China 'allows' public protests during the Olympics provided the protest is:- pre-registered
- conducted at the place assigned
"In terms of assembly and demonstrations, China has related laws and regulations," Sun, spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, said, "and those rules - stringent in normal times - have been tightened further for the Olympics. Beijing has said it would allow applications for public protests in three designated areas... The government also has used its visa rules to try to keep out foreigners who might want to protest ... Sun said the Tibet demonstrators were "persuaded to leave" by police and were not detained. Foreigners who protest Beijing's human rights record or official policy of atheism on Chinese soil would normally face deportation. Chinese who demonstrate would face detention and hours of questioning by police, at least."
13 comments:
I have just watched an interview with 2 of the demonstrators on returning to the UK. They claimed that they were detained, but they were not interrogated and tortured, which classed as being treated well! That was said with some irony. Personally, I do not know how the ideals of the Olympics and the ideology of China go together. Then, the ideals of the modern Olympics do not have much to do with the origins of civilisation, just competition. Probably the self-seeking egotism of modern sport has much in common with a ruthless world power.
"Free press" Bush means the press can be bought and manipulated to serve the corporate agenda because the Chinese press are controlled by the government. I do see the difference however bush thinks there is; well you can try and pull the wool over the eyes of someone else. This is a united effort by the corporations of the west to bombard the Chinese with negative marketing which is really blackmail at this crucial time in Chinese history. Their aim is for China to allow the western corporation’s access to the 1 Billion + untapped consumers so they can sell them their products and services.
There are many intelligence services agents under the guise of journalist in China spinning webs of subversion. Why the need ? well let’s call it economics the western corporations want access to the Chinese population and all the nationalised sectors to be in private hands. They are doing their utmost to undermine and humiliate China while billions of us watch they are turning this prestigious sporting event by politicising it.
What happened to the Sydney Olympics and the aborigines being unrecognised, mistreated, ghettoised and ignored of their rightful ancestral lands ? i will tell you it’s because western corporations own Australia just like South Africa only white might is right so shut up and don’t fight for your rights ! Expect more serious trauma to be inflicted on the Chinese because these corporations will not stop until they get what they want. All these rich kids making protest have the time and the money to make themselves a name these egomaniacs while the rest of us work 9 to 5 and 7 days a week.
The Chinese are the workhorse of the world and they can make almost anything so why would they allow money to go to western banks when they can provide all the needs of their consumers, pick up anything and read the reverse text "made in ?" yes CHINA ! Western corporations know the Chinese are modernising and developing at a fast rate and they see this as a threat because they don’t want the Chinese making and selling all the things their countrymen want because they feel this is against DEMOCRACY and FREEDOM, how absurd. Bush didn’t create FREEDOM neither has he a monopoly of this inalienable right go read your CONSTITUTION bush.
I am with phillip in this, atleast partially. There is no denial that China is badly run, but this never ending tirade prior to Olympics is nothing but western vested interests venting their anger out.
I have to disagree with much of what Phillip and Lash said here. While I agree that there are many reasons to dislike the current president of the US, I don't think that protestors' response to Chinese treatment of protestors during the Olympics is one of them. The fact of the matter is that the IOC's grant of hosting duties to China in 2008 is what put China in the limelight. No "western vested interest" would have wanted that; they would have made far more money by any Western city winning the Olympics. Do you remember how Bloomberg was practically dancing for the IOC a few years ago? I don't think he was doing that because he likes prancing about; it was because the "western" companies that lobby him and other politicians like him REALLY wanted New York to host the 2012 Olympics. Therefore, there's no way that "giving" China the Olympics was a play planned by Bush, the west, etc. in order to hurt the Chinese economy somehow by criticizing them for their treatment of protestors, activists, etc. China asked for the spotlight when they successfully bid for the Olympics in Beijing and, I am pretty sure, despite the myriad protests, which you may or may not think are warranted, is going to benefit exceedingly from having done so.
Pages 13, 14, and 15 of The Olympic Charter:
http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_122.pdf
make for some interesting reading with regard to what's being discussed.
Apparently China is well within the rules of The Olympic Charter quelling dissensions and protests.
Also, in the USA the Opening Ceremony will be telecast only in the evening since that is prime time TV and will fetch major revenue from advertising! Whatever happened to individual choice? I would have wanted to see the ceremony live instead of the taped version in the evening!
That was a spectacular show China put up! I haven't seen anything like it before!
the opening ceremonies were amazing indeed! unsurprisingly, the not-so-vested interest of american companies came through: NBC edited the sequence of the March of Nations so that the United States came near the end of the broadcast (rather than somewhere in the middle). i linked to the real sequence in my blog, if you're interested. but that does not detract from the spectacular show that the chinese put up. simply amazing!
I think Olympics have been politicised since time immemorial. I can give a few examples like that in the recent history - Munich, Moscow, Los Angeles and may be Beijing - but since from the very start, Olympics were always associated with the concept of nation-sate. This is irrespective of the spirit of Olympics - which is now forgotten best and is rarely displayed. The point am trying to make is that we shouldn't be pointing out China. The existing laws in the US, the violation of laws in India and the way they're looked over in Australia, all point toward one fact that the anything and everything has become a question of national pride, security and otherwise. In such a polarised world how can Olympics be not overshadowed by such political connotations?
By the way..you can check this interesting link on Mahabharata...
http://anakinturnsevil.blogspot.com/search/label/Mahabharat
I agree with what D pointed out but came away with a slightly different conclusion. Since all (recent) Olympics have been politicized, at this point, they have become a rather effective means through which the world can pressure nations towards "better" behavior. In some sense, the politicization of the Olympics is one of the greatest tools that common people have against the otherwise monopolistic power of nations. Maybe this is just the view of someone who grew up during the Clinton years, but it seems to me that by engaging those with whom we disagree, we have a greater chance of bringing about positive change with which everyone agrees. So, through engaging China through the Olympics, the US, "the west", and all the progressively-minded people who rail against Chinese policies and actions are being smarter than their predecessors who boycotted the Moscow Olympics.
hi,
i have a quick administrative question. i notice that there are lots of "comment deleted" comments on this article. i just noticed that one of my older posts has it too. what does that mean? is it automatically removed by the system if it thinks it is spam? or is it a blogger admin? or is it the author (ie, you?)? sorry about bothering you with administrative minutia, but i wanted to know before i messed something up.
SR,
My blog name apparently has a sound (spell) alike, and as a result I've had some misplaced comments posted here these past few days (that I deleted). Fortunately, I was able to contact the other blog writer and the matter has been sorted out.
Thanks for your comment.
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