BEIJING — Usually an event free of conflict, the arrival of the Olympic flame on Monday from Greece will be must-watch drama at Tiananmen Square.

The ceremony in the heart of Beijing will be a welcome but brief respite for the communist government before the torch relay sets off on a problematic, month-long world tour.

The torch relay was blemished before it even began when a demonstrator at the lighting ceremony in Greece grabbed headlines by disrupting a Chinese official's opening address. That was followed across Greece by a smattering of protests by Tibet activists and Falun Gong supporters.

The flame's arrival on an Air China flight — the plane has a specially designed stand to hold the torch — comes as the outside world watches deadly anti-China rioting in Tibet and red-robed monks defying police to speak out against Chinese rule.

Overwhelming security makes a protest Monday unlikely, and details about the ceremony have been scant. Any disruption or security crackdown would further shake world confidence, coming in the Chinese capital — not in distant Tibet — where the Games in just over four months are supposed to show off a modern China.

More than 2,000 police were deployed Saturday in Athens to protect the torch relay as demonstrators gathered to protest China's human right's record.

The Olympics have overwhelming support inside China. All media in the nation are state-controlled and most people are both patriotic about the games and supportive of the government line on Tibet: the rioting was encouraged by Dalai Lama supporters who want to ruin the Olympics and embarrass China.

The flame goes Tuesday to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and then on to Istanbul and St. Petersburg, Russia. These stops are not expected to bring problems, but the following three certainly will: London, Paris and San Francisco.

London's route on April 6 is sure to be lined by thousands of demonstrators, who are expected to enact a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate those killed in Tibet. The Tibetan government in exile says 140 died, and China says 22.

Pro-Tibet demonstrators are expected to be just as numerous in Paris on April 7. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is the first European leader to suggest that a boycott of the opening ceremony was a possibility to protest China's handling of the unrest in Tibet.

In San Francisco, the only North American city hosting the torch, officials shortened the April 9 route through the city and have abbreviated the ceremonies. Mayor Gavin Newsom has said no one will be prevented from expressing their views, but permits are required to gather near the torch.

Another difficult stop comes April 17 in New Delhi. India is home to Tibet's exile government and many Tibet rights groups are located in the country. Protests are also expected on April 24 in Canberra, Australia, and security is being tightened for the April 26 leg in Nagano, Japan.

On Saturday, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang was forced to respond to a report that China would send troops to Australia to protect the torch relay.

"It's purely a rumor with ulterior motives," Qin said on the foreign ministry's Web site.

United States President George W.Bush and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Friday they want China leaders to meet with the Dalai Lama to defuse tensions.

"It is absolutely clear that there are human rights abuses in Tibet," said Rudd, who served as a diplomat in China and speaks Mandarin.

The flame returns to mainland China on May 4, and will spend the next three months traveling to more than 100 cities across the country. This includes a problematic trip to the summit of Mount Everest, at an unspecified date in May when weather permits. Everest straddles the border between Nepal and Tibet.

The grandiose relay — the longest in Olympic history with the most torchbearers — was meant to showcase China's rising economic and political power, and its sovereignty over disputed areas like Tibet.

Instead, it has provided a stage for human rights activists, Muslims in the far west of the country and critics of China's relationship with Sudan. It has also helped focus attention on the greatest unrest in China since the crushing of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement in 1989.

Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as part of its territory, is missing from the relay.

Taiwan was excluded after its leaders declined to guarantee that Taiwanese flags and other signs of separateness from China would be kept away from the relay route. Taiwan officials also wanted the relay to enter and depart from Asian neighbors such as Vietnam or Japan to avoid suggesting that the island is under mainland control. China wanted the torch to depart for Beijing-controlled Hong Kong.

The torch returns to Beijing on Aug. 6, the preface to the lighting of the Olympic cauldron on Aug. 8 during the opening ceremony at the 91,000-seat national stadium.

Negative attention to the torch relay may be bad news for the three sponsors of the relay — Coca-Cola, Lenovo and Samsung Electronics — who have spent tens of millions to raise their profile in China and ingratiate themselves with communist officials.

"We can only guess that maybe other controversies may come up around the games in the next few months," said Chris Renner, president for China of sports marketing consulting firm Helios Partners. Its clients include Olympic sponsors Volkswagen AG, mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd., and Lenovo.

"It's a tough situation for everyone."