Sports Forum

NF Reporter · 12-01-2006, 12:30 PM

AP - China is relaxing decades-old restrictions on foreign reporters, announcing new regulations Friday that will give foreign media greater freedom to travel and report in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Even as the rules were made public, however, a Chinese court affirmed a prison sentence for a Chinese reporter.

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waltky · 11-16-2007, 06:38 PM

Guess the reporters are only gonna report on the Olympics...

Top security official says China will deal harshly with Olympics protesters
November 16, 2007 - A top Chinese security official says police will deal harshly with any social or political demonstrations at next summer's Olympics.

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The Beijing games are expected to attract some 28,000 journalists, offering a rare chance for protesters to express grievances with the communist government on issues such as religious freedom, Tibetan independence and global warming.

But the deputy director of the Olympic Security Command Center says any form of demonstration at or around the Olympic venues would be stopped. He also suggested to reporters that protests far from Olympic sites would not be tolerated. The official says the clampdown is in line with the Olympic charter, which he says forbids "any form of political, religious or racial demonstration."

During a tour of 1 venue, journalists were shown an extensive electronic surveillance system. It includes a security control room with 17 screens monitoring hundreds of closed-circuit TV cameras inside and outside the 8,000-seat venue.

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waltky · 07-22-2008, 11:13 PM

China usin' Olympics to serve its own political agenda...

Guess who's not invited to the Olympics?
Sat Jul 19, 2008 - The Dalai Lama may be the guest of honor of President George W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders, but you won't find Tibet's exiled spiritual leader on the Beijing Olympics guest list.

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Also missing from the list is Ma Ying-jeou, the Harvard-educated, democratically elected president of self-ruled Taiwan which Beijing has claimed as its own since their split in 1949 amid civil war, despite a recent thaw in relations. The Dalai Lama's appearance could have helped repair China's international image, which was dented by a government crackdown following rioting among Tibetans in March -- the worst in the Himalayan region since 1989. But China fears he would steal Chinese President Hu Jintao's thunder.

"It's supposed to be Hu Jintao's Olympics, but it'll become the Dalai Lama's Olympics if he attends," a source familiar with government policy said requesting anonymity. The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, had said during a visit to London in May that he hoped to attend the August 8-24 Games if talks between his envoys and China produced results.

China has not rejected the Dalai Lama's overtures outright, but hopes were dampened when the closed-door talks ended with the government-in-exile accusing China of lacking sincerity. The Chinese government has blamed the Dalai Lama and his followers for instigating the March unrest and attempting to sabotage the Olympics, charges he has repeatedly denied.

More Guess who's not invited to the Olympics? | U.S. | Reuters

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Beijing in 'bunker mode' for Olympics
23 Jul 2008, Its ancient city walls were demolished decades ago, but with the Olympic Games fast approaching Beijing is raising a new defence that is echoing those long-gone fortifications.

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The capital has gone into fortress mode for next month's Games, with police checkpoints choking road traffic into Beijing, tightened security across the city, and even surface-to-air missiles set up near Olympic venues. About 150,000 police and other security personnel will be on hand to safeguard the Games, state media reports said, surpassing the 100,000 at the 2004 Athens Games, the first held in the post-9/11 era. The police and soldiers making up the main security force will be aided by another 400,000 civilian volunteers whose duties will include watching for any threats to the Games.

"We will help watch during the Olympics for any 'sudden incidents' or suspicious activity and report it to police immediately," volunteer Zhang Dekui told AFP, gesturing toward his hip-holstered cell phone. "It is the responsibility of all Chinese to contribute to a successful Olympics," said the convenience store owner, standing near the main Olympic soccer venue in a blue and white "Beijing 2008" shirt and hat.

The wide-ranging security saw the implementation of a so-called "Defence Line" security plan launched last week that included hundreds of checkpoints manned by armed police on routes into the capital. State media said the plan was aimed at preventing any suspicious persons or cargo from entering Beijing ahead of and during the August 8-24 Olympic Games and was causing traffic delays of more than two hours into the city.

Despite huge signs around the city pronouncing "Beijing Welcomes You!", China also has tightened visa restrictions, causing disruptions for business travellers and forcing many foreigners to leave. On Monday, immigration police went door-to-door in Beijing's diplomatic residence district checking the passports of foreigners. China says the blanket security is to thwart possible terrorist attacks. But some critics say the clampdown's real aim is to prevent domestic political and social discontent surfacing while the world watches.

