Joshua Sabatini, The Examiner
2008-04-02 11:00:00.0
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SAN FRANCISCO -

When San Francisco officials receive the Olympic torch next week, they should do so with “alarm and protest” over China’s human-rights record, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday.

The resolution, authored by Supervisor Chris Daly, is a policy statement, and does not legally force The City representative to do or say anything. It was approved 8-3, with Supervisors Sean Elsbernd, Carmen Chu and Michela Alioto-Pier voting against it.

The resolution’s approval was greeted with applause and shouts of “Free Tibet” from the crowds of people packed into the City Hall chambers.

Alioto-Pier told The Examiner that the torch is the “symbol of the Olympics,” not a symbol of China.

“The issues of China need to be dealt with in a different level and in a different way,” she said.

Daly said that “as the eyes of the world are on San Francisco,” it should be “remembered as a city that cares about freedom.”

Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has been critical of the resolution, has 10 days to return it signed or unsigned; if he waits that long, the torch, due April 9, will have come and gone.

jsabatini@examiner.com