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http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25234
Beijing Games update
28.03 - Polish premier will not attend opening ceremony
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk yesterday told the Polish daily Dziennik Polska-Europa-Swiat that he plans to stay away from the 8 August opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games because of the situation in Tibet. “Poland is a medium-sized country and does not seek to be the first, but my opinion is very clear - I think the presence of politicians at the inauguration of these games is inappropriate.”
28.03 - Czech leaders split over position on Olympic Games
Czech Republic President Václav Klaus said on 26 March that he would not attend the Beijing Summer Olympics, according to the Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes. But his decision is said to be for reasons of health rather that the repression in Tibet. “I do not envisage attending the Olympics in China or scolding China,” Klaus has written on his personal website, www.klaus.cz. He added however: “Those who decided to assign the games to China cannot be surprised now that China is how it is.”
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has meanwhile said that a decision on his possible presence at the opening ceremony would be taken in a cabinet meeting. “I am not in the habit of making gratuitous gestures and I will not make one in connection with the Olympic Games,” he said.
27.03 - European parliament Greens wear Reporters Without Borders colours
All of the members of the Green group in the European parliament wore the Beijing 2008 campaign T-shirt with Olympic handcuffs during yesterday’s plenary session. The Green group’s joint president, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, gave a speech calling for politicians to get in involved in the debate on human rights in China, including Tibet.
Photo European parliament
27.03: Pro-Tibet petition now aims for 2 million signatures
The online petition (http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/) launched by Avaaz on 18 March has already gathered more than 1 million signatures and the organisers are now hoping to reach 2 million by 31 March, when boxes containing the signed petitions will be placed at the entrance to Chinese embassies around the world. The petition urges President Hu Jintao to show restraint and respect for human rights in Tibet and to open dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
27.03 - 15 French athletes ask China to keep its promises on human rights
Fifteen French athletes including sprinters Christine Arron and Muriel Hurtis signed a joint appeal in the Paris-based Nouvel Observateur newspaper today saying “there is a path between silence and a boycott of the Olympic Games” and urging Chinese President Hu Jintao to keep the promises made by China to respect freedom of expression and human rights.
“To win these Olympic Games for Beijing, the Chinese government undertook to respect human rights,” the appeal says. “Today, the violent crackdown on the rioting in Tibet has raised serious doubts about this pledge to the Olympic movement (...) The most basic rights are not being respected - neither physical integrity nor freedom of expression is possible in China.”
Urging other athletes and Internet users to support their appeal, the French athletes add: “We cannot be the hostages of politics or support for an authoritarian regime. For this reason, Mr. President, we solemnly ask you today to keep your word. Do not spoil the games.”
Read the French athletes’ appeal.
21.03 - Berlin and Paris say let foreign journalists back into Tibet
German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier today called for more transparency from the Chinese government about the situation in Tibet. “China is only hurting itself by preventing foreign observers from seeing what is going on,” Steinmeier said. The French foreign ministry today also called for the foreign media to be allowed to go to Tibet. Journalists have been unwelcome there since the start of the protests on 10 March.
20.03 - Online petition in support of Tibetan people
An online petition launched by Avaaz in support of the Tibetan people and the Dalai Lama has been signed by more than 330,000 people in 48 hours. The petition will be sent to Chinese President Hu Jintao as soon as the number of signatories reaches 1 million. http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/98.php/?cl_tf_sign=1
19.03 - Former French presidential candidate backs “political boycott” call
Former French presidential candidate Corinne Lepage of the CAP 21 party yesterday said she supported a “political boycott” of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, along the lines proposed by Reporters Without Borders. “CAP 21 hopes that France, the country of human rights, will urge the international community and the European Union to press for an end to the cultural genocide to which the Tibetan population is subjected,” Lepage said.
