Chinese drown out protesters in S Korea Olympic torch leg

SEOUL—Thousands of Chinese shouting support for the Beijing Games turned a central Seoul plaza into a sea of red flags as the Olympic torch ended its South Korean relay without disruption Sunday amid a huge police presence.
Anti-China activists failed in their efforts to block the torch but were involved in sporadic stone-throwing clashes with Beijing’s supporters, who vastly outnumbered them.
Police deployed 8,300 regular and anti-riot officers backed up by two helicopters. No disruptions were reported along the 24-kilometre (15-mile) route, the latest leg in a troubled worldwide journey. “Go, go, China!” Chinese residents yelled, roaring their approval as the torch arrived outside City Hall. “One China!” they shouted in reference to pro-Tibet protests elsewhere.
Some 300 protesters at the start in Olympic Park were mainly angry at China’s forced repatriation of North Korean refugees. They were dwarfed by more than 6,000 pro-China demonstrators, according to police estimates.
A brief clash at the park between the two groups ended when riot police carrying shields separated them. Some Chinese threw water bottles, stones, chunks of wood and drink cans at their adversaries. Nearby, witnesses said Chinese students surrounded and beat up a small group of protesters. They said a local newspaper photographer suffered a head injury from a stone thrown by the students.
A middle-aged man claiming to have fled North Korea tried to set himself on fire in protest at the event, according to a witness quoted by Yonhap news agency.
The man poured what appeared to be flammable liquid over himself near the torch bearer but was immediately stopped by police, it said. Police tightly guarded local subway stations and the relay route, including Han river bridges which demonstrators had vowed to block.
They said they arrested four people — a Chinese student for hurling a stone at protesters and three demonstrators for trying to disrupt the relay. Two policemen were injured. China sends back all those North Koreans it catches as economic migrants, a policy strongly criticised by rights groups. Refugees face severe punishment, or even reportedly a death sentence in some cases, on their return.
Activists say China has been stepping up repatriations before the Olympics and has increased rewards for tip-offs. Former North Korean refugees who have settled in Seoul were among the protesters. “China, stop killing North Korean refugees,” read one banner. Some activists in a skit depicted the return of a hooded and bound North Korean.
US-based Human Rights Watch has said Seoul should use the occasion to urge Beijing to change its policy on North Korean refugees. Reverend Soh Kyung-Suk, co-chairman of Christians for Social Responsibility, criticised the response of the Chinese students to the protests as “not democratic.”
“China, which does not respect human rights, is not entitled to host the Olympics,” he told AFP. “It is a shame for South Korea to tolerate the Olympic torch relay for such a country.” But the students were not inclined to let anyone spoil modern China’s coming-out party this August. “The Olympics should be successful and will be successful,” said a 26-year-old e-commerce student who identified himself only as Wang. He carried a huge Chinese flag and another was painted on his face. “One China and One Nation. The pro-Tibetan demonstrators are liars,” Wang said. “Tibet was, is, will always be a part of China,” read one banner.
The torch was to be flown late Sunday to communist North Korea, a strong ally of Beijing, which has arranged a major protest-free welcome.—Agencies