Olympic torch arrives in San Francisco
City officials expect up to 6,500 protesters of China's human rights policies to line the route that the flame will take Wednesday.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Olympic torch arrived in this politically charged city well before dawn today, dogged by controversy both here and abroad.
China has stood defiant over its human rights policies even as protesters at every stop have tried to snuff out the Olympic flame and calls have echoed through world capitals for a boycott of the Summer Games in Beijing.
But worried International Olympic Committee officials meeting later this week in Beijing said they will discuss the possibility of cutting short the torch's tour of 19 countries in the run-up to the Aug. 8 opening ceremony.
Officials said they may even consider scrapping the international portion of the torch relay for future games.
"I'm definitely concerned about what has happened in London and in Paris," Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, told reporters today in Beijing.
Chinese organizers chose the slogan of "Journey of Harmony" for their torch relay. Despite the growing public relations fiasco, officials in Beijing continue to insist that there will be no changes in the 85,000-mile-long route.
"No force will disrupt the torch relay," Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing organizing committee, said today.
After meeting with Chinese officials Monday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom left room for his own last-minute maneuvers. With as many as 6,500 protesters expected, he insisted that the torch relay route is a fluid document and that changes could come at any moment -- even after the relay gets going Wednesday afternoon at McCovey Cove. At least one Bay Area torchbearer has dropped out of the event, citing safety concerns, officials say.
This morning, as Tibetan activists and other anti-China protesters held rallies and symposiums warming up for the big event, many residents here chalked it up as just the latest act in San Francisco's ongoing political circus -- and the probable cause of yet another monster traffic jam.
Even the most jaded Bay Area residents know they're in for quite a show.
"Aren't the Olympics in Beijing?" asked resident Tom Glaser. "Why is the torch even passing through here? I guess I don't care enough to find out."
john.glionna@latimes.com
barbara.demick@latimes.com
Glionna reported from San Francisco and Demick from Beijing.