19.03 - French foreign minister thinks opening ceremony boycott would be unrealistic
French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner has described Reporters Without Borders’ call for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony as “pertinent” but “unrealistic.” He said it was “less negative that a complete boycott of the games” and at one point he did not rule out the possibility of the EU agreeing to the proposal, but he also said it would be “hard to put into effect.” Calling for “reflection about what is most effective,” Kouchner said: “It is so easy to brandish a threat when one is not going to carry it out.”
19.03 - European parliament president suggests boycott by politicians
European parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering yesterday urged politicians to reconsider their participation in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. “We cannot agree with what is happening in Tibet, the Chinese must realise that,” Pöttering said, adding, “We must send a signal to Beijing.”
19.03 - Britain urges China not to ruin its image ahead of Olympics
On 17 March, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged China to show restraint in Tibet and to take greater care with its international image. British foreign office minister Mark Malloch-Brown, a former UN deputy secretary-general, also warned China to be careful not to ruin its image ahead of the Olympics. “This is China’s coming out party, and they should take great care to do nothing that will wreck that,” he said.
19.03 - Olympic committees oppose boycott but IOC urged to take position
European Olympic Committees president Pat Hickey, European commissioner for sport Jan Figel and the presidents of the British, Australian and Austrian Olympic committees said on 17 March that a boycott of the Olympic Games would not be an effective way of putting pressure on the Chinese. French sports minister Bernard Laporte was of the same view. “A boycott would just hurt the athletes,” he said.
But Swiss Olympic Committee president Joerg Schild urged the International Olympic Committee to take a position on the recent events in Tibet. While opposing a boycott as something that “would affect the athletes and Chinese population,” Schild said on 17 March he though IOC silence on the issue was inconceivable. “The credibility of the Olympic movement will be at stake” if it does not remind China of its human rights undertakings, he said.
14.03 - Growing unrest in Lhasa
The Tibetan capital of Lhasa has been shaken by anti-Chinese demonstrations and rioting since 10 March, the anniversary of an abortive 1959 uprising and the Dalai Lama’s escape. The protests, which follow the arrests of Buddhist monks in December 2007 and growing tension between the Chinese government and Tibetan people as the Beijing Summer Olympics approach, are of a scale unseen since 1989.
The deployment of hundreds of soldiers and public security agents in response to the uprising by monks has contributed to an escalation in the violence. Tourists told AFP that the security forces have sealed off Lhasa. Three large monasteries in the old town have been closed. Shops and restaurants in the city centre are also shut. Monks at Sera have gone on strike in a show of support.
Comments by foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang playing down the unrest were quoted today by the government news agency Xinhua, which referred to “serious disturbances” including the torching of military vehicles and clashes in which two people were believed to have died and hundreds were wounded. There has also been rioting in Xiahe, in the northwestern province of Gansu, which has a sizable Tibetan population. Hundreds of civilians, led by Buddhist monks were involved. They were dispersed by anti-riot units without use of violence.
Tibetan outside of China have also been expressing their discontent. A march by Tibetan exiles began in Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile in northern India, on 10 March, but was cut short by the local authorities.
14.03 - HRW accuses China of abusing migrant construction workers in Beijing
Human Rights Watch issued a report (www.hrw.org/reports/2008/china0308/) on 12 March condemning the way the Chinese authorities treat the estimated 1 million construction workers from other parts of China who make up 90 per cent of the workforce that is building the “New Beijing.”
“If the Chinese government really wants to protect the migrant workers’ rights, it should start by scrapping the hukou system,” said HRW’s Asia spokesperson, Sophie Richardson, referring to the household registration system that severely limits the ability of Chinese citizens to claim their rights when they are away from their official place of residence.
The International Olympic Committee undertook to monitor conditions for construction workers at Olympic sites, especially after the Chinese authorities acknowledged in January that there had been six deaths.
14.03 - Hong-Kong cardinal says Beijing games are good for human rights
Hong-Kong cardinal Joseph Zen, who is in Rome for a meeting of Chinese bishops at the Vatican, yesterday said the Olympic Games offered “a good opportunity for China to show that it has improved its respect for human rights” and that he would like to see China become “one of the top nations that truly defend human rights and work for peace.”
