Olympic torch hits mainland China

Sunday 04 May 2008

The Olympic flame landed in Sanya International Airport, marking the beginning of its mainland China trek. (Report: O. Fairclough)

The Olympic torch returned to the Chinese mainland Saturday, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, ready for its first relay here.
   
A chartered plane carrying the flame landed at Sanya Fenghuang International Airport in the southern Chinese holiday resort of Hainan at 10:35 pm (1435 GMT), Xinhua said.
   
Luo Baoming, governor of Hainan province, received the flame from the Olympic organising committee, according to the report.
   
The arrival of the flame will ignite the enthusiasm of all the citizens, said mayor Lu Zhiyuan, according to Xinhua.
   
The report said 208 torchbearers would run on the 30-kilometre (18.5-mile) route Sunday.
   
The torch flew to Hainan from the gambling haven of Macau, where it enjoyed a trouble-free run in balmy conditions Saturday, the final leg of its global tour before the first relay in mainland China.
   
The torch snaked through the former Portuguese colony with no sign of any protests as thousands of people waving Chinese flags and dressed in red lined the route, many huddling under umbrellas against the bright sunshine.
   
The torch was Friday paraded through neighbouring Hong Kong, where it was greeted with celebrations and few of the protests by pro-Tibet campaigners and human rights activists that had earlier transformed its round-the-world trip into a public relations disaster for Beijing.
   
The torch will make its way through China -- including Tibet -- before the August 8 Games opening ceremony in the capital Beijing.
   
Many of the protests, notably in London and Paris, that disrupted earlier legs were sparked by anger at China's crackdown in Tibet after protests there erupted into violence on March 14.
   
Tibet's government-in-exile says more than 200 people were killed in the crackdown, which included sealing off the region to foreign reporters, making accounts of bloodshed impossible to verify.
   
China says 20 people had been killed by Tibetan "rioters," although state media reported Monday for the first time that police had shot dead a Tibetan pro-independence "insurgent."
   
China launched the Olympic torch relay in Beijing at the end of March.