China turns patriotic wrath on Olympics demonstrators

By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday denounced protesters who upstaged Olympic Games torch relays in London and Paris and asked the United States to ensure the next leg in San Francisco avoids similar mayhem.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials also criticized the protests and a spokeswoman said the torch relay was expected to continue as scheduled.

Officials in Paris were forced to hustle the Olympic torch onto a bus on Monday when protesters against Chinese policy on Tibet tried to seize it.

In London the day before, activists waving Tibetan flags and shouting "Shame on China" also turned the event into a torrid obstacle course.

China quickly condemned the disruptions as "vile" and, in a departure from past reticence, state-run television and newspapers showed the protests and upset spectators.

"We express our strong condemnation of the deliberate disruption of the Olympic torch relay by 'Tibetan independence' separatist forces," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement posted at www.fmprc.gov.cn.

At a later briefing, she said Chinese and U.S. officials had been working together to ensure the visit of the torch to San Francisco on Wednesday would go "safely and smoothly".

"We also warn groups and elements attempting to disrupt and sabotage the torch relay that their goal -- of using the Olympics for their unspeakable ends and to blacken and put pressure on China -- is absolutely unattainable."

IOC president Jacques Rogge told reporters in Beijing: "I was very saddened by what happened because this was a beautiful symbol and this symbol was attacked."

"We are going, of course, to discuss the torch relay (at the IOC executive board meeting) in the Chinese capital on Thursday and Friday," he said. "We will make an analysis of what has happened and we will decide what actions need to be taken."

The IOC was also concerned about security in San Francisco.

"I hope they can protect the flame better than those who hosted it yesterday," said IOC member Alex Gilady.

In San Francisco, where the flame is to make its only U.S. stop, three protesters scaled the city's famed Golden Gate bridge on Monday to hang banners reading "One World, One Dream: Free Tibet" and "Free Tibet 08" ahead of the torch's arrival.

The torch relay disruptions follow unrest in Tibet that China has said was the work of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader. He has repeatedly denied China's claims.

Beijing's subsequent security drive in Tibet and nearby areas has galvanized international groups denouncing the crackdown and calling for the mountain region's autonomy or independence.