Aftershocks, real and political, for Olympic torch relay

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The Olympic torch on Tuesday completed the final leg of its global journey before Beijing, passing through the earthquake-stricken province of Sichuan in Western China.

Just hours after the torch moved through the provincial capital of Chengdu, a powerful aftershock of the deadly May earthquake rocked other parts of the province.

Associated Press reports that the torch traveled through an industrial part of the city rather than a more historical section that houses Tibetan communities. That decision apparently was made after deadly riots against the Beijing government broke out in the capital of neighboring Tibet in March.

The Chengdu segment of the torch relay originally was scheduled for mid-June. That date was postponed after the massive May 12 quake that killed almost 70,000 people and left an estimated five million people homeless.

Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee members spent part of a Tuesday meeting in Beijing discussing political aftershocks of the protest-marred torch relay.

IOC member Dick Pound of Canada said during the IOC’s general assembly session that the relay shouldn’t have occurred, given protests by activists in opposition to China’s policies on Tibet, human rights and other issues.

‘This came very close to becoming a disaster,” Pound said. “The risks were obvious and should have been assessed a little more carefully. The result is there was a crisis affecting the games.”

The relay was disrupted by anti-China protests in London, Paris and other cities.

“In my country and in many other countries in my part of the world, we were in full boycott mode,” he said. “Public opinion and political opinion was moving toward an actual boycott of the Games, and it was only the earthquake tragedy that diverted attention from what could otherwise have been something very, very serious.”