China Olympic Prep

Discussion in 'Chinese Chat' started by ralphrepo, Jun 25, 2008.

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ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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In the run up to the Olympics, the PRC is not taking any chances with anything, even tourists:

China’s Visa Policy Threatens Olympics Tourism

BEIJING — The plush lobby of Beijing’s Kerry Center Hotel is usually crowded with foreign guests, many of them listening to jazz and sipping martinis in Centro, the hotel’s fashionable bar, or lining up for taxis after dinner at the Horizon restaurant. But Thursday evening, Centro had only a sprinkling of guests in a hotel whose occupancy rate is typically close to 100 percent this time of year. That night, the duty manager, said it was 63 percent. “Something strange has been going on,” said Sun Yin, the duty manager. “I really don’t know what happened.” With the Beijing Olympics less than two months away, hotel operators, travel agencies, and foreign businessmen say new Chinese visa restrictions are proving bad for business, casting a pall over Beijing during what was supposed to be a busy and jubilant tourist season leading up to the Olympic Games.

Chinese authorities acknowledged putting new visa restrictions in place in May — after foreign embassies reported fewer visas being granted and tighter, sometimes seemingly arbitrary, restrictions. The government did not release guidelines detailing the changes in policy; it often does not. But a foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said in May that they would be temporary. On Monday, Hu Bin, a visa official at the foreign ministry, said the ministry had no statistics on the number of visa denials, but that the new policies were put in place for “security considerations.” Travel business analysts had forecast that the Games would bring 500,000 foreign visitors and an extra $4.5 billion in revenue to Beijing this summer. But now, even though some five-star hotels are fully booked for the Olympics, many economists are beginning to doubt the city will get the kind of economic windfall it was hoping for.

Many hotels in Beijing are struggling to find guests; some large travel agencies have temporarily closed branches; and people scheduled to travel here for seminars and conferences are canceling. The number of foreign tourists visiting Beijing fell sharply in May, dropping by 14 percent, according to the city’s statistics bureau. Beijing residents, meanwhile, are complaining that heightened security measures could spoil what was supposed to be Beijing’s long anticipated coming-out party. Despite years of careful preparation — including teaching taxi drivers English and instructing locals in how to wait in a line (not common here), and spending billions on mammoth building projects for these Games — Beijing is starting to appear less welcoming to foreigners. “Business is so bleak,” said Di Jian, the sales manager at the Capital Hotel in Beijing. “Since May, very few foreigners have checked in. Our occupancy rate has dropped by 40 percent.”

Many other cities in China are also feeling the pain of fewer tourists, including Shanghai, where some hotels say occupancy rates are down 15 to 20 percent. The government has publicized its determination to combat possible threats to the Games, including suicide bombings, bus hijackings and chemical attacks. In April, Interpol warned that a terrorist attack during the Beijing Olympics is a “real possibility.” And in a year plagued by riots in Tibet, protests of the Olympic torch relay, a terrorist plot to kidnap journalists covering the Olympics (according to Beijing officials) and the Sichuan earthquake, the government is stressing public safety above all else. But Beijing appears to be less concerned about hosting a global party and more concerned with making sure no one spoils it. Officials announced Thursday that 100,000 commandos, police and army troops would be placed on high alert during the Games.

The heightened sense of alert over security threats in the capital has done something else too: it has spawned a huge number of rumors about other actions the government may or may not be taking. Among them: a border region with North Korea has been closed to prevent security risks; foreign students and migrant workers are being asked to leave Beijing during the Olympics; all volunteers need to register with the police; bars will be forced to close early; and all outdoor parties planned for the three-week-long Olympic celebration have been banned, putting the hex on some of the entertaining events that had been planned for the Games. The Beijing police and security officials denied some of the reports, but also, at times, insisted in telephone interviews last week that they could not disclose some security matters. Poor official communication about regulations and restrictions in Beijing may be contributing to public uncertainty and feeding the rumor mill. Nothing is more of an obstacle than the new visa policy. Businessmen, particularly from the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan, have complained that new visa restrictions have prevented business meetings from taking place and crimped deal making.

