The re-lighting ceremony of the Olympic torch in Beijing went off without any disruptions Monday. The event was a marked contrast to the lighting of the torch in Greece a week ago, which was interrupted by protesters.
Chinese President Hu Jintao kicked off the ceremony in Tiananmen Square and passed on the torch, which will now be part of a world-wide relay.
"I declare the torch relay of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games begun," Hu said.
About 5,000 people attended the ceremony, which was also broadcast on state television. The ceremony mixed the modern with the past, and included dancers from China's minority communities, martial artists, and military-style music.
Hu then handed the flame to Liu Xiang, a world champion Chinese hurdler. The torch will now head to Almaty, Kazakhstan, the next stop in a 20-country, month-long journey.
Protesters have said they will follow the torch from city to city to protest China's human rights practices.
The Olympics -- which China is hoping will showcase the country's modernization efforts and economic strength to the world -- have become the focal point for critics who are concerned about its policies towards ethnic, reformist, and religious groups.
This month's crackdown on Tibetan protesters, which turned violent and deadly in mid-March, have created worldwide demonstrations, and have even led to talk of boycotts by world leaders.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will not attend the Games, and several of her cabinet ministers have said they will not attend the opening ceremonies. France has also indicated that it will skip the launch of the Games.
CTV's Steve Chao told Canada AM on Monday that China has not received the criticism well and it "came out very heavy today (and) criticized the European Union."
Chao said Chinese officials want the international community to stay out of its "internal matters." He also noted that state-run newspapers in the country have criticized countries like Germany and warned them not to antagonize a country that has 25 per cent of the world's population.
