BEIJING: China will today announce the route for the 2008 Olympic torch relay but already it has had a taste of opposition it may face along the way.
Four US activists were arrested at Mount Everest after calling for Tibetan independence and protesting against the Beijing Olympics.
China has long laid claim to Tibet and sent in troops to occupy the region in 1950.
Chinese officials have said they want to take the Olympic torch to the top of Everest – the world’s tallest mountain on the border between Tibet and Nepal.
Their hope of taking the torch to self-ruled Taiwan, which China still sees as its territory, is also politically sensitive, the BBC reported.
The Tibet protest took place as Chinese climbers prepared to see if it was possible to take the torch to the top of the 8,448m (29,028ft) mountain.
Three Americans and one Tibetan-American held up a banner saying: “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008.”
“One World, One Dream” is the 2008 Beijing Olympics slogan.