Many Hong Kong-based businessmen, for example, say new visa rules require frequent and complicated applications, often including proof of a hotel booking, round-trip airline tickets, and in some cases, a letter of invitation. “It’s kind of draconian,” said Richard Vuylsteke, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, which represents American companies doing business in the region. “But politics and security trump economics, especially during the Olympics. We just hope that after the Olympics things will change.” The European Union Chamber of Commerce in Beijing has also complained to China’s foreign ministry. Chinese hotel operators are also frustrated. A hotel construction boom in which the number of four- and five-star hotels in Beijing jumped from about 64 in 2001 to 161 as of the end of April, according to government figures, is beginning to look overly optimistic. Many hotels are still under construction in a city that now has over 5,000 hotels.

Hotel operators also say the earthquake and Olympic torch relay protests may be having an impact on tourism. “Usually May and June are the busy season for our hotel,” said Jiang Zhiqiang, a spokesman for the New Otani Changfugong Hotel in Beijing. “This year is quite unusual. I think several natural and man-made disasters happened subsequently, which hurt our business.” With the opening ceremony of the Olympics just seven weeks away, only 44 percent of the rooms in four star hotels and 77 percent of five-star hotel rooms are booked, according to the Beijing Tourist Bureau. If visitors cannot get visas to enter the country, many of those hotels may be forced to slash rates, which had jumped as high as $2,000 a night when prospects were brighter.

In some ways, the hotels are also on the front lines of the security crackdown. They typically share lists of their guests with the government, on a daily basis. But now they are being asked to supply photographs of all their employees too, as well as help the government in visa approvals, some hotel managers said. Many large tourism agencies have already given up. “Now most of my colleagues for inbound tourism don’t come to work,” said Wang Ge, director of the inbound tourism department at the Beijing Tourism Group. “We have no clients this month.” Indeed, when an American called the China Travel Guide Tourist Agency last week, a sales clerk even discouraged the person from visiting Beijing during the Olympics. “You really don’t want to go there,” said Lorna Liu, the sales representative at China Travel Guide. “Why don’t you try Xi’an or Shanghai and visit Beijing a little later?”

Source: http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20080624/ZNYT01/806240353
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Rather a damper on what should have been a fun time.

Ralph

#1 ralphrepo, Jun 25, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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And of course you can buy Yao's Bed as a souvenir:

Giant bed for huge Games auction

The bed used by China's 2.26m (7ft 6in) basketball star Yao Ming is one of 200 million Olympics memorabilia items for auction online, Chinese media say. Xiong Yan, president of the China Beijing Equity Exchange, which is handling the sales, said he hoped it would be the biggest Olympics auction. China Daily said the sales could fetch up to one billion yuan ($145m). Olympic Village furniture, electronic items, sports equipment and even land will be up for sale. China Daily said bidding for some items got under way on Wednesday, with the auctions set to take place after the Olympics, which are being held from 8-24 August, and the Paralympics, from 6-17 September.

Fixtures and fittings

"This is not the first time Olympic organisers are auctioning memorabilia," Mr Xiong said. "But as far as I know, this will be the biggest." He added: "We will highlight items [like Yao's bed] for bidders. Obviously the bidding will be hot. People will be looking for memorabilia." China Daily said there would be "furniture and fixtures, timepieces, light bulbs and tubes, and a variety of sports equipment." Land used for temporary Games sites will also be available.

Yao Ming's bed will be one of the biggest attractions. He plays for the Houston Rockets in the NBA in the US and is a huge star in China. The stress fracture to the left foot he suffered in February has been a national concern, but he expects to return to light training with China's national team on Friday. The cost of the Games themselves is estimated at $2.1bn.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7475173.stm
Published: 2008/06/26 11:49:37 GMT
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I wonder if that comes with fitted sheets?

Ralph

#2 ralphrepo, Jun 26, 2008
BigM Well-Known Member

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ralphrepo said: ↑

And of course you can buy Yao's Bed as a souvenir:

I wonder if that comes with fitted sheets?

Ralph
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I'd be curious to know what the organisers of the Auction will be doing with the money.. It would be nice to see it being donated to charity i.e. The Sichuan Earthquake

#3 BigM, Jun 27, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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BigM said: ↑

I'd be curious to know what the organisers of the Auction will be doing with the money.. It would be nice to see it being donated to charity i.e. The Sichuan Earthquake
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The really sad thing about this is that the whole thing has become so politicized (by all parties) that people aren't really expected to have a good time, but to show up and be politically correct.

