled Tibetans from across the United States began descending on the Bay Area Monday to protest the torch relay, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Tenzin Tethong, 59, of Sunnyvale, Calif. was one of many people hosting fellow exiles.

"Tibetans feel the wrong that's happening should be corrected," Tethong told the Mercury News, adding, "The exile community is just responding in a powerful way -- very emotionally and passionately."

David Perry, a spokesman for the city's Olympic torch preparations, told the Chronicle that officials in the city, which has a long history of hosting protests about a wide range of causes, want to respect the free speech rights of both protesters and Olympic relay supporters in order to carry out a successful torch run.

"I like to think in San Francisco we know how to do a protest," he said. "Here in San Francisco, we're not the type to jump on people in a wheelchair to try to snuff out the flame."