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."