Chinese boycott French supermarket

The Olympic flame got tantalisingly close to Tibet when it passed through New Delhi today.

But the protesters from India's large exiled Tibetan community were unable to get near to the route.

The protests by the world's largest community of exiled Tibetans were kept well away by 15,000 policemen guarding the centre of the normally frenetic city. After recent scenes elsewhere, the Indian authorities can consider the operation a success.

The torch of anti-China protest was lit in Greece last month when three activists hijacked the Chinese envoy's speech during the ceremony on Mount Olympus.

But the demonstrations reached a head when the flame's journey took it to London 10 days ago as Konnie Huq ran with the flame a protester tried to grab it from her.

In Paris, the demonstrators scored their greatest success. The torch ran a gauntlet of protesters, and security forces had to put the flame out and go by bus.

Demos dogged the torch in America, but it had a more peaceful passage through Africa and the Middle East to Pakistan yesterday which has a strong friendship with China.

After India, the next big concern for the keepers of the flame will be Australia in a week.

Tight security is of course expected in China as it stops in Tibet, before arriving in Beijing.

But it was the dramatic scenes in Paris which seem to have caused the greatest repercussions in China.

An internet campaign has been launched, with emails and text messages urging Chinese people to boycott one of the most popular retailers there, the French Hypermarket Carrefour, with the apparent endorsement of the Government. Jiang Yu, spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said: "Recently some people have expressed their views and sentiments. I think there's a reason for this, and the French side need to review and consider it."

The second largest supermarket in the world, Carrefour has 122 stores in China, employing 40,000 people.

French goods are popular in Beijing, but the idea of a boycott is meeting with sympathy:

Of course, the flame got a rough ride in London too, but there's no threat of a boycott of British goods yet.

Would we feel it? Britain exports £3.7 million worth of products to China but that is dwarfed by the £18.8 billion we import from the Chinese.

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