Tibetan exiles on Sunday celebrated the 73rd birthday of their revered leader His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, but with no customary song and dance performances.

Hundreds of Tibetans and visiting tourists packed the Tsuglag-khang (Main Tibetan Temple) courtyard to join the official function, attended by top officials of the Tibetan government-in-Exile, including Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Chairman of the Tibetan Parliament Mr Karma Choephel and other senior officials of the Central Tibetan Administration.

The Dalai Lama’s birthday celebration, which is otherwise a joyous moment for Tibetans, was kept moderate this year due to sad and worsening situation inside Tibet since the March unrest. Tibetan people here honoured their leader’s birthday by offering prayers and planting trees for his long life and continued wellbeing.

Some 200 people from the Trans Himalayan region of India bordering Tibet, including Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Uttranchal, Utrakhand, Lahaul Spiti, Kinour, Kullu, Manali, and Ladhak, also joined the celebration this morning. The members were led by prominent social and political leaders of the communities. According to a press statement by the Trans Himalayan Parliamentary forum, the members on Saturday had a private audience with the Dalai Lama to wish him “long life and to express solidarity with Holiness’ peaceful struggle for the Tibetan cause”. They also organized a candle light peace march for Tibet later in the evening to convey their continued support for the Tibetan people in their struggle for freedom.

TAIPEI, Taiwan: Tibetan and Taiwanese activists carried a "freedom torch" to the summit of Taiwan's tallest mountain Sunday as part of a five-month, 50-city relay calling for greater self-rule for China-controlled Tibet, sponsors said.

The 21-member team took the torch to the peak of 13,035-foot (3,950-meter) Mount Yu and planted a Tibetan flag there, they said.

"From the summit of Mount Yu, they looked homeward at the Himalayas, praying for the early termination of their exile so they could return home," said the Taiwan for Tibet Association, a local group backing the Tibetans.

Several of the torch carriers fled their Himalayan homeland and live in exile in other countries.

The Tibetan torch relay, which began in Greece in March, was designed to contrast with the torch relay for the Olympic Games, which open in Beijing on Aug. 8.

It is also meant to highlight Tibetans' will to strengthen their autonomy and denounce Beijing for its crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet in March, said Thupten Chophed, an official of the Taiwan-Tibet Interchange Association.

Sunday is the 73rd birthday of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, making the Taiwan leg of the relay more significant, he said.

The relay was launched in Greece on March 10 and is scheduled to finish Aug. 7 at Dharmsala, India, base of the Dalai Lama's government in exile.

China has governed Tibet since Communist troops marched into the Himalayan region in the 1950s. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India during a failed uprising in 1959, has said he wants some form of autonomy that would allow Tibetans to freely practice their culture, language and religion.

Taiwan has criticized Beijing for what it says was China's heavy-handed response to Tibetan demonstrations in March. China claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan is part of its territory, although the sides split in 1949 during a civil war.

Since the beginning of June this year, several thousand of the People's Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) forces were redeployed into main market squares, streets, major monasteries and road junctions around Lhasa city to check and respond to any untoward incidents during the Olympic torch relay, which is scheduled to travel from Norbulingka to Potala Palace square tomorrow. According to an official Chinese government website, the 11-km relay will start from Norbulingka, the summer palace of the Dalai Lama and end at the Potala Palace, but it has not mentioned the timing of the torch relay. An official internal circular had been sent to Chinese government departments ordering their heads to discourage their own employees, as well as the common citizens, from taking part in any political activities during the torch relay.

In a press conference during the third Chinese state sponsored media tour of Tibet on 3 June, in response to a question raised by a Hong Kong based journalist, Pema Thinley, the Vice-Chairman of the "Tibet Autonomous Region" ('TAR') government acknowledged the intensification of the security forces and identified what he saw as its three main motivations. He concluded that the increased pressure from the Chinese government might be an effort to reduce "the possibility of further unspecified 'incidents' in Lhasa during the Olympic torch relay, secondly to check any untoward incident during Saka Dawa (a Buddhist holy month) and finally to crush pro-Tibet Independence activists."

Mr. Thinley's perspective reemphasizes earlier comments made by Chinese authorities in Tibet who have promised to "severely punish" and "give no indulgence" to Tibetans who would try to "sabotage" the torch relay.

The move by the Chinese authorities to allow journalists from 29 foreign media groups to cover the Lhasa leg of Olympic torch relay, however, has been welcomed by those calling for increased media access to Tibet. Because the media tours allowed foreign journalists have been so closely monitored and controlled though, for many there still remains something to be desired. Many still believe that the authorities should provide free and unfettered access to all media to shed light on the situation on the ground. TCHRD believes that the media presence in Lhasa for the torch relay would not only do good, but also that Chinese authorities should provide unfettered access to foreign journalist to speak freely to Tibetans, visit prominent monasteries and nunneries which remain sealed off, visit those in detention, or otherwise investigate aspects of the recent protests.

Since there has been a complete lockdown in Tibet and restrictions on the travel of independent international observers to Tibet, as well as severe media censorship, the Chinese authorities currently have a pseudo state-sanctioned license to commit human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, beatings, and abductions of Tibetans. The Centre has recorded the arrests or arbitrary detention of more than 6,500 Tibetans and the deaths of more than 100 others. Additionally, the cases of thousands of injured Tibetans remain unaccounted for since 10 March Protests across Tibet. Reportedly, many Tibetans have also died shortly after being released from Chinese custody, in which they were subjected to inhumane torture. In one instance, Nechung, a 38- year-old mother of four children from Charu Hu Village in Ngaba County, Ngaba "TAP", Sichuan Province, died days after being subjected to brutal torture in a Chinese prison on 17 April 2008. In another instance, Dawa, a 31 year-old Tibetan farmer from Dedrong Village, Jangkha Township, Phenpo Lhundup County, Lhasa City, "TAR", died on 1 April 2008 after being severely beaten by Chinese prison guards.

Numerous credible reports received by the TCHRD about the scale and intensity of the Chinese government's repression across Tibet suggests that authorities have used the March Protests as an opportunity to launch a systematic crackdown on Tibetans' fundamental rights. The Chinese authorities have deployed a large number of security forces to suppress further demonstrations and have intensified their "patriotic re-education campaign" across all sections of Tibetan communities. So far, the Chinese officials have given only limited information on those who have been sentenced after swift trial proceedings.

Following the March protests in Lhasa and other traditional Tibetan areas in the east and north, the Chinese authorities have repeatedly disregarded demands made by the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile to allow independent international observers into Tibet to report on the continuing protests there and the reactions of the Chinese government that occur in the aftermath. Recently, in response to the international condemnation of the brutal crackdowns on the protesters, the Chinese government organized three official media tours to Lhasa and Labrang and permitted 15 diplomats to visit Lhasa in late March, but seriously restricted their ability to speak freely to Tibetans.

