Beijing Says It Will Allow Protests in Certain Areas During Olympics

BEIJING -- After months of insisting on a non-politicized Olympics, a jittery Beijing has agreed to allow protests during the Games in three public parks with prior approval, a top official said Wednesday.

Unspecified forms of protest would be allowed under Beijing's overall security plan, which includes stringent efforts to maintain public order, Liu Shaowu, director of security for the Beijing organizing committee, told reporters. It was unclear exactly how or when protesters would need to register with the local government.

"We have [made] top efforts to preserve public order, crack down on law violations and resolve issues affecting public order and safety," Liu said. He said Beijing was "facing a lot of risks" from potential terrorist attacks, a statement that has been often repeated by Chinese officials without mentioning any specific threats.

"To this end, the Olympic Security Department has done a lot to give a full play to all professional organizations and the whole society to participate in the Olympic security work and crack down on all the disturbances," he said.

The announcement comes after months of speculation over how the city would deal with protests over issues like Tibet and Darfur as it attempts to present itself under the slogan "One World One Dream." Pressure from international groups, including the International Olympic Committee, which has claimed the Olympics has advanced press and political freedoms in China.

But even with the protest allowance, it is unclear just how far the government will be willing to go. Currently, Beijing is in a state of virtual lock-down with persisting limitations on foreign press coverage and entertainment, leading to complaints that Beijing's Games will be the "no fun" Olympics.

The city has mobilized about half a million volunteers to help maintain security and promote the image of a "harmonious society." The volunteers are joined by about 100,000 police, 200,000 security guards plus soldiers and special forces units.

Though the Communist Party normally forbids all forms of organized protest, it has sanctioned several small anti-Japanese protests in Beijing and other cities in recent years. At the Athens Games in 2004, officials also sanctioned protests in designated areas.

Olympic protests will be allowed at three parks far from the Olympic Green. Ritan, or Altar to the Sun Park, which is located near Beijing's Central Business District, Shijie Gongyuan, or the World Park, in Fengtai, far south of the city center, and in Zizhuyuan, or Purple Bamboo Park, which is located in Beijing's west.

The government's anxieties about foreigners coming to Beijing to protest, especially over Tibet and Darfur, has resulted in expulsions and strict visa restrictions. In July, the British Tibetan woman Dechen Pemba was expelled shortly after arriving Beijing.

And rumors of protests on Tiananmen Square, where supporters of Tibetan independence and the Falun Gong religious sect have previously errected banners and even self-immolated, have led Beijing officials to restrict live television coverage of the area to specific times of day.

Various countries' Olympic committees have asked their athletes to obey the Olympic charter, which forbids "political, religious or racial propaganda... in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

In February, British Olympic officials retracted an order forbidding athletes from commenting on politically sensitive issues. In mid-April, the French Olympic Committee banned athletes from wearing badges reading "For a better world" at the Games opening ceremony. The Australian Olympic Committee has told its athletes they can discuss anything they want in media interviews and on blogs, but cannot make political protests inside venues.

Some athletes have indicated they would find ways to get around the rules, either by making vocal statements, wearing armbands or ribbons or flashing a T hand sign, to signal support for the Tibetan cause. Several members of Team Darfur, an informal group of 360 athletes that formed two years ago to draw attention to the conflict affecting millions in western Sudan, will compete in Beijing.

In perhaps the most famous Olympic protest by athletes, black American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black glove covered fists at the 1968 Mexico Games.

Meanwhile, local dissidents have reportedly been arrested or pressured to remain quiet during the Games. In the far western province of Xinjiang, home to China's Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority, an anti-separatist and anti-terror campaign has been in full effect.

Local officials have been instructed to keep public demonstrations to a minimum in the lead-up to the Games. But protests continue outside of Beijing, as the public airs its grievances over issues like land seizure and pollution. A bus bombing Monday in Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan province, followed a violent clash in a nearby village between police and 500 rubber farmers. Two protesters were killed.

Comments

[SuspiciousMinds3]

I can't believe we are even allowing China to host the Olympics. Since when is communism OK? When I was growing up the worst thing you could be called was a communist, now they have been given all of our work while we struggle and they are hosting the Olympics, this is the new world order? No one asked me if I wanted to be hooked up with communists and 3rd world countries, did I miss a vote somewhere?
I hope people show their patriotism for the right reasons and just say no, I'm not watching it on TV and I'm not putting any more money into their communist pockets.

Since we are always finding a way to get foreign countries a vote, a new democracy, how about us having a vote on something once in awhile, I gave up on the elections here but can I vote NO to a new world order or the UN or anything else pertaining to my life? Wouldn't that be refreshing! Say NO to China. Buy and eat American and NO to the Olympics. Was Cuba included in a choice for the Olympic hosting? I bet it wasn't, they aren't communistic enough. What a sad day when we accept something like this.

[MagisterLudi]

Who is this "We" you refering to?

Nowadays, "we" consists of a world community. Not only U.S.

China is a model country for the world: a socialist governance combined with economic freedom for its citizens.

[BardEric]

"China is a model country for the world: a socialist governance combined with economic freedom for its citizens."


Sorry, but I'm laughing too hard to think of a great rebuttal to that statement..The good news is that I think it actually rebutts ITSELF !

[BardEric]

Why on earth do some of us have to politicize EVERYTHING! The Olympic games bring people from around the globe together in a way that no other venue can. Thousands of athletes from everywhere in the world have worked their entire lives for this moment, and by their competing in the games, they in NO WAY endorse or condone the host conutries views, or political positions. So how does watching their performances at home here in the U.S. translate for you to condoning China's Govenrment? The Olympics are a ancient tradition that highlights some of the better aspects of humanity, and I think the world needs that desperately, no matter whom the host country happens to be.

[MagisterLudi]

You want to protest? Stay in U.S.

[InjunTrouble]

If any locals dare to protest, China will quietly go to their homes that night and take them some place where they can never protest again.

[MajorKong]

Hmmmm, I seem to remember something like this happening somewhere else. Wait, it'll come to me.....

[JohnFromCensornati]

Who knew they had Free Speech (in cages) in China, too?

[Pdubya]

Hey, just like our DNC and GOP conventions! Cool! I wonder if the Chinese have those wicked awesome space age weapons like we do to control the crowds??

[Lemeritus]

"Don't taz me, comrade!"

[LittleBrother]

I'm sure they DO have space-age weapons, but it's simpler just to designate abandoned mine shafts and forest clearings (preferably by roaring waterfalls) as Free Speech Zones.

In post-Constitutional Amerika, it's well understood that Free Speech Zones' success depends on three things: location, location, location!

[jvarga]

Sadly I had the same thought about the similarity between the chinese government and the american political conventions.