Torch: China orders crackdown
09/04/2008 15:56  - (SA)  

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Beijing - China has ordered local authorities to crack down on "illegal activities" on roads along the Olympic torch relay route as it braces for the return of the trouble-plagued flame next month, state media said on Wednesday.

The Public Security Ministry had also ordered authorities to take "substantial and effective means to ensure traffic order", Xinhua news agency said.

The report did not specify what "illegal activities" were to be targeted but China has already specified tight security for the torch relay's two Tibetan legs.

The chairperson of Tibet's communist government, Qiangba Puncog, said earlier on Wednesday he expected "trouble" when the relay passes through the Himalayan region, but nevertheless vowed a safe and peaceful event.

The torch relay is a "once-in-a-century" opportunity for activists advocating Tibetan independence to attract publicity that they would not miss, he told reporters in Beijing.

"Therefore they wish to create major trouble or incidents, and I don't doubt they will create trouble during the torch relay in Tibet," he said.

China has launched a heavy crackdown on a vast area of the Tibetan plateau following widespread anti-China rioting last month.

The international torch relay officially began on April 2, when the flame left Beijing.

After completing the international portion on May 4, the torch will pass through Tibet in early May to go up Mount Everest, and then again when it goes through Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, in June.

"In addition to our careful preparations and arrangements we believe that the torch relay in Tibet will be safe and successful," Qiangba said.

The torch has been dogged by protests in London on Sunday and Paris on Monday against China's Tibet crackdown. The Paris protests forced relay organisers to douse the flame several times.

The Xinhua report said local authorities were urged to carefully examine potential traffic risks faced by the torch and reconfigure the route if such hazards cannot be eliminated in time.

All local police departments must also train personnel on guarding the torch, it said.

- AFP

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