Scuffles at pro-China rally in Auckland

Scuffles broke out between pro-Tibet campaigners and supporters of China and the Beijing Olympics in Auckland's Aotea Square this afternoon.

An estimated 3000 Chinese supporters filled the square waving flags and singing patriotic songs during the two-hour rally.

Radio New Zealand reported one of the organisers as saying there had not been such a coming together of Chinese people in New Zealand for a decade.

Some of the crowd became aggressive toward four protesters holding Tibetan flags during part of the rally and they were taunted.

It was the second demonstration in support of China and the Olympics in two days.

Yesterday several hundred Chinese people took to the streets of Wellington to support their country hosting this year's Olympics.

The protesters, mostly Victoria University students, said they were upset at perceived media bias in the reporting of human rights issues in China and the China-Tibet situation.

They denied the Chinese government was behind the march.

"Oh no, no, this is all student-made," one protester said.

"Support China, support Chinese, support Olympics," she chanted.

Today the Olympic torch arrived in South Korea on the latest leg of its world tour, with demonstrators vowing to disrupt its run through Seoul, the city that hosted the 1988 Summer Games.

Some 8000 riot police were being deployed to guard the flame, along with some 100 officers with marathon-running experience to follow the torch in shifts. Officials say they will arrest anyone who tries to interrupt the relay.

Activist groups say they will try to block the torch as a protest against Chinese policies on North Korean refugees and its crackdown in Tibet.  

- NZPA