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AUG 14, 2008
House Churches Barred From Holding Services Over Olympics Period
Christian Today
A number of house church leaders in China have been forced to sign a written agreement declaring that they will not hold services whilst the Olympic Games take place in Beijing.
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AUG 14, 2008
After the Games, Tibet
The New York Times
The Olympics could end up being the second-most-significant event in China this year. The Chinese leadership and the Tibetan government in exile have delicately discussed a possible visit by the Dalai Lama to China, nominally to commemorate the victims of the earthquake in Sichuan Province in May. That would be the first meeting between the Dalai Lama and Chinese leaders in more than 50 years and would give enormous impetus to resolving the Tibet question.
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AUG 9, 2008
China Designates Special ‘Protest Zones’
The Daily Telegraph
For those who want to demonstrate but do not want to risk arrest and deportation, there is another, perfectly legal way to get heard at the Olympics - at three "designated protest zones" around the capital city. They are, however, a far cry from Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park. For one, they are tucked away in hard-to reach suburbs, seven miles from the main Olympic stadium. And for another, the rules on exactly who can demonstrate, and what they can demonstrate about, are as strict and complex as any in China's Byzantine bureaucracy. Human rights activists have branded them as worthless "protest pens" and predict they are likely to stay empty for the duration of the Games.
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AUG 8, 2008
Revolution From Below
The Globe and Mail
While the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics yesterday were a spectacular show the narrative from most of the Western media has been something like this: Back in 2001, China promised to behave and improve its human-rights records, in exchange for hosting the Games, but has broken its promises; there is more repression of Tibetans and other minorities, more jailing of dissidents, more harassment of the foreign press, more pollution, more censorship; in short, China is not democratizing. But there have been advances mainly due to the Chinese people's continuous struggle, often against the mighty control apparatus of an authoritarian state. To have counted on the Beijing Olympics to deliver a fast political miracle inside China, or anything else that the outside world might have wanted, was both unrealistic and shortsighted. We need to ask: What happens to China, to all the problems and challenges it faces at the end of this month when the Games are over? What is the leverage then?
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AUG 8, 2008
The Flag Man Stands Down
Time
Lopez Lomong, a Sudanese refugee and new U.S. citizen carried the American flag at the Olympic opening ceremony. Asked by the international press to join the critics of China's human rights record, its ties to the Sudan, and its decision to revoke the American Darfur activist and former Olympian Joey Cheek's visa Lomong dodged. "I'm here to inspire other kids who are out there watching these Olympics," he said at one point.
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