SAN FRANCISCO -- — It was supposed to be on a "Journey of Harmony," but the Olympic torch celebrating the Beijing Summer Games slinked into the city before dawn Tuesday, dogged by controversy both here and abroad.
As activists and police readied for a chaotic torch relay expected to produce mass demonstrations and arrests this afternoon, China stood defiant in the face of growing criticism of its human rights policies. The superpower has downplayed protests -- many by pro-Tibetan activists -- that have aimed to snuff out the Olympic flame, and has ignored a chorus of calls for a boycott of the Games' opening ceremony.
On Tuesday, International Olympic Committee officials in Beijing suggested the possibility of cutting short the torch's odyssey, abbreviating the list of 19 countries it is scheduled to visit in the run-up to the Aug. 8 opening ceremony. Officials said they might 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," said Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, referring to numerous efforts by protesters to extinguish the torch.
The flame embarked in March from Greece on an 85,000-mile, six-continent journey -- one of the most ambitious torch relays in the history of the Olympic Games.
China chose the slogan "Journey of Harmony." Despite the recent public-relations fiasco, Beijing officials insisted Tuesday that there would be no route changes after the flame leaves San Francisco.
"No force will disrupt the torch relay," said Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing organizing committee.
Chinese Americans in San Francisco echoed those sentiments Tuesday, saying they would cheer the torch today in the face of protest. Organizers said they expected more than 15,000 to wave banners in support of Beijing.
"We're going to show the world that San Francisco stands behind China," social worker Citania Tam said as she walked in Chinatown. "We're going to be the anti-demonstrators."
The normally free-spirited city was tense Tuesday as it waited in the eye of the oncoming storm. Tibetan activists and other anti-China protesters held symposiums and rallies that included speeches by Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Nobel Prize-winning South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu. At least one Bay Area torchbearer has dropped out of the event, citing safety concerns, officials say.