13.03 - No unauthorised demos, says Beijing official with eye on Olympics
At a news conference on 12 March, Beijing deputy mayor Liu Jingmin made it clear the authorities intend to keep attempts to stage demonstrations during the summer Olympics under close control. Anyone wanting to hold a demonstration will have to apply to the city police for permission, and the police will decide to approve it or not in line with laws, Liu said.
In practice, the police almost never give permission for street demonstrations, especially if the government is targeted. Liu’s warning comes amid signs that many local and foreign groups plan to take advantage of the media spotlight on the Olympics to draw attention to the problems of human rights and press freedom in China, and the situation in Tibet.
13.03 - Authorities step up harassment of people trying to petition parliament, report says
China Human Rights Defenders issued a report on 11 March claiming that harassment and arrests of the thousands of Chinese who travel to Beijing each year to petition parliament has become more systematic and extensive. The harassment includes kidnapping and incarceration in secret detentions centres, the report said. “The Chinese government wants to erase the image of people protesting in front of government buildings, as it would ruin the meticulously cultivated impression of a contented, modern, prosperous China welcoming the world to the Olympics this summer,” it added. The public security ministry spokesman did not comment on the allegations.
13.03 - George Clooney puts pressure on Olympic sponsor Omega
American actor and director George Clooney, who advertises Omega watches, said on 11 March that he has talked regularly with the Swiss company, an Olympic sponsor, about China’s role in the Darfur crisis in Sudan. Clooney also said he had and would continue to “ask China to use its considerable leverage with the government of Sudan.”
13.03 - Tibetan exiles continue march through northern India to Tibetan border
Around 100 Tibetan exiles are continuing their protest march through northern India to the Tibetan border despite being served an official restraining order by the police on the second day of the march. “We will continue on our homeland march despite the order that has been served on us,” said B. Tsering, head of the Tibetan Women’s Association, one of five organisations sponsoring the march. The march began in Dharamsala on 10 March, the 49th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. “In Tibet, repression continues to increase with numerous unimaginable and gross violations of human rights, denial of religious freedom and politicization of religious issues,” the Dalai Lama said in Dharamsala on 10 March.
13.03 - Tibetans stage their own Olympic torch-lighting at Olympia
Tibetan activists lit their own Olympic torch on 10 March in Olympia, in Greece, starting a torch relay through 50 cities that will end at the border of Tibet on the day the Olympic Games start in Beijing. This is “a torch for freedom, a symbol of the Tibetan people’s resistance against the Chinese government,” Tendon Dahortsang of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe said. Their torch was lit outside the gates to the ancient Olympic site because the Greek police prevented them from entering. Their protest was watched by Chinese officials. The official Olympic torch-lighting ceremony will be held in Olympia on 24 March.
12.03 - Monks arrested in Lhasa protests, while exiles in India start long march
Two demonstrations of a scale unseen since 1989 were staged by Buddhist monks in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on 10 March, the anniversary of an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. About 300 monks gathered at Drepung monastery in support of colleagues who have been imprisoned since the US congress awarded a gold medal to the Dalai Lama last October. They were firmly dispersed by the police. Around 10 monks also gathered outside a temple in Lhasa and chanted slogans critical of the Chinese authorities. As well as making about 70 arrests, the police reinforced their presence around the city. Local officials refused to comment on the events.
Hundreds of Tibetan exiles in India set off the same day from the northern city of Dharamsala on a five-month march on foot to the Tibetan border, where they plan to arrive just before the start of the Beijing Olympic Games in August. The Dalai Lama meanwhile denied Chinese President Hu Jintao’s accusation that he is trying to "sabotage" the games. The spiritual leader of the Tibetans said China had a right to hold the games and he did not dispute it.
