WHEN the route of the Olympic torch was unveiled to great fanfare in Beijing a year ago, there was immediate concern at the plan to take it on to Mount Everest.
The issue of Tibet was well known, and campaigners had been arrested only days earlier at the base of the mountain for demanding the country's independence after more than 50 years of Chinese occupation.
There was also surprise that Taiwan – rega
rded as a rebel state by China's Communist leaders – was on the route. Taiwan's government only allowed the torch to go on to the island after guarantees this would not compromise its status.
The relay, beginning with the torch lighting in Olympia, Greece, was to pass through 21 cities and last 130 days. It was dubbed a "journey of harmony" – something that now seems laughable.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, says she will not attend the opening ceremony in Beijing; Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, may also be absent, and Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, will meet the Dalai Lama in Downing Street next month.
More protests are expected to follow the demonstrations in London and Paris, most probably in San Francisco and New Delhi, as the relay continues across six continents before returning to the safer territory of mainland China next month.
The full article contains 220 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
