She said if she had fears, that was not for herself but for what it means for a symbol she reveres.

Former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown told a press conference on Tuesday that since the majority of San Francisco citizens welcomed the torch , there was no reason to worry about the success of the relay.

In response to a question raised by Xinhua about what he should do if protesters tried to grab the torch from him, Brown said he was not worried about such a possible scenario because he expected San Francisco citizens, as peace-loving people, not to resort to such an act.

For the Asian communities, the extraordinary event carries greater significance. Many in the Chinese American community see the Olympic Games as a celebration of dramatic transformation of China.

China bore the image of "the sick man of Asia" for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, said David Lee, head of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee, a nonprofit civic education and research organization, and a political science instructor at San Francisco State University.

"Many Chinese Americans feel a great sense of pride that San Francisco has been chosen for the torch relay," Lee said. "And for those of us in the community who have long been anticipating the torch as a (symbol of) China's emergence as a superpower, the protests are an unwanted distraction."

"There are folks who are coming to support the torch relay from across the U.S. and around the world," said community activist Henry Der. "Chinese Americans are taking great pride that Chinese folks are going to pull off the Olympics - that huge event. That's why there is an ethnic pride, and it is not nationalism."

To give the Olympic flame a spectacular reception, tens of thousands of Chinese Americans will line the relay route to show their support, said Siu Yuen Chung, Chairman of the Chinese American Association of Commerce (CAAC).

For the special event, the CAAC has distributed 10,000 T-shirts imprinted with the Olympic symbol to people across the city, Chung told Xinhua, adding that the T-shirts are in short supply as so many supporters want to wear them.

The CAAC, in cooperation with almost 200 Chinese American associations, will also organize a show of Taichi boxing by hundreds of people at Justin Herman Plaza where the relay route will end.

While anxiously expecting the torch relay, many San Francisco citizens expressed dismay at attempts to link the Olympic Games with politics.

Shirley Olivo, a 75-year-old San Francisco native and grandmother of a special Olympian, said carrying the torch and the Olympics shouldn't really be about politics.

"We understand your rights of free speech, by all means, but be a gracious host, be sensitive to the fact that in San Francisco one-third of your inhabitants are Asians," said attorney Edward Liu.

He said he opposed attempts to "politicize this game", saying, "to use this torch relay as a platform to bash China to me is unacceptable."

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2008)