Former Heptathlete: Why Can't the Chinese Authorities Allow Space for Protests?

[GTF]

One of the most important issues for the upcoming Beijing Olympics is whether activists will attempt to carry out public protests and demonstrations, and how the Chinese authorities will react if they do. Many non-Chinese have been wondering if the Chinese authorities were so naïve about the attitude toward China in the West that they were taken by surprise by the protests during the international torch relay. The answer to this question appears to be: Yes. This even though Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games had probably been the most politically-contested bid ever. In 2001 Moscow police arrested 21 anti-China protesters, including a Tibetan monk, in the two days leading up to the IOC vote on the 2008 host city.

One measure of the lack of anticipation is the slowness with which public statements have emerged about how protests will be handled during the Olympic Games. Well after the torch relay uproar, on June 2, BOCOG released the "Legal Guidelines during the Olympic Games for Foreigners to Enter the Country and for the Period of their Stay in China" (in Chinese - translations are my own). The most relevant statement was hidden near the very end as the answer to Question #55: "Holding assemblies, marches, and protests must be applied for at a public security office according to the law. Those who have not received a permit cannot hold an associated activity." It is not clear how often Chinese groups apply for these permits and what usually happens when they do, or what would happen if a foreign group applied during the Olympics.

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