06.03 - Dutch Olympic champion urges IOC to take position on human rights in China
Dutch swimmer Peter van den Hoogenband, the reigning Olympic 100-metre freestyle champion, yesterday said he would like the International Olympic Committee to publicly call for an improvement in human rights in China in order to take the media pressure off the athletes taking part. A statement by IOC president Jacques Rogge would allow athletes to concentrate on training for the games and prevent sport being eclipsed by human rights issues, he said.
04.03 - Families of Yang Chunlin, Wang Guilin and Yu Changwu banned from talking to international media
The family of Yang Chunlin, who started the campaign “We want human rights, not the Olympic Games”, were summoned by police in Jiamusi, north-eastern China on 2 March, who told them they were banned from contacting foreigners. Radio Free Asia reported that the family is still waiting for news about the outcome of the dissident’s trial, which opened on 19 February and has had no media coverage in China.
Yang Chunlin’s sister, Yang Chunping, recently said in an interview with British Sky television that the trial was painfully slow and the family was subjected to harassment. Since the Sky interview, the wives of Wang Guilin and Yu Changwu, activists jailed for taking part in the same human rights campaign, have also come under pressure from the authorities. “Their mobile phones have been cut off and they do not dare give interviews”, Yang Chunping said. “The authorities do resort to intimidation but I don’t think they would go so far as to carry out their threats of violence or imprisonment. That would be against their interests”, Yang Chunlin’s lawyer, Li Fangping said.
03.03 - Members of US Congress criticise growing repression in run-up to Olympics
Republicans and Democrats within the Congressional committee on China, established in 2000 to monitor respect for civil liberties, condemned a growing crackdown by Chinese authorities ahead of the Beijing Olympics when they met on 26 February, citing the case of the imprisonment of Hu Jia. The US parliamentarians urged “the Chinese government to keep its word on fundamental freedoms and environmental problems.”
03.03 - Chinese foreign minister denies alleged crackdown on freedoms ahead of Olympics
British foreign minister, David Miliband, on an official six-day visit to China, met his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, on 28 February. Following the meeting the Chinese official rejected as “unfounded” criticism of the Chinese authorities by the international community in relation to individual freedoms. The minister refused to discuss a possible boycott threat against the Beijing Olympics.
03.03 - Mothers of Tiananmen under surveillance during two political sessions
An open letter released by leaders of the Mothers of Tiananmen, Zhang Xianling and Ding Zilin, on 28 February, was not put before the People’s Assembly and the Consultative Assembly, news website Boxun reported. Zhang Xianling, who drew up the petition calling for an investigation and apology for the 1989 massacre, was placed under house arrest on 1st March. The authorities said that this “special regime will be maintained until 18 March”, the date on which the annual sessions of the two Assemblies are due to finish.
29.02 - IOC president says games will bring positive change
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge yesterday said the IOC was working on “ bringing to China all the values of the Olympic Games.” It might not be immediate, but the games would have “a positive influence” on China, he said.
29.02 - French ministers optimistic about impact of games on human rights
In an opinion piece in yesterday’s Le Figaro, the French ministers for human rights and sports, Rama Yade and Bernard Laporte, opposed a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games, saying it would not achieve anything concrete. “The Olympic Games offer a unique chance, a springboard for the rule of law and basic freedoms to take deeper hold in China,” they wrote. The progress desired by France includes an improvement in freedom of expression and civil rights, and ratification by China of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
29.02 - Bush to attend games, but will raise human rights with Chinese counterpart
US President George Bush yesterday he was going to attend the Beijing Olympics “because it’s a sporting event and I’m looking forward to seeing the athletic competition,” but he said he would raise human rights issues in private with his Chinese counterpart.
29.02 - German Olympic chief thinks Beijing games will improve human rights
German Olympic committee president Thomas Bach said after a meeting with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that he expected that the holding of the Olympic Games in Beijing would result in an irreversible improvement in the human rights situation in China. The Olympic movement would achieve what generations of US secretary-generals and presidents have failed to do, he said. The German government’s human rights commissioner meanwhile said briefing athletes about human rights did not mean they were qualified to take a position on the subject. That was the job of governments, he added.
