A curated selection of public diplomacy-relevant news from a global cross-section of English-language media outlets, including independent, corporate-owned, and state-sponsored sources. The stories featured don't necessarily represent CPD's views nor have they been verified by CPD.
Hu thanks Bush for Olympics visit
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday thanked US President George W. Bush, who has announced he will attend the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies, for not "politicizing" the Games. Hu said through an interpreter that he "highly appreciated that President Bush has on various occasions expressed his opposition to politicizing the Olympic Games."
Around the World, Activists Assemble to Press China on Rights
Marking the one-month countdown to the start of the Beijing Olympic Games, activists gathered in New York and in cities around the world Tuesday to call on China to ease crackdowns on dissenters and release political prisoners.
Broadcasters move into Olympic press center
The International Broadcasting Center officially opened Tuesday, though not all press media were allowed to enter the 90,000-sq-m compound. On Tuesday Chinese and American teams were unloading their equipment from two pink containers, which belonged to NBC, the largest broadcaster of the Beijing Games. "That's (only) two of a hundred containers we've shipped from the US," John Fritsche, senior vice-president of NBC Olympics, told China Daily.
Security top priority for successful Olympics, says China VP
Security is the single most important factor in hosting a successful Olympics, China's Vice President Xi Jinping told a "mobilisation" rally on Wednesday, 30 days before the Beijing Games open. China, eager to use the Games to showcase its rise as a modern economic power, has already instituted a raft of security measures. A 100,000 strong anti-terrorism force is in place, surface-to-air missiles have been deployed around the major venues and bag searches are conducted on the subway.
Olympics sailing venue setting up second barrier against algae
Workers are racing against the time to build the second barrier to prevent algae from invading the Olympic sailing venue off the coast of Qingdao city in east China's Shandong Province.
Police shoot dead five members of ‘Chinese al-Qaeda’
With less than a month to go before the Olympics open in Beijing, Chinese police have shot dead five members of a Muslim ethnic minority they said were bent on waging holy war inspired by al-Qaeda and setting up an independent state.
Marathon Viewing
NBC will unleash 3,600 hours of Olympic coverage on viewers. "It’s more live coverage from a single Olympics than the total of all previous Summer Olympics combined," Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, said in a press release issued by the company. In addition to 225 hours of coverage on NBC itself, viewers this year will be able to tune in live to the heretofore ignored triumphs of Olympic canoeing, archery, and judo competitions via NBCOlympics.com.
China warns of Muslim terrorist threat ahead of Olympics
China insisted on Thursday it faced a serious terror threat in its Muslim-majority far northwest ahead of the Olympics, as it announced 82 "suspected terrorists" had been detained there this year.The 82 belonged to five groups that "allegedly plotted sabotage against the Beijing Olympics," the official Xinhua news agency reported.
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