A disappointing stop in the US for the Olympic Torch.

The torch was lit in a short ceremony at AT&T Park in front of hundreds of pro-Chinese supporters who waved Chinese, American and Olympic flags.

But from the park, the runners, accompanied by Chinese security forces, went into a security warehouse and the torch disappeared from public view for about 45 minutes.

Vehicles were later seen leaving the building.

The torch was driven to a nearby neighborhood, where the runners began the relay.

There was “a disproportionate concentration of people in and around the start of the relay,” Mayor Gavin Newsom told The Associated Press.

There SHOULD be a lot of people around the relay! It’s a show! People are meant to come and watch! Seems like authorities forgot why we have a torch relay, and forgot about all the normal people who wanted to see the Olympic torch. The torch has made one stop in my home country, and with the ceremonies cut short and the route changed on the way around town, I don’t think many Americans got to see the torch.

The Olympic torch was flown to the US to show international friendship, and to get everyone excited about the Olympics, and I think it has done the exact opposite. Expecting a cool pre-Olympics show and then seeing misdirection, and overbearing police, is a sure-fire way to increase American anger at China, and reinforce the West’s worst stereotypes about China.

If, as everyone has been saying, the torch is a non-political symbol of the Olympic spirit, what does it mean to grab that torch and hide it away from visitors?

Via CNN