In early April, a request was made by Ms. Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the senior Chinese diplomats in Geneva to visit Tibet to independently witness first-hand the human rights violations in the ongoing crisis in Tibet. Her request was declined by the Chinese government on the grounds that 'the timing was not convenient." Similarly, the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is mandated to visit detention facilities and check on the well-being of prisoners worldwide, has never been allowed to carry out such work in China, and particularly not in Tibet, since 10 March protests, which subsequently led to mass arrests and detentions across Tibet. In addition, six United Nations Special Procedures mandate holders issued a joint statement calling for "greater and unfettered access to the regions for journalists and independent observers, guarantees for the free flow of information, and full implementation of international standards in regard to the treatment of protesters and those detained," but all of these demands were ignored.

Hundreds of Tibetans are still languishing in the Chinese administered prisons and detention centers for peacefully expressing their opinions, exercising fundamental human rights and even many whose families still have no knowledge of their whereabouts.

Human rights transgressions in China remain systematic and widespread and the communist regime continues to trample upon the civil liberties and democratic rights of Tibetans. The TCHRD calls upon government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to respect the fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people to express their opinion peacefully as enshrined in the Chinese Constitution and numerous International human rights covenants that PRC had signed and ratified.

Sharon Stone - Dior, originally uploaded by SerenityF.

Celebrity spokespeople are notorious for being unpredictable, though they are also a sure fire way to get quick and easy press for a company or brand. The problem though is that when celebrities behave badly, it will take your brand's name through the mud with it.

Case-in-point: Sharon Stone, former spokesperson and model for Christian Dior

What I don't understand though is why Dior would select a celebrity who was supposedly pro-Tibet for their advertising campaign in China. That's just asking for trouble. Perhaps its was a budget issue (though I doubt it considering the profit margins on a tiny bottle of perfume), in which they decided it would be best to go with a rather washed up B-list Hollywood actress, rather then an A-list Chinese actress.

Now thanks to Stone's poor choice of words during an interview with the Chinese media at the Cannes Film Festival on May 25th, Dior is now in crisis communications mode in order to make amends with the Chinese people. It's interesting to note that this is not the first time that Ms. Stone has put her foot in her mouth over global issues and policies--Tanzania, malaria and mosquito nets.

For me personally, the interview was rather painful to watch. Not only were the comments rather cold and insensitive, she sounded like she was dumbing down her vocabulary to talk to a little kid, or perhaps she's just being true to form--a dumb blond. See the whole clip here:

In retaliation, Chinese netizens have been quick to respond with countless YouTube videos to voice their anger at Ms. Stone's comments.

Hopefully other brands and companies will heed this cautionary tale and choose their celebrity spokesperson a little more wisely. Choosing an individual whose lifestyle and opinions are in-line with the product and connect with the target market. A celebrity spokesperson should is not just simply a face and name to increase press. He or she will be come the representative of the brand, whose words and actions (good or bad) will be associated with the brand.

I was surprised when I found out he is visiting the U.S. Part of me wishes that I was able to fly up to NY, WA or somewhere and see him. Yet, another part is glad I cannot. I have a special memory of the meeting that was held near Dharamsala, in Himachal Pradesh at his "home". I'll never forget that meeting and I still have the red cord with the blessing knot tied around my wrist.

For some reading regarding his U.S. visit so far:

The 22-year-old living Buddha seemed joyfully aware to feel no jet lag whatsoever. So far. "Maybe tonight," he said in English on Thursday. "But not yet." He had just arrived at a Midtown hotel with his security detail after a 14-hour flight from New Delhi to Newark.

"It is the first time I've ever visited the United States, and it's a bit like a dream," said His Holiness, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ugyen Trinley Dorje, one of the most important leaders in Tibetan Buddhism.

Despite his youth, he is revered by followers as a master teacher, and on Thursday he began his whirlwind tour of the United States, an 18-day visit to New York, New Jersey, Boulder, Colo., and Seattle.

Yes, he is that Karmapa: the young master who made headlines across the world at age 14 with his daring escape from China to India across the Himalayas in 1999.

His followers regard him not only as the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, who died in 1981, but also as the 17th incarnation of the first Karmapa in the 12th century, in an unbroken lineage going back 900 years. They revere him as leader of the Kagyu sect — called the black hat or black crown sect — one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

To believers, he is the embodiment of wisdom and compassion, a "reincarnate lama," or teacher who has achieved enlightenment yet returns to the human world, lifetime after lifetime, to help others do the same.

"The passing of the previous Karmapa was like the sun going behind the clouds," said Michele Martin, a Tibetan translator who is the author of a 2003 biography, "Music in the Sky: The Life, Art and Teachings of the 17th Karmapa, Ugyen Trinley Dorje."

She added, "With the new Karmapa's arrival, it's like the clouds have cleared away, and he is the sun in the sky."

Thousands of people have attended his public appearances in India, and some 20,000 more are expected to see him in America. In Manhattan he will be speaking to the faithful on Saturday at the Hammerstein Ballroom (tickets: $30 to $108), and Sunday in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria (tickets: $35 to $175).

On Monday he will visit his North American seat at the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra center in Woodstock, N.Y., where he is ecstatically anticipated. The shrine room was used for scenes in "Kundun," the Martin Scorsese film about the life of the Dalai Lama.

Americans have been preparing for the visit for a year and a half, said Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, the organizer of the American trip, who is president and founder of Nalanda West in Seattle, one of the speaking stops. "There is great joy and delight that they can finally see him," he said.

So little is easy, however, on the noble eightfold path of Buddhism, and Ugyen Trinley Dorje is but one of two claimants to the title of Karmapa in the Kagyu tradition. A rival, Trinlay Thaye Dorje, made a tour of Europe several years ago. There have been legal battles in India. Rival factions of monks, those emissaries of loving kindness, have come to blows over the conflict.

But the American followers of Ugyen Trinley Dorje point to his recognition as the 17th Karmapa by both the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama, a world figure and a spokesman for Tibetan Buddhism who has been a teacher to Ugyen Trinley Dorje.

In an interview, the Dalai Lama's United States representative, Tashi Wangdi, said, "We welcome the visit" of Ugyen Trinley Dorje, adding, "We are very happy that he will be here."

Robert A. F. Thurman, professor of Buddhist studies at Columbia University, said, "The guy who's here is the official one," adding, "The other Karmapa is a nice person, and he has followers in Europe and Asia, but almost all of the Tibetans accept the Karmapa who is here now."

Asked about the rival Karmapa, Ugyen Trinley Dorje said that "one person is appearing at a time, who is the reincarnation of the previous Karmapa."

He added, "Being its current incarnation, as I am, it is my greatest responsibility" to embody the succession.

His great escape from China, in December 1999, was a grueling eight-day, 1,000-mile trip by foot, horse, train, jeep and helicopter that led him to Dharamsala, India. The government accepted him as a refugee in 2001.

Ugyen Trinley Dorje's age, spiritual presence and dramatic escape have made him a rock star in certain precincts of Tibetan Buddhism, and some have invoked a Barack Obama parallel. Elle Magazine named the meditative master one of its "25 people to watch."

"He could become a spokesman for Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet itself, if he chooses to," said Dr. Thurman, the author of a new book, "Why the Dalai Lama Matters." He is also the father of the actress Uma Thurman.

Though Ugyen Trinley Dorje's residence has been a source of unease in Chinese and Indian diplomacy, his followers say that despite the embarrassment to the Chinese government his escape represented, the Chinese have not excoriated him, as they have the Dalai Lama.

