Olympic Torch Lights Up Controversy

After early indications that Taiwan had agreed to participate in China's Olympic torch relay next year (leading up to the Summer 2008 Olympics in Beijing), a controversy has erupted after the torch route was unveiled late today.

According to press reports, Taiwan officials have now objected to its inclusion in the relay-- barely hours after the route was announced. It seems that Taiwan had wanted to participate as part of the international route -- with the torch entering and departing the island via nations other than China. However, China would like the island run to be part of the domestic route. Taiwan sees its inclusion in the domestic route as an attempt to downgrade its sovereign status.

Controversy is also brewing over the torch's route passing over Mount Everest, where this week, three Americans and a Tibetan-American were detained on the peak. They waved a banner reading: "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008." Another one in English and Chinese read: "Free Tibet." Critics see China's inclusion of Everest in the torch relay route as a way for Beijing to underscore its claims to Tibet.

The IOC has repeatedly avoided all attempts to politicize the Games. "We are not in a position that we can give instructions to governments as to how they ought to behave," Hein Verbruggen, chief of the IOC's coordination commission for the Beijing Games, said this week.