Chinese rally in Australia for troubled torch

More than 10,000 Chinese Australians staged the biggest pro-Beijing rally of the protest-marred Olympic torch relay yesterday, bringing a sea of red Chinese flags and drowning out Tibetan demonstrators.

Protests and tight security have followed the Olympic torch around the world over the past month, putting China's domestic and foreign policies under the spotlight ahead of the Games in August.

Beijing had hoped the torch's progress would be a symbol of unity in the run-up to the Beijing Games. But it has turned into a public relations nightmare, forcing host countries to protect the torch with security measures usually afforded a state leader.

Anti-Chinese protests during the previous relay legs have sparked a wave of patriotism amongst Chinese at home and abroad, and yesterday thousands of Chinese chanting "One China" packed the start and finish of the torch relay in the Australian capital.

Police made seven arrests, but for the most part the event was peaceful.

"This is a magnificent day for us today to show that Australia can have a peaceful rally. Watching overseas protests, I felt shamed that they can behave like that," Wellington Lee, from the Chinese Association of Victoria state, told Reuters.

Chinese lined the 16-km (10-mile) relay route, and hundreds of cars drove around Canberra carrying Chinese flags.

"It was highly organised," free-Tibet supporter and Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown told Reuters. "Australians will feel a little bit uncomfortable by the fact that communist China came to town and just showed it can buy anything."

China denied the charge.

"I don't know how this question is relevant," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing. "If someone is interested in it, then has he asked those people who disrupt and sabotage the torch if there are any organisers and instigators behind them? I think that question is more newsworthy."

The European Parliament had urged EU leaders to boycott the opening ceremony at the Games unless China starts talks with the Dalai Lama. In retaliation, there have been Chinese calls to boycott European, especially French, businesses.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson spoke out against calls from both sides for boycotts, saying they only served to "deepen differences, create massive resentment and make dialogue much harder".

Tomorrow, the torch will be run through Nagano, Japan, where officials have changed the route due to security concerns and complaints from locals.

The route for the torch's visit to Ho Chi Minh City on April 29 still has not been revealed.

Heavy security

Unlike London, Paris or San Francisco, where torch bearers were jostled by anti-Beijing protesters as they ran, in Canberra a heavy police presence, steel barricades and the city's wide boulevards ensured runners were unobstructed. The Australian relay cost A$2 million.

Scuffles broke out between Tibetan protesters and China supporters, who included Australian Chinese and Chinese students in Australia, before the start of the relay and as a few Tibetan protesters tried to block the runners.

Tibet protesters included Canadian singer K.D. Lang, a Buddhist who interrupted her Australian tour to travel to Canberra for the torch relay.

"Tibet is a global heritage. It's something we want to protect, it's something that enriches the entire universe," she said.