His followers expressed the hope that Chinese protesters would not react to the visit of Ugyen Trinley Dorje as they did to the arrival of the Dalai Lama in Seattle recently. Some protestors have blamed the Dalai Lama for violent anti-Chinese riots in Tibet, an accusation he has denied.

In the interview, Ugyen Trinley Dorje deflected political questions, saying, "My work is all spiritual wherever I go," adding that "sometimes politics enters into spirituality, but it is my prayer that it not do so."

A kinetic, big-boned 6-footer with a gentle grip and piercing eyes, he has a sturdy voice and a ready laugh. In his maroon robes on a floral red-silk armchair before a gold-framed mirror, he was surrounded by handlers and protected by the State Department, which extends security to foreign dignitaries and the occasional perfect master.

"I wish I spoke better English," he said in an aside to a visitor while his translators were struggling to render one of his comments.

His Holiness, as his followers call him, confirmed that he was 22 years old. When asked if he was also 900, he laughed heartily. He carried on most of a brief interview in Tibetan through two translators, with occasional asides in English.

The Karmapa has been traditionally recognized to be the third most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism, after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, Dr. Thurman said.

"I hope his followers won't push him too soon while he is a young lama, and give him a chance to grow," he said of Ugyen Trinley Dorje, estimating that he has more than a million worshipers worldwide, and about 50,000 in the United States.

The visit is a chance to "bring peace and happiness to the minds of sentient beings," said the newly arrived Karmapa. Asked if he had a message for Americans, he answered, "Americans have a message for me."

He added, shrugging off gravitas with a twinkling eye, "I am here, and I'm having this new experience, and I'm open to what Americans have to tell me."

In the first example of all-women protests, three rallies in Kathmandu were quickly stopped by police.

It was the biggest round-up since Tibetan exiles began near daily demonstrations in March.

Protestors wearing black armbands wept and shouted "We want free Tibet" as they were dragged to police vans.

Police said those detained were being held in detention centres around the capital, and would be freed later.

Kathmandu is home to thousands of Tibetan exiles who have mounted almost daily protests against Beijing since deadly riots broke out in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in March.

Rioting erupted after days of protests pivoting around the anniversary of the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.

More than 20,000 Tibetans have been living in Nepal since fleeing their Himalayan homeland after the failed uprising and China's subsequent crack-down.

Nepal says it cannot allow Tibetans to demonstrate because it recognises Tibet as an integral part of China.

But the UN says the mass arrests are against the spirit of a society governed by the rule of law.

But that is exactly what transpired. Someone in the group he was climbing with informed the Nepalese authorities of Mr Holland's flag. When he reached Everest Base Camp he was ordered from the mountain and told to go straight to Kathmandu. From there he was deported from Nepal with an order not to return for two years.

The 26-year-old US climber's treatment at the hands of the Nepalese authorities is just one indication of how the world's highest mountain has in recent days become engulfed by the politics and controversy surrounding China and its relationship with Tibet.

As Chinese climbers seek to reach Everest's summit carrying a replica of the Olympic torch, the Nepalese government has closed down the upper areas of the mountain within its own borders and ordered everyone to stay away from the summit. It has even told the dozens of security personnel dispatched to the mountain they can shoot protesters seeking to disrupt the Chinese ascent.

The behaviour of the Nepalese has been widely criticised, not only by pro-Tibet activists and human rights campaigners but also by mountaineers who say that the 29,029ft peak – straddling the border of China and Nepal – should remain loftily above politics. They insist the actions of the Nepalese government – which is desperate to remain on good terms with China – are a severe overreaction.

"It's ridiculous. The Chinese have basically bought themselves a mountain. It's all about money and politics," said Mr Holland, now home in Virginia.

"I don't know if the Nepalese are filling their coffers because of this. It's not as though the Tibetan flag is banned in Nepal – you see it all over the place." The embroiling of Everest in the controversy surrounding the China-Tibet issue dates from April last year when the Beijing Games organising committee revealed the route the Olympic torch would take. The committee said it would pass through more than 20 countries on six continents and travel more than 85,000 miles, the longest journey of any Olympic torch.

"The Olympic torch relay is one of the most important ceremonies and a major means to spread and promote the Olympic spirit," claimed the committee's president, Liu Qi. "As one of the grand ceremonies for the Beijing Olympic Games, the torch relay of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has set its theme as the Journey of Harmony."

As part of the journey of harmony envisaged by Liu Qi, it was announced that once the Olympic flame was transferred from Greece to Beijing, another torch would be lit and this new flame would then be carried to the top of Everest, known in China as Mount Qomolangma. "One of the highlights of this leg will be the attempt to bring the Olympic flame to the highest peak in the world," said the Chinese.

Just as the main torch has become a lightning rod for pro-Tibetan protests wherever it has appeared, the attempt to bring the second flame to the summit of Everest has also run into problems and controversy. The protests followed the violent crackdown by the Chinese authorities of protests in March in Lhasa and surrounding areas in support of Tibetan autonomy.

So fearful are the Chinese that the second flame will attract similar protests, the authorities have instituted a media clampdown. This included the farcical ending of a BBC correspondent's attempts to film for an online diary at a base camp on the Chinese side of the mountain.

"Clambering breathlessly down from the ridge we were herded towards our next briefing. In a week that has seen a lot of pointless briefings, this one broke new ground," wrote Jonah Fisher. "A crew of firemen explained how in this rocky, barren and almost entirely plantless landscape there was a severe risk of fire. There followed a demonstration of their surprisingly powerful hose."

Last night, the Chinese climbers and their propane-fuelled torch were holed up at 21,300ft at Advanced Base Camp, waiting for better weather before heading for the summit.

On the other side of the mountain, the authorities in Kathmandu have announced a 10-day ban on all climbing beyond Everest's Base 2, located at 21,300ft.

Apparently acting on a request from Beijing, they have banned the unauthorised use of satellite phones, video recorders and radios. Any mountaineer found speaking to journalists could also be expelled from the mountain. Police and troops have been authorised to fire at any protesters who make their way to Everest.

Yesterday, Human Rights Watch said it had written to the Nepalese authorities urging them to rescind the order. "The Nepal authorities should be using whatever means necessary to protect basic human rights, not violate them," said spokeswoman Sophie Richardson. "With the world watching, this is the moment for Nepal's new government to prove that it aspires and adheres to international standards."

The response of Nepal to the pro-Tibet protests that have broken out around the world has been among the most harsh of any government other than China. Hundreds of Tibetan monks and activists were arrested and detained after demonstrations outside the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu.

Its behaviour has been driven by its desire to cement good relations with its powerful neighbour, a policy that is unlikely to alter following the recent elections that saw the country's Maoist party win the largest number of seats. Trapped between China and India, Nepal believes it needs to have good relations with both huge countries. But does Nepal need to go so far in doing China's bidding, especially in regard to Mount Everest? Many believe not.

Those who have ascended the mountain say it retains a unique symbolism and insist it should not become a political battle ground. Sir Chris Bonnington, the climber from Cumbria who has led four expeditions to Everest and who himself stood on the summit in 1985 at the age of 50, said: "It's just a real pity and very, very sad a whole mountain has to be closed down because the Chinese are worried that someone will interfere with their precious flame."