29.02 - Rice raises free expression and religious freedom with Chinese leaders
When US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice met with President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in Beijing on 27 February, she reportedly raised human rights issues and voiced concern about the situation of political prisoners Hu Jia and Shi Tao. The next day, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao insisted that Hu Jia was being detained legally. “Relevant groups and individuals shall be well aware that China is a country ruled by law and stop making irresponsible remarks,” he said.
29.02 - Human rights petition activist arrested in Beijing
Wang Guilan was arrested yesterday in connection with a human rights petition with more than 12,000 signatures. Chinese Human Rights Defenders said she was arrested in Beijing by public security officials from her province, Hubei. Other signatories cancelled a news conference planned for yesterday because they feared they would also be arrested.
The petition urges the Chinese authorities to keep the promises made in 2001 - when the 2008 games were assigned to Beijing - to improve respect for human rights. “The Olympic Games are supposed to be run according to civilised rules and with civilised people taking part,” the petition says. “Since we are citizens of the organising country, we hope to enjoy human rights like any civilised nation.”
28.02 - “Mothers of Tiananmen” launch pre-Olympics appeal
Human Rights in China today released an open letter from the “Mothers of Tiananmen”, a group of families of the victims of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, which was sent to the Chinese authorities in the run-up to the Olympic Games. It urged the government to reconsider the often repeated demands of the families to open an investigation and to think about apologising and providing compensation. ”Can it be possible that the government is comfortable allowing athletes from the world over to tread the ground stained in blood and to take part in the Olympic Games,” it read.
28.02 - Nobel prize winner Gao Xingjian thinks the Olympics will not change China
Nobel prize winner for literature Gao Xingjian, said yesterday that he did not believe the Olympic Games would prove a vehicle for change in a country in flux like China. The French-exiled writer said, “China [...] already has enough problems to resolve". Personal stances and campaigns organised against the games will have a limited effect, much the same as “individual protests”, powerless when up against “government affairs”.
28.02 - Millions of peasant farmers threatened by plans to divert water
In an interview for the Financial Times yesterday, An Qiyuan, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee for Shaanxi province and former Communist Party chief of Shaanxi, warned the central government that overuse of the country’s water resources could cause a social and environmental disaster. And called on the government to compensate the provinces that have been told to pump their best water to the capital in order to ensure supplies during the Olympic Games. It is rare for a senior Chinese office to criticise government policy so openly in a foreign newspaper.
The government has embarked on an ambitious 60-billion-dollar project to channel water from wetter southern provinces to the arid north. Part of scheme is supposed to be ready in August and will be used to supply the capital during the games. Most of the project, which has been criticised as short-sighted and because it will deprive Hubei and Shaanxi of needed water, is to be completed by 2010.
28.02 - Anti-death penalty coalition calls for “concrete steps” before Olympics
The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, which unites around 60 international NGOs and many civil society actors around the call for the universal abolition of capital punishment, yesterday sent an open letter to the Chinese National People’s Congress calling for “concrete measures” to put a stop to executions before this summer’s Beijing Olympics.
Alluding to the values enshrined in the Olympic Charter, the coalition urged China to accelerate reforms and establish a moratorium on executions. The Chinese authorities no longer publish figures on death sentences and executions but estimates of the number of people executed every year range from 5,000 to 12,000, which - as the letter says - gives China the “world record of executions”.
The coalition, which participates in the 2008 China Olympics Collective (pekin2008.rsfblog.org), has posted a petition online (www.worldcoalition.org).
28.02 - Dialogue with US on human rights to resume
Foreign ministry spokesman Yang Jiechi said China will resume a dialogue with the United States on human rights following a meeting with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in Beijing on 26 February. China suspended talks on human rights in 2004 after the Bush administration submitted a resolution to the UN Human Rights Commission condemning human rights violations in China.
