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Protests At Olympics? To Each His Zone, China Says

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The Associated Press

Published: July 24, 2008

BEIJING - China will allow a modicum of dissent at the Olympics, setting up special protest zones far from the main sports venues, in a shift that supporters and detractors said Wednesday is meant to safely channel criticism and avoid disrupting the games.

The designated protest areas will be in parts of three public parks, none of them closer than several miles from the main Olympic stadium. One zone is in a park that features large-scale mock-ups of the White House and other world monuments, raising the prospect that protesters will appear to be elsewhere in televised images and news photos.

In making the announcement, the Beijing Olympic organizing committee's security director, Liu Shaowu, cited the use of protest areas at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

"People or protesters who want to express their personal opinions can go to do so," Liu said.

The move, however, doesn't mean Beijing is inviting a flood of protests at the games, which open in 16 days. Liu suggested that demonstrators would need to apply for permission in advance.

Under Chinese law, citizens must apply to the local public security bureau five days in advance of a scheduled protest.

The law prohibits protests that are deemed harmful to national unity and social stability or that agitate for ethnic separatism. These prohibitions can be interpreted so broadly that most legal protests are not approved.

Beijing is now ringed with police checkpoints - designed to keep out bomb-making materials, would-be terrorists and domestic protesters - and dotted with half-empty hotels. But it is also festooned with banners, creating an odd mixture of festiveness and tension.

Still, the decision to permit even small demonstrations marks a turnaround for an authoritarian government that has seemed set on smothering any protests.

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