07 April 2008
China insists torch will go through Tibet
(AFP) China's top official in Tibet, rejecting a demand of activists around the world, has insisted that the Beijing Olympics torch relay will pass through the TAR as planned. Zhang Qingli, the most senior Chinese Communist Party official in Tibet, told local leaders that Beijing was in no mood to listen to the demands of demonstrators calling for the route to be changed. In a statement on the Tibet government website, Zhang said Tibet was determined to play its part in a successful Olympics by hosting the torch relay on 19 and 20 June 2008 and overseeing the flame's ascent of Mount Everest on 10 May. He urged people to "deepen their drive to complete the glorious, important and arduous task" of having the torch pass through Tibet.