Your suggestion of donating to the Sichuan victims may sound good, but evidence has already been forthcoming that charitable resources are being squandered or siphoned off. In such a large relief effort, there is invariably going to be corruption and graft (just take one look at what happened post Katrina, and that's in the US). Still, it really hurts to see people getting fat off of the suffering of others.

While publicizing the Olympics may seem like a good thing for Yao to do, I'm hoping he would use his celebrity to speak for the victims of the the shoddy school construction. It would be a much more humanitarian use of his time, and as a home grown international sports hero, his would be a hard voice to silence.

Oh, and totally aside from the politics, if you're into sports memorabilia, you should get anything with Yao Ming on it. As the first US Asian basketball celebrity, his stuff is going to be worth a lot of money as time goes on.

Ralph

#4 ralphrepo, Jun 27, 2008
ProjectD VIP yay :]

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LMAo i love the one with YAO mings bed in it... ahha
wonder how much it got sold for ><

#5 ProjectD, Jun 27, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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Official PRC authorized Olympic Cheer:

Beijing approves Olympics 'cheer'

Beijing Olympic chiefs are introducing an official cheer for patriotic spectators to spur on Team China at the Games, Chinese media reports. The authoritative, four-part Olympic cheer, accompanied by detailed instructions, will be promoted on TV, in schools and with a poster campaign. It involves clapping twice, giving the thumbs-up, clapping twice more and then punching the air with both arms. The cheer is accompanied by chants of "Olympics", "Let's go" and "China". The Beijing Olympic Organising Committee has hired 30 cheering squads who will show spectators how it is done at Games stadia, reports Xinhua state media.

'Civilized cheering'

A committee official said the simple chants and gestures were designed to help spectators cheer for their favourite athletes in a smooth, civilized manner. The Ministry of Education is also arranging special training sessions in schools for the 800,000 students who are expected to attend the Games. Li Ning, president of the Beijing Etiquette Institute, told the Beijing News that the cheer was in line with general international principles for cheering, while at the same time possessing characteristics of Chinese culture.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7438367.stm
Published: 2008/06/05 15:29:26 GMT
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I wonder what the official boo will be; the claps mixed with two thumbs down and then the middle finger? Would be hilarious, but so politically incorrect... LOL

And a multilingual Beijing Cop that you have to listen to...
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=36015790

Ralph

#6 ralphrepo, Jul 1, 2008
Last edited: Jul 1, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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Star Chinese athlete gets the boot from China's strict zero tolerance Olympic anti-drug screening.

http://video.yahoo.com/network/100000069?v=3008385&l=3437300

Top Chinese Swimmer Banned for Doping Ahead of Beijing Olympics By VOA Sports 27 June 2008

A top Chinese swimmer has been banned for life for doping only six weeks before the start of the Beijing Olympics.

The Chinese Swimming Association said Friday, it imposed a lifetime ban against star backstroker Ouyang Kunpeng after he failed an out-of-competition drug test on May 1. Ouyang's coach, Feng Shangbao, also received a life-time ban. The association says it is cracking down on doping violations. First time offenders usually receive a two-year ban. Ouyang competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics and won three silver medals at the 2006 Asian Games. The 25-year-old was considered perhaps Olympic host China's best chance of winning a backstroke medal this August. Ouyang is the biggest-name Chinese swimmer to fail a doping test for several years. Chinese swimmers were involved in a series of doping scandals in the 1990's.

Source: http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-06-27-voa47.cfm
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Don't know if his alibi story is legit or not, but given the status of food safety in the PRC, it seems that there is that possibility that he innocently consumed tainted meat. However, even with that possibility, and despite the usual two year ban for first offenses, this guy got banned for life. Really really sad.

Ralph

#7 ralphrepo, Jul 2, 2008
BigM Well-Known Member

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It just goes to show that China are taking extreme measures to set an example just before the Olympics.

Lol I just saw an interesting report on the news-It was about Chinese workers moving away somehting like 160 tonnes of algae from a river that is going to be used for sailing. There was so much you could actually wade through it.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/07/01/world/01algae.600.jpg

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/07/01/world/01algae_CA0.ready.html

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/06/30/world/30cnd-algae2.ready.html

#8 BigM, Jul 2, 2008
Last edited: Jul 3, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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Here's some more video and info on the Qingdao Algae Bloom:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7487189.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7485405.stm

Tackling Qingdao's invading algae
Army recruits knee-deep in the algae swamp
By Quentin Sommerville
BBC News, Qingdao

Young recruits from the People's Liberation Army threw off their shoes and stood knee-deep in the thick green algae that has overwhelmed the Qingdao coastline. Some had shovels, others used pitchforks, but mostly they worked with their hands to tear up great lumps of the heavy, sodden weed.

