Torch draws mass support and protest

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Olympic torch was run through Hong Kong on Friday in a festive return to China after a troubled world tour, but tensions flared as patriotic crowds heckled protesters and police briefly detained eight activists.

The torch's five-continent journey has been dogged by demonstrations, mostly over China's crackdown against protests in Tibet, which have deeply embarrassed Beijing and provoked retaliatory rallies at home and abroad by patriotic Chinese.

Seemingly bowing to international pressure on Tibet, Beijing said last week it would meet envoys of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.

On Friday, the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is based in India, said its officials would arrive in China on Saturday for "informal" talks.

China has blamed the exiled Buddhist leader's "clique" for unrest across Lhasa and other Tibetan areas, which it says was aimed at upstaging the Beijing Olympics in August.

In Hong Kong, security around the flame was tight, with roads closed, crowds kept at a distance, and at times as many as 16 Chinese torch security guards in blue and white track suits and police on motorcycles alongside the torch bearers.

All along the torch's route, tens of thousands of cheering citizens packed sidewalks and strained for a glimpse of the flame as it winded its way across the territory by foot, dragon boat and horseback, as well as by yacht across the city's iconic harbor.

Despite the outpouring of support, small bands of demonstrators confined to protest pens along the route demanded Beijing honor its Olympics human rights promises, but were confronted at times by bristling crowds.