Beijing torch stop offers brief respite for China

By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will be hoping for a respite from Tibet-fuelled criticism and protests when the Beijing Olympic flame arrives in the Chinese capital on Monday.

The respite might be very brief, however, as the fallout from the recent deadly anti-Chinese riots in the Himalayan region look set to plague the international leg of the 130-day relay, which starts when the flame heads for Kazakhstan on Tuesday.

Lit at a protest-disrupted ceremony in Ancient Olympia last week, the flame will arrive from Greece by charter plane at about 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) before being officially welcomed at a ceremony on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing.

Security will be tight on the square, the focal point of democracy protests that were crushed in 1989, to ensure chief Beijing organizer Liu Qi is not embarrassed a second time.

His speech at last week's lighting ceremony was briefly disrupted by pro-Tibet protesters.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang last Thursday made very clear China's opposition to any protests surrounding the torch relay.

"We condemn these shameful acts which violate the spirit of the Olympics and the common aspirations of people worldwide," he told a regular news conference.

"We believe the torch relay, with the support of people worldwide, will be smoothly held."

At Monday's ceremony, a second torch will be lit and taken to Tibet where an attempt will be made to take it to the top of Mount Everest on a day in early May when the weather conditions are most suitable.

After the Kazakh capital Almaty, the flame heads via Istanbul and St Petersburg to the four-day stretch of the relay where most protests are expected -- London, Paris and San Francisco.

The flame returns to Beijing after traveling around all of China's provinces and regions on August 6, two days before it is used to light the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the Games of the XXIXth Olympiad.

(Editing by David Fogarty)