Hong Kong - Police may erect barricades along the route of the Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong to stop protestors breaking through and disrupting the passage of the symbolic flame on its way to China. Commandant Tony Wong, of the Police Tactical Unit, said Friday such a move would help maintain order along the route should any violence break out among protestors.
"We have to strike a balance," he told a meeting of Hong Kong's Home Affairs panel.
"If we overdo it, we could affect the overall atmosphere but for public safety and for public law and order we may have to erect iron barricades or cordon off some areas so the crowd cannot break through."
Earlier Chief Secretary Henry Tang said the route would be reviewed continually and may be altered to ensure the torch passes through the former British colony in a smooth, orderly and safe manner.
However, he stressed that as the relay was a once-in-a-lifetime event for many people in Hong Kong, he did not want to change things drastically.
Around 3,000 police officers will be mobilized on May 2 when the torch arrives in Hong Kong, its first stop on Chinese soil after its worldwide tour which has already been marred by protest over Tibet.
The president of the Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, Timothy Fok, has already appealed to the city not to follow the example set in cities such as London and Paris, saying he did not think it would be appropriate to stage demonstrations in Hong Kong.
But protest groups in the city of 6.9 million, the only place in China apart from Macau where anti-government protests are allowed, are already preparing to use the torch's arrival to demonstrate.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang, a keen runner, is expected to be the first of 120 torch-bearers to run in the 33-kilometre-long relay.
The full list of torch-bearers will be announced on April 29. Also expected to run are Hong Kong's Olympic gold medalist windsurfer Lee Lai-shan and actors Jackie Chan and Andy Lau.
Each will run around 200 metres in the 8-hour run starting from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, through Kowloon, the New Territories and Hong Kong Island.
A community run along the same route is be staged on Friday April 18 to assess security requirements and the impact on traffic.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" arrangement guaranteeing political freedoms and the right to protest.