28.02 - Foreign ministry says games should not be “politicised”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference on 26 February that this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing “should not be politicised”. Liu’s comment came a day after the “88 Generation Students,” a Burmese opposition group, called for boycott of the games in protest against China’s support for Burma’s military government. “Political excuses should not be used to meddle in it”, Liu said.
28.02 - Samaranch says China “more open” than Russia in 1980
Former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch said in an interview for the Spanish sports daily Marca on 26 February that “it was riskier to hold the Olympics Games in Moscow in 1980” than to hold them in Beijing this year. “The Chinese regime is more open than what you had in the Soviet Union at that time”, he said. “China has opened up and has change a great deal. It has an exchange market, millionaires ... a bit of everything”.
Asked about the issue of human rights in China and US filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s decision to withdraw his help for the opening ceremony in Beijing because of China’s policy on Sudan and the Darfur crisis, Samaranch said “if one talks about human rights and what happens in China, that happens in a lot of other countries as well”.
27.02 - AIDS activist’s website closed
Aibowiki, a website created in July 2007 by HIV/AIDS activist Chang Kun, has not been accessible since 20 February. Access to the site, which deals mainly with discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS, was blocked two days after Chang posted an entry about his father, a peasant farmer in Fuyang, in the province of Anhui, and his attempt to resist the expropriation of his land.
Aibowiki joins the long list of HIV/AIDS news websites and forums, such as Ai Zhi Fang Zhou (www.chain.net.cn/forum) and Gan Dan Xiang Zhao, to be closed by the authorities. According to the latest health ministry figures, 700,000 people have AIDS or are seropositive in China. The 2007 figure for AIDS sufferers was a 45 per cent increase on the figure for 2006. The number of seropositives rose 24 per cent.
25.02 - Burmese opposition group calls for boycott of Beijing Olympics
The “88 Generation Students,” one of Burma’s leading opposition groups, today called on people throughout the world to boycott television coverage of the Beijing Olympics in protest against China’s support for Burma’s military government. The group also called for a boycott of Olympic Games merchandise and the corporations sponsoring the games, until they are over.
22.02 - Olympic Games critic mistreated during trial
Yang Chunlin, one of the advocates of the “We want human rights not Olympic Games” campaign, was himself the victim of serious rights violations at the opening of his trial on 19 February in Jiamusi, in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders said he was placed in handcuffs and leg irons for the journey from prison to the court and had to roll and throw himself to get himself in and out of the police van as his guards look on with visible amusement. His face was covered by a black hood and, when led into the courtroom, he was held by the neck by one of the seven guards escorting him.
Outraged by the mistreatment, his lawyers, Li Fangping and Zhang Jianguo, got the court to remove the shackles during the hearing. These methods, normally used with prisoners awaiting execution and counter-revolutionaries, were being used to terrify the defendant, his family, his lawyers and the witnesses, they said.
Yang has been held virtually incommunicado, with only one short visit from his lawyer since his arrest on 6 July 2007 on a charge of “subverting state authority.” This means he could easily have been subjected to other mistreatment. He is only allowed into the exercise yard once a month and is not allowed to receive any reading or writing material.
China has been a signatory of international treaties banning mistreatment of detainees since 1988.
21.02 - Olympics yes, but love and justice more, says Chinese protestant leader
“We want the Olympics, but we want love and justice more, Zhang Mingxuan, the head of a protestant church called the Chinese House Church Alliance, said in an open letter to the international community published this week.
And in an interview for Radio Free Asia, Pastor Zhang described the repression of Christians in China, which has been stepped up in the approach to the Olympic Games, he said. Chinese Christians, who number more than 100 million, are regarded as enemies of the Communist Party, and are not free to practice their religion or evangelize by means of privately-owned media, Zhang said. And sometimes they are punished by being sent to detention centres or work camps.
