World Mar. 31, 2008 - 01:08PM JST ( 3 )

BEIJING —

Chinese President Hu Jintao announced the start of the Olympic torch relay on Monday, as the flame for the Summer Games arrived in Beijing amid tight security, underscoring authorities’ concerns that human rights protests may mar the event.

The flame will be carried to Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday for the longest Olympic torch relay ever, covering 137,000 kilometers on five continents, before reaching the Olympics main stadium in Beijing for the start of the games on Aug 8.
   
‘‘I announce the launch of the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch relay,’’ Hu said at a nationally televised ceremony held at Tiananmen Square, holding a torch with the Olympic flame in his hand.
   
Security was tight in Beijing, with police stopping traffic near the square during the ceremony. Subway stops were also closed, and pedestrians were not allowed to pass through nearby streets.
 
The torch arrived earlier in the day in the Chinese capital on a chartered flight from Athens, after a lighting ceremony in Ancient Olympia last week.
   
A total of about 300 people, including students, waved Chinese and Olympic flags as Liu Qi, the president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, stepped out of the plane with a lantern carrying the flame.
   
Chinese government officials headed by Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Communist Party’s powerful Politburo Standing Committee, were also at the airport for the flame’s arrival.
   
The Olympic flame was later carried into Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, where a ceremony marking the flame’s arrival was held with Hu and Vice President Xi Jinping in attendance.
   
Traditional Chinese song and dance by performers in colorful costumes preceded speeches by officials in front of an audience, which sat facing a large portrait of Mao Zedong overlooking the square.
   
The Chinese mainland portion of the torch relay will begin May 4, when the Olympic flame reaches the southern Chinese island of Hainan. The torch is also scheduled to be taken to the top of Mt. Everest in May.
   
The torch relay comes at a time when the Chinese government is under international pressure to peacefully resolve the situation in Tibet, after rioting broke out in the region earlier in March, resulting in numerous deaths.
   
The torch relay, which will also travel through London and Paris, is viewed as a potential magnet for protests over issues ranging from the crisis in Tibet to China’s close ties with Sudan.
   
An activist with a press freedom group tried to disrupt the flame-lighting ceremony in Greece on March 24, running out onto the field as Liu was giving a speech.
   
After the lighting ceremony, the torch was taken on a relay covering about 1,500 km in Greece before reaching Beijing.

Wire reports