Source

waltky · 07-23-2008, 04:32 PM

But will prior approval be granted?...

China allows sanctioned Olympic protests in designated areas
Wednesday 23rd July, 2008 - China plans to allow protests during the Olympics in three public parks with prior approval, a top security official said Wednesday.

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'We have designated places for demonstrations at several parks,' Liu Shaowu, director of security for the Beijing organising committee, told reporters. Liu said the move followed international practice, with protest areas also designated during the previous Olympics in Athens in 2004.

He said one of the designated protest areas was the relatively small Ritan Park, which is in the city centre and close to one of Beijing's main embassy areas. The other two areas are in the outlying districts of Fengtai and Haidian, he said. The allowance of unspecified forms of protest would be made under Beijing's overall security plan, including stringent efforts to maintain public order, Liu said.

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

More China allows sanctioned Olympic protests in designated areas

waltky · 08-03-2008, 01:13 AM

And now for some Olympic spin...

Rogge denies IOC internet deal
August 03, 2008 - OLYMPIC chief Jacques Rogge says he did not agree to internet restrictions on foreign media in Beijing, describing the situation as "not good" just six days before the start of the Games.

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But the International Olympic Committee president stopped short of offering an apology, despite the flood of criticism after China backtracked on Internet freedoms for the visiting press. "The conditions you were working in on Tuesday were not good," Rogge told reporters at a press conference, after foreign journalists this week found they could not access a wide range of Internet sites.

"I am not going to make an apology for something that the IOC is not responsible for. We are not running the internet in China." Beijing has since unblocked a number of sites including that of Amnesty International, but many remain inaccessible, bringing more unwanted bad publicity for Games organisers and the Chinese government. Among those blocked were sites linked to Chinese dissidents, the outlawed Falungong spiritual movement, the Tibetan government-in-exile and sites about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

Rogge said there was "no deal whatsoever to accept restrictions," contrary to reports that said otherwise. IOC executive board member Kevan Gosper said earlier today the IOC and BOCOG, the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, had set up a working group to examine which remaining censored websites can be unblocked. On Friday, the previously barred websites of Amnesty, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle were accessible.

Rogge's comments came after the IOC announced here it had stripped the United States' 4x400-metre men's relay team of the gold medal it won at the Sydney 2000 Olympics for doping. The decision was made after team member Antonio Pettigrew admitted in May to doping as far back as 1997, IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. The Nigerian team, who placed second, will now receive the gold medal, she said.

Rogge denies IOC internet deal | NEWS.com.au

waltky · 08-05-2008, 12:32 PM

China beatin' up on reporters...

China paramilitary 'attacks journalists'
5 Aug.`08 - Two Japanese journalists detained, beaten by Chinese police, journalist groups say; Incident happened in Kashgar hours after a deadly attack on police officers; Journalists were released after two hours; police apologized

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Chinese paramilitary police beat two Japanese journalists Monday night in the border city of Kashgar, where a deadly attack targeting police officers had occurred hours earlier, journalist groups said. Paramilitary police detained Masami Kawakita, a photographer with the Chunichi newspaper, and Shinji Katsuta, a reporter with the Nippon Television Network, as they were covering the recent attack on police, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China and Reporters Without Borders said. The police yanked them off the street, beat them and damaged their equipment, according to the two journalist groups -- which cited the journalists' employers, several witnesses, and the national Kyodo news service of Japan.

On Tuesday the police apologized to the journalists, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China said. "It was unbelievable," Kawakita said, according to the correspondents club. "Imagine how I felt to be suddenly surrounded by paramilitaries." The two were covering Monday's attack, which according to Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency killed 16 police officers and injured another 16. After pulling them from the street, the police took Kawakita and Katsuta to an official hotel, said Reporters Without Borders, often known by its French title Reporters Sans Frontieres. However, Suzuki Takayoshi, who heads Chunichi newspaper's China coverage, said police carried Kawakita into an armed police compound, holding his hands and feet.

Once inside, police pushed Kawakita to the ground and kicked him in his face and torso, Takayoshi said. They took away two cameras to check the photographs on them, Takayoshi said, returning them to him later. One camera was returned broken, Takayoshi said. Police released Kawakita two hours later, Takayoshi said. Reporters Without Borders said Katsuta was released at the same time. Reporters Without Borders said both men sustained minor injuries. Takayoshi said Kawakita had no serious external injuries, but is worried about fractures. Kawakita is returning to Beijing, Takayoshi said.

More Chinese paramilitary 'attack journalists' - CNN.com