More than 10,000 of the recruits have been deployed. "We're working nine-hour days. I've been here six days, and still more and more of it keeps coming," said one of the soldiers. With every wave more of the algae comes ashore. Earth-moving equipment has arrived and long mechanical conveyor belts; perhaps they will speed up the progress. On one of the beaches is holidaymaker Wang Weizhong. The sludge ruined his holiday, and his anticipation of the Olympic Games. "We are really disappointed," he said. "We had no idea something like this would happen here." "We came for the pretty scenery, to get a taste of the preparations and excitement of the Olympics," he said.

Locals say the algae has never been so thick here - agricultural and industrial pollution are thought to be responsible. But China, embarrassed by the most vivid proof yet of its environmental problems, says the algae is a natural occurrence, and blames the sea for being too salty, the sun for being too hot. At a news conference earlier in the day one official suggested that algae could be good for you. "The Japanese eat it," she said.

Avoiding algae

It is something that most of the Olympic competitors have never experienced before. Joe Glanfield and his team-mate Nick Rogers are facing the algae for the first time. They are competing for Great Britain and won a silver at the last Olympics. "It does make a difference," said Joe. "It's my job to look out for patches of algae to avoid, so we don't get it stuck on the boat, which would slow us down." Alongside is their coach, Hamish Wilcox. He has been sailing these waters for three years. He is in little doubt about the cause of the outbreak. "There's no denying that there's a lot of sewage flowing out into the bay here," he said. "Some days it's disgusting, most of it is pretty raw, but there's quite a lot of current here so it does get swept away." But he thinks the mess will be cleared in time for the Games. "You can't really beat nature, but if the situation that caused all of this switches off, and they clear up the mess that's already here, then the likelihood is that they'll be OK."

Deadline

Around him are many hundreds of small wooden fishing boats. But they are not looking for fish - their holds are filled with piles of green algae. They take it ashore and from there it is taken to landfill. The government is erecting booms and netting out at sea, to stop the algae coming ashore, but it has no answers yet for stopping the weed growing in the first place. As the banners along the roads proclaim, the army has a two-week deadline to get rid of the slime. The pressure is on: the Olympics begin in just over a month.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7486814.stm
Published: 2008/07/03 08:28:00 GMT
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Too bad the stuff couldn't be harvested and made into something useful (or sold to the Japanese like one of the interviewees stated). There's just no time and they're looking to just get rid of it. They took over six days to just clear about 50 feet of beach. They have only 15 more days to clear the rest. And as the videos showed, there's an awful lot of beach and shoreline still left. I'm not sure if they can pull this off if they continue using only manual (by hand) clearance. Where's the heavy machinery? Maybe they use tugs and nets to pull large clumps of it out to sea?

Ralph

#9 ralphrepo, Jul 3, 2008
Last edited: Jul 3, 2008
BigM Well-Known Member

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I don't think pulling it out to sea would help, cause wouldn't high/low tides and currents just bring it back in??

I'm pretty sure that I read that they were feeding the algae to pigs or something like that

EDIT:

State news outlets reported that 100,000 tons of algae had already been taken out of the water. Much of it was being transported to farms as feed for pigs and other animals, according to news reports.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/asia/01algae.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

#10 BigM, Jul 4, 2008
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This is pretty normal usually all olympics have some sort of security issue. I wouldnt be suprised to see some sort of uprising protest to try to limit the amount of visa permitted to incoming viewers/fans.

#11 ipat, Jul 4, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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BigM said: ↑

I don't think pulling it out to sea would help, cause wouldn't high/low tides and currents just bring it back in??

I'm pretty sure that I read that they were feeding the algae to pigs or something like that

EDIT:

State news outlets reported that 100,000 tons of algae had already been taken out of the water. Much of it was being transported to farms as feed for pigs and other animals, according to news reports.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/asia/01algae.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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I call your attention to the article that you quoted:

"...We will make all our efforts to finish this job,” said a propaganda official in Qingdao, who asked not to be named because of the political delicacy of the issue. “Now, forces from the entire province have become involved.” He said ships and boats have been dispatched from two other coastal cities, Rizhao and Yantai, to help haul away the algae.