Sir Chris said that the decision to award the Olympics to China came with an undertaking that journalists would be allowed to report freely on preparations for the Games and the country would improve its human rights record. He said that had not happened. "This whole thing is political ... as was the decision to give the games to China," he added. "But, so was the decision to award the games to London."

Stephen Venables, the first Briton to climb Everest without additional oxygen, described what was happening on the mountain, as a "circus". "My view is that the Chinese claim to sovereignty in Tibet is spurious to say the least, that the whole Olympic circus has become an absurd political propaganda charade and that it's monstrous that not only should [the Chinese] stop climbers going to Tibet but that they can tell people what to do on the other side," he said. "It just seems outrageous that they can tell Nepal to stop people climbing the mountain so they can continue with this circus of blatant propaganda."

Yesterday an expedition headed by the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who is climbing Everest to raise funds for the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity, said it was told that the Nepalese ban would only last for two days. At the moment this group is waiting at Base Camp on the Nepalese side for permission to continue their ascent.

What is certainly true, is that the quicker the Chinese complete their ascent with the Olympic flame and take their own photographs (without the backdrop of banner saying "Free Tibet"), the quicker the soldiers and police will be told to lower their weapons and life will get back to what passes for normal on Everest.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Midlothian, Virginia, Mr Holland, the climber who has been sent home, prepares to return to his day job with a tree cutting company. Since being ordered out of Nepal, he has had time to reflect both on what happened to him and what is happening to the country whose flag he was carrying.

"I feel the Tibetan cause is a worthy cause but I would not describe myself as a hardline activist," he said last night. "I definitely think it's a shame what is happening."

E encima queríano chantaxear! Pero Ronie non se avergoña por tan pouco...

• Bandeiras pro-Tíbet "made in China"

Fixéronse chistes e chistes con esto... e resultou ser certo.

• O Subcomandante Marcos ama "con tolemia" a Angelina Jolie.

E parecía tonto... bueno, sí que debe selo, porque nin a coñece.

• A COPE repudia o galego... mentres cobra por fomentar o seu uso.

No, si a culpa non é deles, senón dos espabilados que lle pagan!

• Multan a unha conductora por aparcar a menos de 20 centímetros dos outros coches.

Nesta última noticia, a anécdota está na defensa que fai o pai da rapaza: "Faille falta medio quilómetro. ¿Como ía meter ou coche nun sitio con 20 centímetros de distancia?"

^ An image taken by a British photographer that surfaced in France.

Interesting to say the least, n'est-ce pas?

Hundreds of China supporters waving the Chinese flag greeted the torch, throwing rocks at anti-Beijing demonstrators. Police ran alongside the flame and rode horses and bicycles on the relay across the city, which hosted the 1988 Olympics.

The torch relay has become a lightning rod for anti-China demonstrations. At other stops, protesters have focused their ire on Beijing's recent crackdown on anti-government riots in Tibet. But in South Korea, China's treatment of North Korean defectors has taken center stage.

One of two North Korean defectors Son Jong Hoon, left, pours gasoline as police officers try to detain them during the Beijing Olympic torch run in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, April 27, 2008. Son tried to set himself on fire to halt the Olympic torch relay Sunday in Seoul, where thousands of police guarded the flame from protesters blasting China's treatment of North Korean refugees.
Thousands of North Koreans, fleeing lives of hardship in a country that restricts all civil liberties, have escaped across the loosely controlled Chinese border, rather than attempt the heavily fortified frontier with the South. Many live in hiding in China, where if caught, they are deported back home to face imprisonment in life-threatening conditions.

The man who tried to immolate himself, 45-year-old Son Jong Hoon, had led an unsuccessful public campaign to save his brother from execution in the North, where he was accused of spying after the two met secretly in China. About an hour into the relay, Son poured gasoline on himself and tried to light himself on fire, but police stopped him.

At the start of the relay, a protester rushed toward the Olympic flame and tried to unfurl a banner calling for China to respect the rights of North Korean refugees. Dozens of police surrounding the torch quickly whisked him away. As it approached the city center, another North Korean defector also tried to impede the run and was arrested
There were no further attempts to stop the torch on its 4 1/2-hour trip through Seoul to City Hall, where it was met by some 5,000 supporters.

Some 8,000 police were deployed across the South Korean capital to guard the torch on its 15-mile run from Olympic Park.

The first runner, the South's Korean Olympic Committee head Kim Jung-kil, jogged out of the park surrounded by police on horseback, on bicycles, in buses and on foot.

Thousands of Chinese also paced the torch. They carried a large red Chinese flag, chanting "Go China, go Olympics!"

Scuffles broke out near the park between a group of 500 Chinese supporters and about 50 demonstrators. The Chinese side threw stones and water bottles at the others as some 2,500 police tried to keep the two groups apart.

A rock hit a journalist in the head, but there were apparently no other injuries.

"The Olympics are not a political issue," said Sun Cheng, 22, a Chinese student studying the Korean language in Seoul. "I can't understand why the Korean activist groups are protesting human rights or other diplomatic issues."

Seoul is one of the last stops on the torch's international tour, which ends when the flame arrives in Hong Kong on Wednesday. On Sunday, three human rights activists who planned to protest the relay in Hong Kong were barred from entering the Chinese-ruled territory, local media and the one of the activists said.

The torch heads next to North Korea for its first-ever run in the communist country on Monday. Disruptions were not expected in the North, an authoritarian state that tolerates no dissent.

Nagano, Japan, April 26 - Crowds of Chinese students waving red flags and signs such as "One World, One Dream, One China" scuffled with pro-Tibet protesters in the latest leg of the Olympic torch relay in Japan on Saturday.

Commenting on the turmoil that has bedevilled the global relay, International Olympics Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge urged the West to stop hectoring China over human rights.

"You don't obtain anything in China with a loud voice," Rogge told Saturday's Financial Times. "That is the big mistake of people in the West wanting to add their views".

"To keep face [in Asia] is of paramount importance. All the Chinese specialists will tell you that only one thing works -- respectful, quiet but firm discussion," Rogge added.

The global torch relay ahead of the Beijing Games in August has prompted protests against China's human rights record, including in Tibet, as well as patriotic rallies by Chinese who criticise the West for vilifying Beijing.

As rain fell in Nagano, chants of "Go China" mixed with "Free Tibet" from the rival groups, who at times clashed despite the tight security in the central city, host to the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Four Chinese supporters were injured and three men were arrested, fire officials and police said, including one man who was wrestled to the ground after running into the relay path holding a Tibetan flag and shouting "Free Tibet".

More than 3 000 police were mobilised for the relay, which comes a day after Chinese state media said Beijing would hold talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist leader of Tibet, whom it blames for recent unrest.

Japan was keen to avoid the chaotic scenes that marred some of the relay venues elsewhere ahead of next month's visit by President Hu Jintao, the first to Japan by a Chinese president in a decade.

"I ran hoping for the Beijing Olympics to be successful and peaceful," said Japanese Olympic gold medallist marathon runner Mizuki Noguchi, after lighting the flame on the podium at the end of the relay.

