Doublespeak

All governments do it. The Chinese Government happens to be incredibly blatant about it, probably because they can be. One of the things they have been talking up is the designation of special protest zones. However not only are these areas so far away from anywhere that they are rendered more-or-less useless, the strong likelihood remains that authorities will take down the details of protesters (not an idea I'd be comfortable with, that's for sure). On top of that, it seems that even if you want to protest in the 'correct' way, this is what may happen:

Beijing trumpeted its decision to establish special protest zones for this month’s Olympics as a demonstration of the liberties enjoyed by citizens of China’s capital. But when former residents of Beijing’s historic Qianmen district applied for permission to use one of the zones to demonstrate against the demolition of their traditional courtyard homes, police were unequivocal. They said that in order to maintain stability they would certainly not approve our protest,” said Zhang Wei, a group member whose home was levelled two years ago to make way for an upmarket retail and residential complex. The quick refusal of permission for a demonstration, even one in a city park well away from Olympic venues, underscores the determination of China's Communist government to curb dissent.

In the meantime, the amount of tourists in the city two days out from the biggest show on earth is decidedly small, and not looking to get a whole lot bigger.

"I am giving you a low price because there are no customers these days," a shop-keeper at Beijing's Hongqiao market, famous as one of the world's major retail market for pearls, grumbles after a customer has managed to beat down the price to drastic levels.
People connected to the travel industry were expecting a flood of visitors coming to Beijing two weeks before the Games. Instead, there is a small trickle of visitors just three days before the start of the Games apart from the athletes and sports officials from different participating countries.

I would like to make a (belated) suggestion to the Government that will solve both of these problems. People around the world have the opinion that these Games are going to be boring because of the micro-management of everyone's behaviour - right down to kite-flying. In order to get tourists flowing, I say the government lets people protest when and where they want. Free Tibet marches on Tiananmen Square? Student sit-ins demanding democracy at Tsinghua? I know I'd pay good money to see that, and I'll bet a lot of other foreigners would too.

Two days to go

And the air is still so thick you can almost eat it.... if you wanted to get sulfur poisoning that is. A few days ago it was fine, but the last couple have been terrible. It could go either way, I think. Just like the Games themselves.

The air, I mean, plot, thickens

So today the visibility out of my office window was probably the worst it has been for several weeks. The polluted fog over the city is an interesting metaphor for the sometimes murky ambience of the Games. Add to the atmosphere a thick police presence and tens of thousands of aggrieved foreign journalists and you have a volatile mixture that could well erupt at any moment. It's as difficult to see what will pan out as it is to see the next building from my office window...

A mission to nowhere

This article just caught my eye in the Oz:

ONE of the Dalai Lama's top envoys says Tibetan negotiators will present Chinese negotiators with a detailed autonomy plan at their next meeting in October.

"During the eighth round (of negotiations held since 2002), it is almost about all or nothing,'' Kelsang Gyaltsen told German news magazine Der Spiegel today.

"We will present a detailed plan of how we foresee autonomy in Tibet. If the Chinese side reacts positively, one could propose specific preliminary steps, for example a pilgrimage of the Dalai Lama to China.

"Such a development could lead to a meeting between His Holiness and the Chinese president and provide decisive momentum.''

Mr Gyaltsen said he had reason to believe Beijing was ready to resolve the dispute over Tibet in negotiations.

Now, I don’t want to sound cynical or nuffin’, but how on God’s green earth is the CCP going to get away with making a pact with the man they have portrayed as the devil’s spawn for almost six decades? The hate for the Dalai Lama held by vast sections of Han Chinese is so palpable you can almost smell it. After spending decades of whipping up a cult of Lama loathing among their citizens, an agreement which sees the CCP invite the malodorous monk to the motherland is going to be a miracle on a par with the second coming.

I wish the DL's envoys the best of luck. But I think the CCP have invested too much effort in creating an imagined enemy in the form of exiled Tibetans to allow them the space to do a U-turn now. And even if in some divine act they can come to an accommodation, how are the fen qing (nationalist youth) and other Han Chinese going to take it? It might just start a revolution....

Chinese Government announces tough new anti-terrified crackdown in Tibet

This just in from the Guardian:

China seeks "absolute monotony" for Olympics

In the wake of a few hundred Tibetans terrifying 1 billion Han Chinese in March, the Chinese Government has called for stronger international support in the face of these superhuman fiends of terror.

"We're absolutely terrified," said a government spokesman. "So our solution is to terrorize the terrorists. Then we'll be less terrified, and the terrorists will be too terrified to terrorize, and we'll be able to ensure a terrific terror-free Olympics. Pretty clever, eh?"

"But to do this, we need the help of the rest of the world."

When it was suggested to him that the Dalai Lama actually does not seek independence for Tibet, the spokesman was unmoved.

"It is a well known fact that the Dalai Lama has the sole of a god," he said. "We can barely control Tibet as it is. If the Dalai Lama, with his god-sole comes back to China, the s%*& is really going to hit the fan."

I smell bacon

Is it just me or does there seem to be about five times the amount of cop cars on the streets these days? Must be a part of the Central Committee's efforts to welcome all the visitors.

Prez dishes out some Olympic love

This just in from Xinhua.

Chinese president warns against politicizing Olympics

BEIJING -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday warned that politicizing the Olympics runs counter to the Olympic spirit and will not work.

"As proof that we would never politicize the Games, we locked up a number of political dissidents," he said. "We also shipped out large numbers of the working proletariat, who are known for their tendency to form left wing political parties and stage revolutions. That kind of anti-revolutionary revolutionary thinking is clearly not in the Chinese spirit of harmony."

He went on to shrug off suggestions that the international media may not adhere to the noble journalistic principal of reporting everything exactly the way the CCP wants it to be heard.

"No problem," he said. "The Chinese people have a magical wand that can wave all political criticism away," he said. "And we'll gosh-darn use it."

He hastily assured everyone, however, that China would ensure that guests would be warmly welcomed and the Games would be enjoyable for all.

"China has always opened its door to the outside world, apart from most of its history" Hu said . "But if you're black, a Russian female, from Xinjiang, Tibet or want a visa for the Olympics, you better be careful."