Emotions high as Olympic flame scales Everest
China says defence budget to riseLi said the news blackout had been essential and there had been a "series of interferences" to the mission.
"We apologise to the local and international media, we didn't have any choice because of the outside interference," he said. "I can tell you there are people still out there trying to interfere with the event. Our climbing torchbearers found their tracks and saw their lights up there on our routes."
The flame that crested Everest's peak was taken from the main Olympic torch when it arrived in Beijing in March.
The Beijing organisers paused the main torch relay, scheduled to pass through the southern city of Shenzhen on Thursday, while the final push for the summit was taking place.
The Everest flame will be reunited with the main flame later in the relay, possibly when it passes through Lhasa in mid-June.
(Additional reporting by David Gray and Mark Chisholm; and Guo Shipeng, Ian Ransom and Benjamin Kang Lim in Beijing; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jeremy Laurence)
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