Nagano Mayor Shoichi Washizawa read part of a United Nations declaration on human rights at an opening ceremony in a vacant lot, as crowds of mostly Chinese supporters watched from afar.

One hundred Japanese police officers shielded the torch-bearers in two rows on each side, accompanied by two Chinese "flame attendants" in blue-and-white track suits, while pro-China supporters waved red national flags along the route.

Scuffling broke out between pro-China and pro-Tibet groups, among whom were many Japanese right-wing activists, near Nagano's main train station. Police separated the rival groups. TV footage showed one injured man, with blood on his face.

Tibet has become a flashpoint for the anti-China protests that have disrupted the torch relay around the world and led to calls for state leaders to boycott the Olympic Games.

A small group of Amnesty International members protested in front of Nagano station, wearing blindfolds and chanting "Human Rights for China". They were approached by a crowd of Chinese supporters chanting back "Liars, liars".

The IOC's Rogge urged the West not to be smug.

"It took us 200 years to evolve from the French Revolution. China started in 1949," he said in the Financial Times interview, noting that was when Britain and other European nations were also colonial powers, "with all the abuse attached". He added: "Let's be a little bit more modest."

About 80 torch bearers took part in the 18,7km relay through the city, including the Olympic stadium.
When the relay drew to an end, a crowd of Chinese supporters, singing and chanting "One China" faced off with pro-Tibet protesters chanting "Free Tibet" from different sections of the park where the closing ceremony was held, kept well apart by a wall of police.

"We want to protect the Olympics," said 35-year-old Chinese student Cheng Hon.

"Violence is wrong. We want to have peace in the world."
Pro-Tibet activist Motoki Noike said his civic group had also aimed for peaceful demonstrations.
"We wanted to protest quietly but we weren't able to," said Motoki, who took part in a prayer service at the ancient Zenkoji Temple for all those who died in the recent unrest in Tibet.

Nagano residents were put off by the tight security and rival crowds. "This torch relay is no longer about the Olympics," said retiree Kazuo Tamai. "There are so many riot police and officers around that local residents are very disappointed."

Japan, which is trying to repair uneasy ties with China, has promised tight security for the torch run on Saturday through the central mountain town of Nagano, the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Tomonori Hirose, 32, came to Nagano from the western city of Osaka with a megaphone and a homemade Tibetan flag, saying he was outraged by China's crackdown on fellow Buddhists who demonstrated in Tibet last month.

"I want to shout something out tomorrow at the relay runners, like, 'Shame on you!'" he said.

As torch-bearers rolled into Nagano, hundreds of Falun Gong supporters marched with a loud brass band through the city's streets to condemn China's leadership, which considers the spiritual movement an "evil cult."

"Stop the mass murder by the Chinese Communist Party," read a banner held by marchers in yellow Falun Gong T-shirts, who were closely watched by dozens of police.

Separately, at least two demonstrators unfurled Tibetan flags as the Chinese torch delegation stopped at a highway rest area on its way to Nagano, 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Tokyo.

China wants the Beijing Olympics to symbolise the country's rising clout on the international stage and has been outraged by major protests during the torch relay, particularly chaotic scenes in London and Paris.

A chartered plane emblazoned with the slogan, "Journey of Harmony," flew the torch into Tokyo from Australia early in the morning.

"I am confident that the Beijing Olympics torch relay will be a success," said Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to Japan.

He was handed the torch as Chinese embassy officials chanted in chorus, "Success to the Olympics, Fight, Beijing!"

An association of Chinese students studying in Japan said on its website it was organising buses for up to 2,000 people to head to Nagano to support the Olympics and "promote friendship between China and Japan."

The relay comes to Nagano at a time when Japan is trying to repair ties with China, which have remained uneasy due to the legacy of Japanese aggression in the 1930s and 1940s.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is due to travel to Tokyo in early May in only the second visit ever to Japan by a Chinese head of state, the culmination of two years of fence-mending efforts.

"We hope that the relay will be carried out in a peaceful manner and an atmosphere in which everybody can celebrate," Japan's chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference.

Japan was abruptly forced to change the torch relay's course after a revered seventh-century Buddhist temple last week backed out of plans to be the starting point due to concerns over Tibet.

The Zenkoji temple instead plans to hold a Buddhist prayer ceremony to mourn people killed in Tibet as the relay sets off from a parking lot.

Japan plans to shut out the public from all stopping points during the 18.7-kilometre (11.5-mile) relay and is reportedly deploying some 3,000 police.

"Police will do their best to ensure safety," said Shinya Izumi, Japan's top security official.

But he said Japan will not accept the involvement of China's specially trained crack unit of torch guards, whose brusque treatment of demonstrators have caused tension in previous relay legs.

Sachiko Maruyama, 64, who runs a fruit shop along the relay route, said that police stopped by a day earlier telling her to remove anything that could be used as a projectile.

"Initially, I was looking forward and I wanted to welcome the torch. But now, I'm not sure what will happen," she said with a worried look.

"What is the Chinese government hiding behind Tibet’s closed doors?" the press freedom organisation asked. "Things are clearly far from being back to normal, as the authorities claim. The few reports emerging suggest a very different situation, one of arrests and a climate of fear in the cities and around the monasteries."

Reporters Without Borders added: "The news blackout facilitates the work of the government’s propaganda machine but also the spread of rumours encouraged by certain groups abroad. We appeal to the European Union and the United Nations to try to get the government to allow foreign reporters to travel freely in Tibet and the neighbouring regions."

The organisers of the Beijing Olympic Games yesterday announced that a press trip to cover an attempt to take the Olympic torch to the top of Everest was being postponed indefinitely. Reporters were supposed to have gone to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa first to get adjusted to the altitude, but the Lhasa stage of the trip has been cancelled altogether because of "meteorological" problems, the authorities said. "Only coverage of the torch relay will be allowed," an official said.

No journalist has been allowed to move about freely in Tibet and the regions with a Tibetan population since 14 March. Two press trips were organised by the authorities to Lhasa and to Labrang monastery in Gansu province. Tourists have been banned from visiting the Himalayan region until further notice.

Reporters Without Borders has learned of about 50 violations of the right of foreign journalists to move about freely in the Tibetan regions since mid-March.

The authorities have waged a massive propaganda campaign designed to portray Tibetans as "rioters" and "terrorists." The official news agency Xinhua’s dispatches talk above all of a return to normal and the discovery of weapons in Buddhist temples. Xinhua announced that the authorities have found firearms, dynamite and satellite dishes in 11 monasteries in Gansu.

National and provincial TV stations have been asked to keep broadcasting footage of violence by Tibetans in Lhasa or in the city of Aba in Sichuan province, where Tibetans attacked public buildings.

To prevent the Tibetan population from getting access to uncensored news reports, the authorities have stepped up the jamming of international radio stations that broadcast in Tibetan such as Voice of Tibet and Radio Free Asia. Violating international rules governing short and medium wave broadcasting, the Chinese authorities transmit low-pitched noise on the same frequencies as the foreign stations.

