Olympic torch tours Ho Chi Minh


Chinese supporters greeted the torch as it arrived in Vietnam



The Olympic torch is due to tour Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on the final international stop of its troubled global relay.
The parade is expected to pass off fairly smoothly unlike previous legs dominated by anti-China protests.
But a group of activists have promised demonstrations linked to a territorial dispute with Beijing.
It comes amid a row between South Korea and China over scuffles during the torch relay in Seoul.
At the torch relay on Sunday police struggled to contain Chinese supporters who threw stones at demonstrators protesting over unrest in Tibet and Beijing's repatriation of North Korean refugees.
This has triggered public anger in South Korea and on Monday the government expressed "strong regret" to the Chinese ambassador over the incidents.
On Tuesday Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said they had "hurt national pride considerably" Yonhap news agency reported.
Island dispute
The torch arrived in Vietnam from North Korea where large crowds turned out to greet it in the tightly-controlled communist state.
The parade in Ho Chi Minh City will depart in the early evening from the 19th Century opera hall.
Sixty runners will carry it along an undisclosed route to a military stadium officials said.
A small group of Chinese citizens waved flags of support as the stage was made ready for the opening ceremony of the relay.
In the capital Hanoi dozens of security police were stationed outside the Chinese Embassy blocking the way to the building.
China and Vietnam have strong economic ties and large-scale protests linked to Tibet are not expected.
But some activists say they will rally against China's claim to the disputed Spratly Islands - a South China Sea archipelago thought to have oil and gas reserves.
After Vietnam the torch goes to Hong Kong to begin the domestic leg of the relay.
International protests have turned the torch's celebratory tour of 20 countries into what analysts describe as a public-relations disaster for Beijing. Demonstrations in Athens London Paris and San Francisco have dominated media coverage of the relay. But the flame has made relatively peaceful progress through other cities including Bangkok in Thailand and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.