Zhang said at one point he had to move five times in two months. All of his movements are monitored and his phone is tapped. Nonetheless, he says he is very enthusiastic about the Olympics being held in China. Xu Yonghai, an active member of his church, said: “This will be an opportunity for Chinese Christians to get in contact with their counterparts from other countries.”
20.02 - Beijing games organisers urge sponsors not to yield to pressure
Yuan Bin, marketing director for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), said at a news conference today that its commercial sponsors were not expected to be affected by pressure over Darfur and other causes championed by international rights groups. “The Olympics should be kept non-political,” Bin said, urging sponsors such as Johnson & Johnson, Volkswagen, General Electric, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, as well as Chinese computer maker Lenovo, to stay on track. An Adidas representative present at the news conference, Li Zhinu, said: “From our point of view, we will not interfere in the internal affairs of a country.”
20.02 - IOC says athletes can keep personal blogs during Beijing games
The International Olympic Committee has decided that athletes will be allowed to keep blogs during the Beijing games but has imposed strict limits on how they are used. The blogs will have to be personal, they may not be used for journalistic purposes, and they may not contain photos or comments on fellow athletes.
Athletes will be able to express personal views in their blogs as long as they respect the Olympic Charter, which bans taking part in political demonstrations. “I don’t think expressing an opinion on something amounts to a demonstration,” said John Coates, the head of the Australian Olympic Committee on 17 February.
19.02 - Trial of Olympic Games critic begins
The trial of Yang Chunlin, one of the promoters of the “We want human rights, not Olympic Games” campaign, opened today in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. Yang rejected the charges of “subverting state authority” and defended his constitutional right to criticise the government. His lawyer, Li Fangping, told Reuters he was not expecting a verdict today.
15.02 - China reacts angrily to Spielberg pullout
Official Chinese news media yesterday accused western countries of taking advantage of the Olympic Games to attack China on human rights grounds. Recent decisions by well-known figures - including US film director Steven Spielberg yesterday - to withdraw or stay away from the Beijing Olympics because of China’s role in the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region have angered Chinese officials. The Chinese press did not mention Spielberg’s pullout.
The Chinese embassy in Washington said it was “completely unreasonable, irresponsible and unfair” to link the Olympics and Darfur, while the state-owned Global Times newspaper said “western exploitation of the Olympics to pressure China had aroused immediate disgust among ordinary Chinese people.”
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and British Olympics minister Tessa Jowell have meanwhile come out against a boycott of the games, saying everyone is free to take their own decision on whether or not to attend.
13.02 - Human rights activist Yang Chunlin to be tried next week
Yang Chunlin, a human rights activist who has been held since July 2007 for taking part in the “We want human rights not Olympic Games” campaign, is to be tried on 19 February. His lawyer, Li Fangping, said he feared his client would be found guilty of “inciting subversion of state authority.” Yu Changwu and Wang Guilin, two other participants in the campaign, were sentenced last month to reeducation through work.
Yang’s sister, Yang Chunping, said he has not received any family visits since his arrest. She said she feared she would not be able to attend the trial as it has been classified as involving “state secrets.”
13.02 - Spielberg pulls out as artistic adviser to Beijing Olympics
US film director Steven Spielberg yesterday announced that he would not honour a commitment to be an artistic adviser for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games because of China’s policy on Sudan’s Darfur region. US actress Mia Farrow has taken a similar position, voicing outrage that Beijing could hold the games while “being responsible for genocide” in Darfur.
As artistic adviser, Spielberg had been working with such artists as Chinese film director Zhang Yimou. He said he regarded China as a “key actor” with respect to the conflict in Darfur and that the Olympic Games were supposed to a way of bringing peoples together.
On 24 January, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Jiang Yu condemned any attempt to politicise the games in relation to China’s role in Darfur.