Voice of Tibet manager Oystein Alme told Reporters Without Borders: "We have noted a significant increasing in jamming since 16 March, especially in the cities where the government has invested tens of millions of dollars to install antennae to prevent Tibetans from listening to us."

The propaganda campaign against the "Dalai Lama’s clique" gets a lot of space in the Chinese media based abroad. The state-owned CCTV’s stations that broadcast in foreign languages just show the violence by Tibetans and never refer to the reprisals that followed. Ouzhou Shibao (News of Europe), a newspaper based in France, published a full page on Tibet giving the government’s position.

Chinese Internet users and hackers are also harassing pro-Tibetan organisations. The Tibetan government-in-exile’s site was recently put out of commission by a group of hackers based in China. And several foreign news media, especially websites that allow visitors to post comments, are being flooded with messages that repeat government propaganda word for word.

The Chinese authorities have ordered the media to stick to the official toll of 13 innocent civilians killed and 300 wounded by "rioters." The Tibetan government-in-exile reported that about 100 Tibetans were killed and hundreds were arrested. Some pro-Tibetan groups say thousands are being held in camps where torture is practised.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the Chinese government’s constant criticism of the foreign media’s coverage of the situation in Tibet. "Some media deliberately misrepresent the facts and wrongly portray a hateful crime as a peaceful demonstration," Tibetan communist leader Raidi said.

Organizers of Australia's portion of the relay worried that chaotic demonstrations that marred the event elsewhere could be repeated.

Protests of China's human rights record and its crackdown on anti-government activists in Tibet have turned the relay into a contentious issue for the Olympic movement. Many countries have changed routes and boosted security along the flame's six-continent journey to the Aug. 8-24 games in Beijing.

People carrying Chinese flags appeared to strongly outnumber those carrying Tibetan flags or placards supporting independence for the territory or criticizing Beijing's human rights record.

Television footage showed dozens of China supporters facing off against a group carrying blue-colored flags representing the China's Muslim minority Uighurs. Minor scuffling broke out as officials sought to separate the two groups into different areas of the park. Police said two people were arrested.

The crowd of mostly Chinese students, carrying flags and wearing pro-China T-shirts, boarded buses outside the Telstra Dome for the 10-hour drive to Canberra to witness tomorrow's torch relay through the capital.

Despite suggestions the Chinese Embassy in Melbourne had organised the convoy, there was little sense of impending trouble between the crowd and any pro-Tibet demonstrators who might try a repeat of the ugly torch relay scenes in London and Paris.

"We are going there to celebrate the torch,"  post-graduate student Bin Hua told The Age.

Former deputy lord mayor Wellington Lee, a fourth generation Chinese, was among a sprinkling of older Chinese who joined the convoy.

He said he joined the group to show solidarity.

"The Press hasn't been kind to China. More than that, it has been pretty anti-China," he said.

Organisers insisted there was no Chinese Embassy involvement in the protest, but Deakin University academic Damien Kingsbury told The Age it was most likely.

"It's almost impossible that the Chinese Embassy is not involved in some way," he said.

The message was initially Pro-Tibet demonstrations in Tibet (marking the 10/March Tibetan Uprising which happened 49 years ago along with the Dalai Lama's entry into exile) which met with violent and lethal rebuttal from the Chinese government - 150 people died, many more were imprisoned or disappeared. Demonstrations spread around the world were of concern for the Tibetan people and culture under Chinese rule, with specific concerns surrounding human rights, practising their religion, maintaining Tibetan culture and the ability to express their opinion.

This message seems to have been polluted with messages about "let's boycott the Olympics" and general anti-Chinese sentiments. I disagree with these messages and I don't think that they're in any way representative of any pro-Tibet organisation. Pro-Tibet doesn't mean anti-China, that's not the way we roll. Let's just stick to the main points: human rights in Tibet, practising their religion, maintaining Tibetan culture and the ability to express their opinion.

More recently Pro-Chinese demonstrations have been happening all over the world, trying to illustrate how Western media has misconstrued what's happening in Tibet. In many ways I'm all for those pro-Chinese demonstrations. I support people taking to the street to support and promote their cause - good for them.

The irony is that the pro-Chinese demonstrations happening around the world are able to express their opinion around the world and they aren't being persecuted for it. Whereas in their homeland, just the opposite is happening - people trying to express their opinion are being gunned-down, witch-hunted, rounded-up and locked-up.

Questioning
So I'm pro-Tibet, I'm also pro-China and I don't see any contradiction there. I'm not bagging the people of China in any way, shape or form - I just disagree with the Chinese government on their Tibet policy and I'm expressing that disagreement. I'm questioning the Chinese government's policies, just as the Chinese communities around the world are questioning Western media. The Chinese government's policies seem to be achieved through censorship, propaganda, force and violence.

There has been enough tears and blood shed. Through questioning, through open dialogue there could be resolution to these problems. Through discussions the Chinese government could change their policies, equality and freedom in China could abound, it could be beautiful baby.

A group of Tibetans who were on a hunger strike continued their 70 km (43 miles) march to Canberra to rally against the torch as it landed at an air force base in the capital under security usually afforded visiting world leaders.

Thousands of pro-Tibet supporters have promised to hold a peaceful rally during Thursday's torch relay in Canberra, but thousands of Chinese students were also expected to rally to support China.

Media reports said the Chinese embassy had hired 20 buses to bring supporters from Sydney and the southern city of Melbourne, an eight-hour drive from Canberra, to counter protesters.

"We're in a democratic country. If people want to protest, that's a matter for them, as long as they do it peacefully," International Olympic spokesman Kevin Gosper told Reuters after watching the Olympic torch arrive.

Hundreds of extra police have been called in to protect the torch, which will be carried through closed-off and barricaded streets on Thursday, with authorities determined to avoid the chaos that disrupted the relay in Europe and the United States.

China had hoped the torch's journey would be a symbol of unity in the run-up to the Beijing Games, but the torch has drawn anti-China protests over human rights and Beijing's crackdown in Tibet, as well as pro-China demonstrations.

Aborigine Bunja Smith, who presented Chinese torch officials in Canberra with a traditional wooden message stick inscribed with the word "Peace", said Australia's Aborigines had a long history of repression and understood the need for protest.

"I believe in human rights ... (but) you can't give someone human rights by taking away someone else's human rights," Smith told Reuters.

"We are a people who have been repressed, but we ask the protesters to keep it a protest and not violent," he said.

"It's the Chinese people's right to have the Olympics. That's how we are looking at it -- in the spirit of sport."

Relay organiser Ted Quinlan said he did not expect clashes, while a spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday she was confident the Canberra torch relay would be a success.

"I'm convinced that these elements of meddling and sabotage don't represent the Australian people. Their acts of sabotage will not succeed," said spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

Tibet supporters tried to disrupt the torch lighting ceremony in Greece in March, and disrupted the relay in London, Paris and San Francisco, prompting officials to boost security and shorten the torch relay in India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

On Tuesday, China cancelled media access to the departure of a second torch from Everest North Base Camp before an attempt to take it to the top of the world's highest mountain. Officials denied the cancellation was linked to unrest in Tibetan areas.

Australian organisers have dropped plans to run the torch past the Chinese embassy, near Australia's national parliament, fearing the embassy could become a flashpoint for protests.

