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CANBERRA - The Beijing Olympic flame ran through Canberra to noisy but largely peaceful protests by thousands of Chinese supporters and pro-Tibet demonstrators on Thursday.
More than 10,000 Chinese Australians rallied in Canberra, bringing a sea of red Chinese flags in the biggest pro-Beijing rally of the protest-marred relay.
Several people were arrested on the sidelines while centre-stage Australian police and the Chinese escorts, clad in blue-and-white tracksuits, physically played out a long-running dispute over who was in charge of security.
On several occasions, police pulled one of the escorts back from alongside the runner carrying the torch, until they appeared to reach a compromise as the relay continued its 16-kilometre route, television footage showed.
On Wednesday, Chinese and Australian officials openly disagreed at a press conference about the role of the Chinese attendants.
The torch, symbol of the Beijing Games, is on the Asian stretch of a world tour that began with protests in Greece when the flame was lit on March 24.
The flame became a focus of demonstrations over China's role in Tibet and its human rights record as it passed through Europe and the United States.
Australian police said seven people had been taken into custody during the noisy protests -- five Chinese supporters and two pro-Tibet demonstrators -- but did not provide details on why they were detained.
"It's definitely been largely peaceful, we're very happy with the way it's gone," an Australian Federal Police spokesman told AFP.
Some of those arrested were pounced on by police as they tried to block the
progress of the torch, witnesses said.
Police kept Chinese groups largely away from the much smaller pro-Tibet group but tempers flared at several stages along the route, including outside Parliament House where the critics screamed "Don't torch Tibet" and "Shame, China shame."
China supporters, many of whom had come by overnight bus to the national capital, countered with "Lies, Lies."
Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Tancred likened the tensions between Tibetan and Chinese protesters to the atmosphere at a football match.
"It's all been pretty good, we knew that there'd be protests but... (it's been) peaceful in most places," he said.
"I think there's well over 10,000 members of the Chinese community who have descended on Canberra from both Melbourne and Sydney," Tancred added.
"It's terrific to see they're in good spirits and that's what the Olympic torch is all about."
Police said initial estimates were that the relay crowd swelled from 3,000 to more than 20,000 as the torch made its way around the city.
Canberra Olympic relay committee chairman Ted Quinlan said the presence of a large number of pro-China visitors appeared to be a well organised move.
"We didn't expect this reaction from the Chinese community, which is obviously a well coordinated plan to take the day by weight of numbers," he said.
Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister Jon Stanhope had welcomed the flame to Canberra earlier, saying protesters had a right to speak.
"We do not muzzle dissent just because it might embarrass us or embarrass our friends. We hope our friendship can bear a little plain speaking," he said.
The relay ended shortly after 11:30am, some three hours after it began, with former Olympic champion swimmer Ian Thorpe lighting a cauldron with his torch.
The flame's next stop is Nagano, Japan, where organisers have altered the route and mounted extra security to prevent the kind of disruption that marred earlier relay legs in London and Paris.
Protesters have flayed China's crackdown on unrest in Tibet, which exiled Tibetan leaders say claimed more than 150 lives. Beijing rejects such figures, saying Tibetan "rioters" killed 20 people. - AFP/ir
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