Crowds cheered the parading of the Olympic flame through China's quake-ravaged southwest today, as Beijing tries to choreograph a happy ending to its troubled international tour.
The Olympic torch arrived in China's capital today after a jubilant reception in the quake-ravaged southwest, as Beijing tries to choreograph a happy ending to its troubled international tour.
Beijing's residents have been warned they will face sweeping security to prevent any more trouble - and bad publicity - on the last leg of the tour ahead of Friday's opening ceremony.
"This is the pride of the Chinese people," worker Xu Min said amid cheering crowds watching the flame in Chengdu, capital of quake-hit Sichuan province where 70,000 people died in May.
Prior to today's torch parade, a strong earthquake struck in the provinces of Sichuan and Gansu. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the 6.0-magnitude quake, whose epicentre was 1,253 km (778 miles) southwest of Beijing. The magnitude of May's quake was 7.9.
Far to the northwest, questions about dissent and China's human rights record refused to go away, after suspected Islamist separatists killed 16 policemen yesterday in what a senior local Communist Party official called a "terrorist attack".
Two men were arrested for carrying out the attack, police said, identifying them as Muslim ethnic Uighurs "bent on jihad".
Riot police flooded the streets in the old Silk Road city of Kashgar and stopped cars. Exiled dissident groups said many local Muslims had been rounded up, and some beaten. Japan protested after police also beat up two of its journalists there.
The government and Olympics chiefs shrugged off the attack, assuring 10,500 athletes from 205 countries they would be safe. "This is an individual incident," Chinese tourism official Du Jiang said. "We are basically a safe travel destination."
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which promised the Games would be an "unforgettable moment in Olympic history", also tried to reassure visitors and athletes that the smog which often envelops the capital would not pose major health problems.
But not everyone is convinced. Members of the US cycling squad arrived at Beijing's new airport terminal today wearing black respiratory masks. The IOC's medical chief said it was an unnecessary move, and the US Olympic Committee urged the Chinese not to take offence. "It was in no way intended to be disrespectful," spokesman Darryl Seibel said.
The last leg of the Olympic torch's mammoth 130-day tour starts at Beijing's Forbidden City tomorrow, before touring landmarks like Tiananmen Square.
This time the tour became a lightning rod for protests around the world over China's rule of Tibet, a reaction which offended many ordinary Chinese.
The Olympics will cost Beijing about $40 billion, by far the most expensive in history. Unlike past debt-ridden hosts such as Montreal in 1976 and Athens in 2004, that sum is small change for China's roaring economy.
In the most eagerly-awaited competition, the men's 100 metres, world champion Tyson Gay said he would be ready despite a hamstring muscle strain in July. But in the latest in a string of doping scandals to hit the Games, two Russian Olympic walkers were ejected from the team for Beijing after failing tests.
Former world record holder Vladimir Kanaikin and Viktor Burayev tested positive for the banned drug EPO in out-of-competition tests in April, bringing to around 20 the number of athletes ejected over doping.
Authorities have spent around $18 billion on cleaning up Beijing. Drastic measures have included taking nearly two million cars off the street and shutting factories.
In a bid to show openness, police have been told not to interfere with foreign journalists' coverage or with anti-government speeches, even if it tackles the banned spiritualist movement Falun Gong, independence for Taiwan, Tibet or Xinjiang.