Demonstrators plan a ceremony at a famed Buddhist temple, which backed out of plans to be the starting point for Saturday's relay, to mourn victims of China's recent crackdown in Tibet.

"Protesting doesn't pose any particular problem," Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters.

But he warned that police would intervene if violence broke out at the relay in Nagano, a central mountain town that hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics.

The latest relay legs have been run amid high security following chaotic protest scenes in Western cities, particularly London and Paris.

On the torch's Asia journey, Indonesian police on Tuesday broke up a peaceful rally by pro-Tibet demonstrators in Jakarta. A day earlier, police in Kuala Lumpur said they detained a Japanese family waving Tibetan flags at the relay who had been hit by Chinese nationals with plastic batons.

High-profile protester Robert Menard, head of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, is planning to come to Japan to hold a rally.

Menard and two others disrupted the flame-lighting ceremony in Greece by unfurling a banner with Olympic rings replaced by handcuffs, setting the stage for demonstrations throughout the torch relay.

Justice Minister Yukio Hatoyama denied reports that Japan was considering barring Menard from entering the country.

"If he had received a criminal sentence, it would be a different story, but as of now there are no grounds to discuss denying him entry," Hatoyama told reporters.

Japan has been trying to repair ties with China, which are uneasy due in part to memories of Japanese aggression. Chinese President Hu Jintao is due to pay a rare visit to Tokyo from May 6.

The Japan Buddhist Federation, the nation's largest Buddhist body, gave a letter to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Tuesday calling for a swift resolution to problems in Tibet, which last month saw the biggest protests in nearly two decades against China's controversial rule.

"We, Japanese Buddhist monks, feel deep sorrow over the serious situation in which clashes in (Tibet capital) Lhasa and its vicinity have caused many casualties," Daijo Toyohara, head of the association, said in the letter.

"I would like you to make efforts to reach a humanitarian resolution as soon as possible through peaceful dialogue without the use of force," he said.

Buddhist monks said Monday that they would hold a ceremony of mourning for Tibetans on Saturday at the seventh-century Zenkoji temple, which backed out of being the starting point for the relay.

"We hope for the peaceful realisation of the Beijing Olympics and that the principle of freedom will spread in the world," said Keishi Wakaomi, a monk involved in the protest.

By Tenzin Choephel
Phayul Correspondent

Kathmandu, April 21: Over 200 Tibetan volunteers staged a peaceful demonstration at the UN House in Pulchowk, Kathmandu this afternoon to request UN’s intervention in alleviating the alleged mal-treatment of Tibetans by Chinese Communist authorities inside Tibet. Tibetans were able to protest for about 30 minutes before they were arrested.

About 139 people were arrested and are now detained at Metropolitan Police Range Lalitpur, Jwalakhel. During the arrest, two women protesters sustained injuries.

The protest started at around 2:20 PM when over 200 Tibetans arrived near the UN House intersection. The protesters tried to push towards the UN House’s main gate but Police stopped and cornered them at the intersection, and started arresting them. As usual, protesters resisting arrest were lathi-charged, kicked and punched.

Many, including women, were dragged and shoved into Police vehicles. Among the protesters was a 13-year old Tibetan boy also.

At the time of filing this story, those arrested Tibetans were still held under detention.

Human Rights Watch on Sunday urged the Government of Nepal to stop illegal detention of Tibetans and to respect their right to peaceful expression and assembly. The rights group noted that the police arrested over 2500 Tibetan protestors in the past five weeks.

“The government cannot be selective about who in Nepal is entitled to such basic rights - Tibetans there are entitled to peaceful expression and assembly too,” Sophie Richardson, HRW’s Asia advocacy director, said in a statement.

Tibetan protestors have been regularly demonstrating in Kathmandu since March 10, the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising day.

At a site in the sacred Swayambhu hill, groups of Tibetans have been carrying out a 24-hour relay hunger strike. The chain hunger strike has entered its ninth consecutive day and over 550 people have participated in the sit-in protest so far.

The Kantipur Daily Nepali language newspaper today said that the Chinese Government has agreed to give Nepali Government a loan of 20 million US dollars at 1.75 % interest rate for the 60-megawatt Upper Trishuli hydro power station. Nepali Government has reiterated that it could not tolerate any anti-China activities on its soil.

China’s lavishing economic aid to Nepal and Nepal’s kowtowing to China has created a hard situation for Tibetan refugees in Nepal.

"I've been told by the police intelligence that up to 17 groups plan to disrupt the torch relay tomorrow... They are from Falungong, free-Tibet groups and Greenpeace," Sumohadi Marsis, head of the Olympic torch organizing committee in Jakarta, said on Monday.

Sumohadi said only 5,000 people with official invitations would be allowed into the Gelora Bung Karno stadium to see the relay which will be secured by 2,500 forces, starting at 2:00 pm local time.

"The torch-bearers will go around the main stadium... about seven kilometers," Ritha Subowo, head of Indonesia's sports committee told reporters.

The torch is due to arrive in Jakarta at 12:15 am Tuesday from Kuala Lumpur and will be carried directly to the Shangri La Hotel in central Jakarta.

More than 1,000 police and other security forces were deployed on the route from the city centre to the iconic Petronas Twin Towers.

It was a party atmosphere as brass bands entertained the crowds gathered on Independence Square, which had been turned into a sea of red Chinese flags.

"It is a festive atmosphere here... and shows the good relationship we have with Beijing," Olympic Committee of Malaysia president Imran Jaafar said.

The torch, symbol of the Beijing Games, is on the Asian stretch of a world tour that was severely disrupted in Europe and the United States by protesters complaining about China's rule in Tibet and its human rights record.

Police in Kuala Lumpur were taking no chances, and swiftly intervened when pro-China supporters confronted a Japanese family waving a Tibetan flag.

An AFP reporter who saw the incident said a group of Chinese nationals set upon the family and their child, hitting them with inflated plastic batons and shouting: "Taiwan and Tibet belong to China."

Police escorted the family to a station to check on their travel documents, senior police official W. Karthik told AFP.

More than 500 people gathered at Independence Square with numerous Chinese students wearing red and white T-shirts emblazoned with "One dream, one world, one China." They cheered wildly when the relay began.

China's communist rulers were banking on the Olympic Games to showcase the nation's much-touted "peaceful rise" to power, but the torch relay that began in Greece last month has become a high-profile target for activists.

It follows a crackdown on violent protests in March against Chinese rule in Tibet, with exiled leaders saying 150 people were killed.

China says Tibetan "rioters" killed 20 people.

Protests in London, Paris and San Francisco led Jacques Rogge, head of the International Olympic Committee, to say the Games were in "crisis," but since then Beijing has bluntly told him to stay out of "irrelevant" politics.

Hundreds of protesters were arrested in India and Nepal last week when the torch was carried through New Delhi, while a landmark Buddhist temple scrapped plans to host the launch of Japan's leg in the mountain town of Nagano -- it will now take place in a parking lot due to fears of further protests.

After Kuala Lumpur, the torch relay travels to Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam before heading to China.

Authorities in Nepal have deployed security forces on their side of Mount Everest to prevent pro-Tibet protests when the torch is carried to the summit early next month.