Yuan Zhiping, an official with the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Committee, said Sunday that the government would try to block algae from floating into the Olympic sailing area by installing in the sea a fenced perimeter more than 30 miles long.
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So it seems that they're actually doing a little bit of everything to try to solve this problem. Either way, its a real chore to say the least.

ipat said: ↑

This is pretty normal usually all olympics have some sort of security issue. I wouldnt be suprised to see some sort of uprising protest to try to limit the amount of visa permitted to incoming viewers/fans.
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I'm not so sure; most of the tourist venues are already complaining that their biggest expectations for a windfall in Olympic stimulated extra business have already been dashed. If limits are placed on their usual tourists, many of these companies may actually have a losing season. While you may not be surprised by an uprising to try to limit the amounts of incoming tourists, I certainly would as they're already complaining about the exact opposite; ie not enough tourists this year.

Ralph

#12 ralphrepo, Jul 4, 2008
Last edited: Jul 4, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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If algae wasn't the problem, Olympic competition air quality was in the news today:

China to close plants over Games

China has ordered the closure of 40 factories in a city close to Beijing in the run-up to the Olympics Games. The plants in the eastern port city of Tianjin have been ordered to stop production from late July. The move is the latest attempt by China to minimise air pollution in the capital during the Games in August. Some athletes have expressed concern about air quality affecting their performance and damaging their health. State media reports that work on key building sites in Tianjin will be suspended, including the construction of an underground railway line.

Two cement works, 26 building sites and six factories which cause "effluvial contamination" will also be affected, said Xinhua news agency. On Friday, similar action was taken in the city of Tangshan, 150 km (90 miles) east of Beijing where about 300 factories will suspend their operations. Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world and officials have been making extensive efforts to improve air quality before the Games.But correspondents say that pollution in the city is as bad as ever and it is often shrouded in heavy smog.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7491456.stm
Published: 2008/07/05 14:18:01 GMT
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I remember a time when Bangkok used to be the world's worst air quality city. Beijing seems to have somehow usurped that title. The air had become so bad in parts of China that, while the butt of online jokes, is nonetheless frightening in terms of health consequences. I wonder what will happen once the Olympics moves on?

More news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7496377.stm

Ralph

#13 ralphrepo, Jul 5, 2008
Last edited: Jul 8, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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What? No Snoopy Snacks? What the hell kind of Olympics is that?:

China bans dog from Olympic menu

China has ordered dog meat to be taken off the menu at its 112 official Olympic restaurants in order to avoid offending foreign visitors.

Restaurant workers are advised to "patiently" suggest other options to diners who order dog. Any restaurant found violating the ban would be black-listed, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Dog - known as "fragrant meat" - is eaten by some Chinese for purported medicinal properties. The ban, issued by the Beijing Catering Trade Association, forbids all designated Olympic restaurants from offering dog and urges other food outlets to remove the meat from menus. "If a customer orders dog meat, restaurant staff should patiently suggest another entree," said Xiong Yumei, deputy director of the Beijing Tourism Bureau told Xinhua.

Act of respect

The measure has been implemented to "respect the habits of many countries and nationalities," the Beijing News quoted the municipal food department as saying. The BBC's James Reynolds says the ban is one of several steps taken by China to avoid foreign visitors being amused or offended by local customs. Authorities have also told people to queue up politely, to smile and not to spit on the streets.

During the 1988 Seoul Olympics, South Korea also banned doggie dishes from menus. Officials invoked a law banning the sale of "foods deemed unsightly". Dog meat is eaten in some other Asian countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7501768.stm
Published: 2008/07/11 12:44:10 GMT
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This is just too funny :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Imagine? IRON CHEF CHINA... Today's secret ingredient is... DOG!!!

Well, at least its a step above eating bugs in Thailand. Honestly, the shit people can willingly put into their mouths is just amazing... -shock

Ralph

#14 ralphrepo, Jul 11, 2008
Chibi12 Well-Known Member

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Such a shame the olympics is being ruined like this, i cn understand the security measures that has to be put up with the threats out there. Using the olympics, jus cos its held in China, to make a statement is wrong on so many levels, pple want to enjoy seeing so many countries competing in sports, so its a shame some pple have tried to involve politics into it.

#15 Chibi12, Jul 12, 2008
virginguy Member

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I'm wondering why Chinese government don't allow Chinese people to mail the dvds out of China???????

