LEAD: China says demonstrators 'shameful,' confident about torch relay

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China said Tuesday demonstrators who tried to disrupt Monday's Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece were ''shameful,'' and expressed confidence the torch relay will be ''successful and smooth'' despite the incident.

The mainland's official newspapers and television, meanwhile, ignored the attempted disruption during the ceremony, saying only that the event was successfully concluded.

''Any attempts to sabotage or damage the Olympic torch relay are shameful and cannot win people's hearts,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular press conference.

A demonstrator ran out onto the field during Monday's ceremony, unfurling a black banner with handcuffs symbolizing the Olympic rings, while Liu Qi, the president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, was giving a speech.

A Tibetan woman covered in fake blood was also seen running out on the road, while others nearby chanted, ''Free Tibet.''

Asked whether China was worried about any such incidents happening during a portion of the torch relay to be held in Tibet, Qin said, ''We are confident that the Olympic torch relay in Tibet will be welcomed by the Tibetan people, and that it will be carried out smoothly.''

''I am confident that we have the ability to secure a successful Olympic torch relay,'' Qin also said.

The Olympic torch is due to arrive in China's mainland at the end of this month.

The demonstrations in Greece, which were against China's Tibet and press freedom policies, were ignored in China's state-run media.

''Olympic flame successfully lit,'' said a front-page article in the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's newspaper.

''Sun smiles as Olympic torch is lit,'' said the English-language China Daily, also on its front page, with a large picture of a Greek actress dressed as an ancient priestess holding up the Olympic flame.

Beijing is under international pressure to seek a peaceful solution to the Tibet issue, including through dialogue with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, after deadly rioting in the region earlier this month.

China blames the violence on the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who denies being behind the riots, which have since spilled over into nearby provinces.