It's the heart of the matter ... Jin Jing, a disabled Chinese fencer and torchbearer, closes her eyes and holds tightly to the torch after an assault by a Western man who tried to snatch away her pride and joy. The incident occurred during the Beijing Olympics relay in Paris on Monday. Jin was being pushed by a blind male athlete and another female escort.

China yesterday denounced violent protesters who tried to sabotage Olympic Games torch relays in London and Paris.

International Olympic Committee officials also criticized the disruptions.

"We express our strong condemnation of the deliberate disruption of the Olympic torch relay by 'Tibetan independence' separatist forces," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement posted at www.fmprc.gov.cn.

She told a regular news conference in Beijing that Chinese and American officials had been working together to ensure the visit of the torch to San Francisco today would go "safely and smoothly."

"We also warn groups and elements attempting to disrupt and sabotage the torch relay that their goal - of using the Olympics for their unspeakable ends and to blacken and put pressure on China - is absolutely unattainable."

IOC officials expressed outrage yesterday about the disruption caused by violent protests during the relay in Paris and London.

"I'm definitely concerned about what has happened in London and in Paris," IOC President Rogge said. "I'm deeply saddened by the fact that such an important symbol has been attacked."

"We recognize the right for people to protest and express their views, but it should be non-violent. We are very sad for all the athletes and the people who expected so much from the run and have been spoiled of their joy."

IOC Vice President Gunilla Lindberg echoed his sentiments by saying: "Now it's come to the stage that violent people are coming in. It has nothing to do with nice demonstrations. I think it's a shame that politicians use athletes as a tool for their own actual mistakes."

Despite disruptions by some Tibetan separatists and supporters during the London and Paris legs of the relay, there will be no change in the itinerary which includes carrying the flame to the highest peak on Earth, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games said yesterday.

The widespread view among Olympic officials and IOC members was that the relay should not be stopped.

"I think that would be tantamount to giving into terrorism," Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said yesterday.

Senior Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper concurred, saying: "We're now committed with the Beijing organizing committee and we should see it through. The politicians who cry boycott have been here (in China) five minutes before doing trade deals, selling products, buying products. It's hypocritical on their part."

The Olympic torch arrived in San Francisco last night (Beijing time) amid heavy security.

Mayor Garvin Newsom pledged that the city has the ability to provide the level of security to make the Olympic torch relay "a safe event for everyone".

San Francisco will be sixth leg of the Olympic torch relay. Eighty torchbearers from across North America will carry the Beijing Olympic torch through San Francisco streets in 9.65-kilometer route along the city's bay waterfront today.