#16 virginguy, Jul 12, 2008
shizukaao Member

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good question and i wanna try dog one day 2...

#17 shizukaao, Jul 12, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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And they're even practicing their fireworks too, nice -clapclap

China holds Olympic rehearsal

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7510794.stm
China has held a rehearsal of the Olympics opening ceremony in the main venue for the Games, the 'Bird's Nest' stadium. Fireworks lit up Beijing's skyline as the rehearsal was carried out under tight security.
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Looks like they're going to have all that pyrotechnic going off just above the visitors' heads in the stadium. Scary but tres cool. And it looks like they finally took care of the Algae problems too:

Algae cleared from Olympic venue
By Quentin Sommerville
BBC News, Qingdao

The Chinese government has successfully cleared tonnes of algae that was blocking the Olympic sailing course in the eastern city of Qingdao. A special protection zone was set up using a boom and netting. But in other areas the thick bright green algae is still polluting the beaches. The Chinese government had set a goal of clearing the sailing area by Tuesday. The Olympic Games begin on 8 August.

Soldiers involved

The water at the Olympic sailing course in Qingdao is now largely algae free. Some 10,000 troops from the People's Liberation Army have lifted over half a million tonnes of the thick heavy weed from the coastline. A boom and netting is stopping more of the algae coming ashore. Olympic sailing teams here say they can now train and will be able to compete in Qingdao's waters. But at beaches not protected by the boom, the algae is still coming in. China says it is a naturally occurring, though rare, phenomenon. Environmentalists blame pollution.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7507233.stm
Published: 2008/07/15 11:55:34 GMT
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Ralph

#18 ralphrepo, Jul 16, 2008
Last edited: Jul 17, 2008
ralphrepo Well-Known Member

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A real shame, but because of these games, not only did whole historic sections of Beijing get bulldozed, but so too did many people. The PRC government of course, would dispute this. But its fairly apparent (to me at least) that they used strong arm tactics in moving lots of people out from their homes and probably gave them little in return. This has been routine PRC government procedure for years.

Defiant Beijing family loses home
By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing

Workmen have torn down the home of a Beijing family that was refusing to move to make way for redevelopment. A demolition crew pulled down the house early on Friday, according to people gathered outside the site. Bedecked with posters, slogans and flags, the city-centre shack had been attracting attention from neighbours and passers-by. The Yu family were refusing to move because they said the compensation being offered was far too low. It was not immediately clear where the family is now living. Family members were not answering their phones. Later, the local government admitted it had taken matters into its own hands after negotiations with the Yu's broke down. "Because they had unreasonable requests and refused to relocate... they were forcibly moved," said a statement posted on a government-run website.

Few traces

The Yus' home was one of more than 160 houses and shops that the local government decided to tear down in 2005 to spruce up the roadside area. Everyone but the Yus agreed to move. Just a few days ago, they were still promising to defend their property, bought 60 years ago, with their lives. But virtually all traces of the house were quickly removed. The Yus' tumble-down home, near many Beijing tourist attractions, was one of hundreds of "nail houses" that have sprung up across China. These are houses whose owners refuse to budge to make way for redevelopment projects. Families often complain that they are forced out of their homes and are not given enough compensation.

'Violent dispossession'

Earlier this week, a Swiss-based organisation estimated that up to 1.5 million people have been moved from their Beijing homes because of the Olympics. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions said this had taken place over an eight-year period leading up to this summer's games. "[The] authorities have used tactics of harassment, repression, imprisonment and even violence against residents and activists," it said. China disagrees with these figures. It says just 6,000 families have been moved to make way for Olympic building projects.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7513289.stm
Published: 2008/07/18 12:06:20 GMT
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Lest we forget with the hoopla and ethnic pride of the games, China is not a democratic country. It is a country still ruled by the sharp edge of the sword and the common Chinese live or die at the pleasure of a select few. When a Chinese athlete wins a medal, who does he win it for; the people thrown out of their homes to make way for the venue or those living in comfort in Zhongnan Hai? Not a nice thing but something to think about. -huh

Ralph

#19 ralphrepo, Jul 18, 2008
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Just returned from BJ last week,,, Streets are all dug up everywhere (i.e. the Hu Tong near Tiananmen SQ). No where near ready...

#20 joecool, Jul 18, 2008

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