WHERE'S THE PEACE?: Chinese security officers and Turkish riot police detaining a man who tried to attack the Olympic torch bearer in Istanbul on Thursday. The flame, meant to symbolise peace and friendship, is instead achieving the opposite by attracting noisy anti-Chinese protests. -- PHOTO: AP

Everything went according to script: Spectators cheered, performers danced and Mr Hu beamed as he launched the flame - lit by the rays of the sun in Greece according to ancient traditions - on its 140,000km lap around the world before it returns to Beijing in early August.

But almost everything which follows is now unpredictable, for the flame which is meant to symbolise peace and friendship, is now virtually guaranteed to achieve the opposite by attracting noisy anti-China protests.

In London, where the torch arrives tomorrow, 2,000 police officers will be tasked with its protection. The security operation is expected to cost at least S$3 million but, since nobody can guarantee a scuffle-free event, Mrs Fu Ying, the Chinese ambassador, is said to have decided to avoid the ceremony altogether.

And, even if the London lap passes quietly, many more surprises are expected in the months to come; every publicity gimmick ever thought of will be attempted by those determined to protest against China's human rights record.

Chinese officials may be embarrassed, but the flame will get back to Beijing.

The protesters have a different purpose: They want to force Western leaders to skip attendance at the Games' opening ceremony on Aug 8.

Already, the prime ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic - two former European communist countries - have announced that they would 'boycott' the ceremony. Britain's Prince Charles has also let it be known that he would not be attending, despite the fact that nobody invited him. And pressure is mounting on Germany, France and the United States to follow suit.

There is no doubt that, if many Western leaders are absent from the Beijing opening ceremony, China's pride will be injured. Yet this will merely strengthen the arguments of Beijing's hardliners, who have always claimed that, regardless of what their country does, the West will always remain hostile to it.

The idea that Beijing may be prepared to grant major political concessions in order to ensure the Olympics' success remains a nonsensical one.

The Games are an important showcase, but they are still a three-week wonder; no Chinese leader will compromise on any fundamental policy - especially if this relates to the country's territorial integrity - in order to look good on Western television screens for a brief moment.

So, the real problem is not so much how to use the Games for political blackmail against Beijing but, rather, how to ensure that the Games lay the foundations for better relations with China after the event is over.

Meanwhile, while the scuffles continue along the route of the Olympic torch relay, few know or care to be reminded that the ceremony is neither an integral part of the Games, nor of any major historic significance.

It is a modern invention, introduced in 1936 for the Berlin Olympics, over which none other than Adolf Hitler presided.