Chinese organizers have canceled the international portion of theBeijing Paralympic torch relay, and shortened the domestic legs.
 
Wednesday'sannouncement comes after international legs of the Olympic torch relaywere plagued by violent protests against China's Tibet policy.

However,organizers say the Paralympic relay route was changed because thegovernment is focusing on relief work following a deadly earthquake onMay 12. It killed 70,000 people and left millions displaced inSichuan province.
 
The first-ever international Paralympictorch relay had been scheduled to visit upcoming Olympic host citiesLondon, England, Vancouver, Canada and Sochi, Russia as well as HongKong before the September sixth to 17th Paralympics.

FourChinese cities, Chengdu, Chongqing, Urumqi and Tianjin, were alsoremoved from the original 16-stop schedule for the domestic relay.

 
Some information for this report was provided by and Reuters.