LONDON, England (AP) -- China's ambassador to London may pull out of the Olympic torch relay planned for this weekend, officials at the Chinese Embassy said Thursday.
Ambassador Fu Ying had been due to be one of the 80 people carrying the Olympic flame across the British capital on Sunday, and her participation had drawn the ire of pro-Tibet groups angry at China's clampdown on protesters there.
The British Broadcasting Corp. said Ying had already pulled out, but the Chinese Embassy said only that she was weighing her options.
"I cannot confirm or deny the report," embassy spokesman Liu Weimin said, explaining that Ying had been assigned to accompany a Chinese delegation on its visit to London.
"She's been instructed to be with the delegation this weekend, but she is still trying to see whether she can meet both demands."
A second official at the embassy reached later Thursday refused to provide any further detail.
The torch, lit at Olympia, Greece, and carried around the world in the run-up to the Olympic Games, has been a flashpoint for demonstrators venting their frustration at Beijing's treatment of its ethnic minorities in Tibet and elsewhere.
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The torch lighting ceremony last month was disrupted by a protester who ran up behind a top Chinese official giving a speech, while demonstrators gathered Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey, to protest China's human rights record as the torch was carried through the city.
Protests also are planned in London, and police said they were deploying about 2,000 officers to guard the torch as it makes its way along its 31 mile- (50 kilometer-) route.
In India on Thursday police said they will impose tight security when the Olympic torch passes through New Delhi later this month.
Rajan Bhagat, the main spokesman for the Delhi police, said all participants will be issued special identification cards and that spectators will be kept at a "proper distance and frisked."
There are concerns that Tibetan exiles in India may use the event to highlight their opposition to Chinese rule in Tibet and to protest Beijing's crackdown on anti-China demonstrations in the region.
The Free Tibet Campaign, one of the groups planning to demonstrate Sunday, said it welcomed news that the Chinese ambassador was considering staying out of the ceremony.
Clearly it shows that China, for the first time in a long time, is on the defensive about Tibet," Free Tibet spokesman Matt Whitticase said.
A spokeswoman for the London torch event referred all questions back to the Chinese Embassy. E-mail to a friend [img=17 border=0 _extended=,14 alt=]http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/util/email.gif[/img] |
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发表于 2008-4-4 23:02
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