Four foreign protestors displaying a Free Tibet banner in the Chinese capital have been detained by police.
Two US citizens and two British citizens displayed Tibetan flags and banners declaring ‘One World, One Dream: Free Tibet’ and ‘Tibet will be free,’ the group Students for a Free Tibet said in an email.
One of the banners also said ‘Free Tibet’ in Chinese.
The four breached the general Chinese ban on protests and scaled power poles near the heavily guarded Bird's Nest Stadium, where the Olympics open on Friday.
The protest also came as the Games torch began passing through Beijing under tight security.
Chinese policy in the remote Himalayan area on its western border has long been anticipated as a flashpoint for protest during the Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, flag-waving crowds welcomed the Olympic torch as it paraded through China's capital on a final stretch marked by patriotic pomp and regimented security.
The flame for the Beijing Games started its journey through the host city from the Forbidden City, once home of China's emperors, held up by China's first man in space, Yang Liwei.
The torch will pass through the day at the Temple of Heaven, where centuries ago emperors offered animal sacrifices for good crops.
