Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Hu's participation in the elaborate ceremony in Tiananmen Square in the heart of the capital underlined the importance China places on the Olympics and its hope to display a confident, strong nation to the world when the games open on Aug. 8.
The ceremony 130 days before the start of the Olympics was broadcast on state television, and came a week after the lighting ceremony for the Olympic torch in Greece was marred by protests.
"I declare the torch relay of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has begun," Hu said after handing the flame to China's Olympic gold-medal hurdler Liu Xiang (
Liu jogged off the square as blue, gold and silver confetti flew, Chinese and Olympic flags waved and traditional drums pounded.
After a one-day stop in Beijing, the flame today goes to Almaty, Kazakhstan, the start of a monthlong, 21-city global journey. It will return to China on May 4 and continue through more than 100 cites before returning on Aug. 6 to Beijing, wrapping up a 137,000km journey.
The grandiose relay is the longest in Olympic history and has the most torchbearers -- a sign of the vast attention lavished on the games by Beijing, which hopes to showcase China's rising economic and political power.
So far, it has provided a stage for activists who have been criticizing China over a range of issues including its handling of Muslims in the far west of the country, its control over Tibet and its relationship with Sudan.
Stops in Almaty, Istanbul, Turkey, and St. Petersburg, Russia, are not expected to produce trouble, though the first two stops are home to large Muslim populations who may identify with China's Muslim Uighur minority.
Trouble is expected at the next three stops -- London, Paris and San Francisco -- with Tibetan and rights groups promising protests.
The relay has focused attention on recent unrest in Tibet, the worst in the Chinese-controlled region since 1989.
Carried in a small lantern, the flame arrived from Greece early yesterday aboard a chartered Air China plane, greeted at Beijing airport by hundreds of flag-waving schoolchildren.
Amid tight security, police and paramilitary officers were stationed on overpasses, bridges and entry ramps along the flame's route into the city. Two subway stations at Tiananmen Square were closed and dozens of police guarded other subway stops.
Police also closed the square to vehicles, and pedestrians and bicyclists were kept almost 1km away.
State television's live broadcast of the ceremony was delayed by about one minute, apparently to ensure the feed could be cut in the event of any disruptions.
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