Australia has beefed up security for Thursday's relay in Canberra, which is expected to attract pro-Tibet groups and supporters of the Beijing Games.

Officials say nearly half the capital's police force will be on duty.

Meanwhile in Shanghai, the visiting French Senate leader passed on a letter from President Nicolas Sarkozy to a wheelchair-bound Chinese athlete who was forced to protect the torch from pro-Tibet protesters during the chaotic April 7 Paris leg of the relay.

The protests have triggered a backlash in China. At the weekend, thousands of people demonstrated outside branches of the French retail giant Carrefour in several cities, angry at allegations -- which the chain has denied -- that it supports the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

Tensions could be inflamed though by plans by city councillors in Paris to confer honorary citizenship on the Dalai Lama.

The flame arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport early Sunday on a plane from Bangkok, where the relay had been greeted by a few small protests. Some 300 Chinese students studying in Malaysia greeted the flame at the airport, as did representatives from the Malaysian National Sports Council and the police. Separately, a Buddhist group held special prayers at a temple in Kuala Lumpur, calling for a trouble-free torch run and for peaceful Olympics Games in August.

The Malaysian part of the relay is expected to begin Monday at Independence Square in central Kuala Lumpur.

The global torch relay, the longest in Olympic history, has become a magnet for protests by critics of China's human rights record and its handling of recent protests in Tibet.

In Malaysia, some 1,000 police and security officers will be deployed on Monday, even though the police have not received reports of any planned protests, said a police spokesman who declined to reveal his identity, citing protocol. Roads along the 16-kilometer, or 10-mile, course will be closed to traffic.

In Nepal, soldiers and police officers guarding the slopes of Mount Everest have been given authorization to use "whatever means" required in the event of protests during the Olympic torch's run to the summit of the mountain in early May.

The police and soldiers "have been given orders to stop any protest on the mountain using whatever means necessary, including use of weapons," said Modraj Dotel, a spokesman for the Nepalese Home Ministry. He added that such force was to be used as a last resort, and that officers would first try to persuade protesters to leave and would arrest those who refused to do so.

Twenty-five soldiers and police officers have already established camps on the mountain, Dotel said, adding that more troops would be sent if required.

In Australia, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith appealed on television Sunday for restraint from those who planned to come to see the flame's run in Canberra on Thursday.

"I urge people if they do turn up," Smith said, "that whatever point of view they want to put, they put that point of view peacefully and do it in a way in which Australians would regard as appropriate," Smith said.

"I'm very concerned that unless people turn up with that attitude we'll have the Olympic torch equivalent of football hooliganism."

The police in Canberra have erected steel fences along the relay route to keep demonstrators at bay. Separately, Australian war veterans have pleaded that the country respect a "peace precinct" on Thursday, which is one day before memorial day in Australia that honors veterans of World War I.

In Japan, Zenkoji Temple, a major Buddhist temple in Nagano, was sprayed with graffiti just days after the city withdrew a plan to host the torch relay there, the police said. The graffiti - consisting of white circular patterns and lines - was found Sunday morning in six spots of the main hall at the temple, the Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.

Zenkoji Temple was originally intended to be the starting point for the Japan leg of the Olympic torch relay next Saturday. But officials at the temple withdrew from the plan on Friday, citing security concerns and sympathy for Tibetan protesters.

The Zenkoji Temple in Nagano, the host city of the 1998 Winter Olympics, on Friday withdrew from plans to be the start point for the Japanese leg of the relay on April 26 because of China's crackdown in Tibet.

The global tour of the torch for August's Beijing Olympics has been dogged by protests since it was lit in Greece last month.

Six white spray paint graffiti patterns were found on pillars and sliding doors at the main sanctuary of the 1,400-year-old temple early Sunday, a spokesman for the Nagano prefectural police said.

"We have yet to ascertain if the act was related to the torch relay. It could possibly be a malicious practical joke," he told AFP by telephone. "We are investigating the case."

The wooden sanctuary, designated as a national treasure by the government, is the main feature of the temple.

"We really deplore what has happened. We are angry at the damage done to the cultural asset," Shinsho Wakaomi, the temple's director of general affairs, told the public broadcaster NHK.

"We will step up our guard in the run-up to the torch relay."

The temple rang bells for the opening ceremonies for the 1998 Winter Games.

The graffiti patterns, as large as 60 centimetres (24 inches) by 80 centimetres (31 inches), did not contain written messages, the police spokesman added.

Zenkoji, which was built in the seventh century and draws six million visitors every year, said it had received about 100 phone calls, mostly supportive, about the cancelled ceremony.

The global relay has turned into a public relations headache for Beijing as a crackdown on unrest in Tibet has provoked concern about China's human rights record and triggered protests at many of the torch's worldwide stops, most notably in London and Paris.

Rong Gonchen Monastery is an important Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Rebkong County, Malho (Ch: Huangnan) "Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture", Qinghai Province.

In light of the peaceful protest on 17 April by a group of 22 monks from Rong Gonchen in Rebkong County market, and arrests of over one hundred protesters in the afternoon, the situation has been tense and volatile following the crackdown by the Chinese security forces.

According to fresh development of situation in Rong Gonchen Monastery in Rebkong, the Chinese authorities are not allowing anyone to meet the arrested Tibetans in detention centres. Multiple sources confirm that 80-year-old Alak Khasutsang, a former chief of Rong Gonchen Monastery, who tried to diffuse the tension between the Tibetan demonstrators and the Chinese security forces on 17 April has reportedly sustained severe head injury during the police crackdown and was said to be in a critical condition. He was also known to be suffering from a high blood pressure. One source reported that he was taken to a hospital in Xining City for treatment. However, there was no exact information about his current whereabouts.

Another monk, Geshe Tenzin Choephel, 50 years old resident of Xining City and teacher of Qinghai University for Nationalities, who was in Rong Gonchen Monastery at the time of raid in the monastery on 17 April was known to have been arrested for unknown reason. There is no information on his whereabouts at the moment.

Moreover, on 17 April, around 6 PM (Beijing Standard Time), scores of Chinese armed security forces raided monks' houses in Rong Gonchen Monastery. During the raid, the Chinese armed security forces forcibly flushed out the monks from their houses to the monastery's courtyard and were made to kneel down with hands behind their head. The Chinese security forces threatened the monks at gunpoint. In the raids, the Chinese security forces seized all photos of the Dalai Lama found in the monks' rooms.

The sources also told TCHRD that a dozen of the Chinese security forces in full combat gear were armed with guns. The Rong Gonchen Monastery has been under a severe restriction, and the monks were isolated from each other without any form of interaction amongst them. Since yesterday, armed Chinese security forces have been keeping a close vigil in the monks' rooms.

Sources say that at present, a severe restriction on the movement of monks is still continuing in Rong Gonchen Monastery. There is no information about exact number of monks arrested by the Chinese security forces.

The Chinese authorities have issued terse warning to the monks about leaking the information to the outside world following the severe crackdown by the Chinese authorities. TCHRD expresses serious concern over the condition of the arrested monks and calls upon the authorities to immediately lift the restriction imposed in Rong Monastery.