Police began an unprecedented security crackdown in Australia’s national capital, Canberra, on Wednesday to protect the Olympic flame from protests during the latest leg of the torch’s troubled journey around the world. China had hoped the torch’s progress would be a symbol of unity in the run-up to the Beijing Games.
China on Tuesday denounced protesters who upstaged Olympic Games torch relays in London and Paris, with state media saying that saboteurs are bent on wrecking Games goodwill. An international Olympic official also criticised the protests, but said the relay would stay on its round-the-world course.
The internet must be open during the Beijing Olympics. That was the message a top-ranking International Olympic Committee (IOC) official delivered on Tuesday to Beijing organisers during the last official sessions between IOC inspectors and the host Chinese before the Games begin in just more than four months.