12.02 - Norwegian and Swedish Olympic athletes to be briefed on human rights
The Norwegian Olympic committee yesterday said it provides its athletes with information about the human rights situation in China and encourages them to express their views on it. Committee spokesman Martin Hafsahl said he hoped the athletes would be “better armed to confront reality.” In addition to the usual pre-Olympic training programme, the Norwegian athletes will be given two seminars on human rights, based on information provided by NGOs. The Swedish Olympic committee today announced that it would organise a similar programme.
12.02 - Imprisoned cyber-dissident denied adequate medical treatment
The family of cyber-dissident Jin Haike, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence, is very worried about his state of health. He has been suffering from unexplained stomach pains ever since recently undergoing a belated operation for the removal of his appendix. Reporters Without Borders joins his lawyer, Li Jianqiang, in requesting his release on health grounds.
The authorities in Beijing prison No. 2 and the doctors who operated on him are refusing to issue a diagnosis. His father, Jin Jianguo, recently visited him and said he seemed very weak.
His lawyer said he was also concerned about the health of Li Hong, a writer, detained in Ningbo, who needs medical treatment.
Jin and three other members of a pro-democracy group - Yang Zili, Zhang Honghai and Xu Wei - were arrested in Beijing in 2001. Convicted of inciting subversion of state authority, Jin was given a 10-year sentence in November 2003.
07.02 - Parisians invited to join Reporters Without Frontiers
Tomorrow, on 8 February 2008, Parisians will be invited to join Reporters Without Borders in condemning repression in China. Reporters Without Borders activists will station themselves in one of Paris’ busiest districts at midday and ask passers-by to let themselves be photographed wearing the "Beijing 2008" campaign T-shirt, on which the Olympic rings have been turned into handcuffs. A video about imprisoned journalists will at the same time be shown on a large screen.
venue : metro Havre Caumartin, 50/56 de la rue Caumartin(9th district).
06.02 - Human rights activist Wang Guilin sentenced to re-education through labour
Wang Guilin, a human rights activist, who was involved in the campaign, "We want human rights, not the Olympic Games" was sentenced on 28 January to 18 months of re-education through forced labour. His family were informed on 5 February of the decision by police in Heilongjiang, north-eastern China.
05.02 - France’s human rights minister intervenes on behalf of Hu Jia
French human rights minister, Rama Yade said on 4 February that she had intervened with the Chinese authorities on behalf of dissident Hu Jia who was charged on 30 January with "inciting subversion". "I intervened personally with the Chinese authorities to express my concern and my hopes for his early release", said Rama Yade, adding that she hoped Beijing would "respond to this friendly appeal".
29.01 - Government says six workers have died at Olympic construction sites
While the International Olympic Committee claims that conditions have improved for workers at Olympic Games construction sites, the London-based Sunday Times reported on 27 January that there has been a new blackout on accidents at the construction sites in Beijing, and that 10 workers have been killed in the course of work at the national stadium alone. Thousands of migrant of workers are involved in building or renewing a total of 76 sports venues in Beijing.
Ding Zhenkuan, deputy head of the Beijing Bureau of Work Safety, disputed the British newspaper’s figures at a news conference yesterday, putting the number of workers killed at all sites at six (of whom two at the national stadium). This is the first time the government has issued figures for deaths at Olympic construction sites. They are much lower than those reported by the organisers of the Athens Olympic Games.
28.01 - Prince Charles will not go to the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony
Britain’s Prince Charles has let it be known that he will not attend the opening ceremony of this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. He has done this in a letter written by Clive Alderton, his deputy private secretary, to the Free Tibet Campaign, which had asked him not to go. In the letter, quoted today by the London-based Daily Telegraph newspaper, Alderton wrote: “As you know, His Royal Highness has long taken a close interest in Tibet (...) You asked if the Prince of Wales would be attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His Royal Highness will not be attending the ceremony.”
Reacting to the news, Beijing Olympic Organising Committee spokesman Wang Hui said: “I think a boycott of the Olympic Games would be an unfair practice. The Beijing Olympic Games belongs to the whole world.”
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发表于 2008-3-28 01:51
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