Shops and roads were closed and people were kept off the streets yesterday as part of a huge security effort to safeguard the Olympic torch as it wound its way through Kashgar.
Black-gloved security agents jogged alongside the flame during the relay through the streets of Kashgar.
Foreign journalists were not allowed along the route, where cheering bystanders shouted “Go China!” under sunny skies.
Xinjiang officials accompanied foreign journalists on a bus to the relay start — after which they were bused to the finish. The press pack was corralled into small pen-like areas, and police and officials patrolled to make sure reporters did not step outside the boundaries.
Senior government officials who arrived early refused to take questions from foreign journalists. Some of the students drafted in to cheer on the torch refused even to look in the direction of the press gallery, let alone answer questions.
A reporting handbook issued by the Xinjiang government had warned reporters who tried to cover “sudden incidents” — government-speak for protests —- that they would be “subject to site safety management instructions and told to leave.”
The local government had originally told visiting foreign reporters they would be allowed to talk to people lining the streets as the torch passed through Kashgar. But on Tuesday, reporters were told they would be banned from talking to anyone on the route and could only attend opening and closing ceremonies.
“Don’t be angry, we are still giving you reporting freedom,” one official said.
“It’s for your reporting convenience,” another said, explaining that it was to make life easier with so many people expected to turn up — even though ordinary people had been banned from the streets.
The heavy security in Xinjiang foreshadowed the treatment the torch was likely to be given when it makes a one-day stop in Lhasa on Saturday.
The flame was originally scheduled to go through Tibet yesterday or today and it was unclear why the date was changed. Relay organizers announced the new date yesterday.
The relay with 208 runners ended two hours after it started.
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