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Al Jazeera English – BEIJING 08 – Olympic protest zones lie empty — Har.
China’s announcement that it would set up three protest areas in the capital during the Olympics for authorised demonstrations, at least in theory, sounded like something of a concession.
In 2004 Athens made similar arrangements, but China traditionally takes a much more wary approach to protests. However, in practice, the system appears to be little more than an empty gesture. So far there have been no reports of any legal protest in the zones, with those applying uniformly rejected or detained.
Ji Sizun, 55, a self-described grassroots legal activist from Fujian province, appears to be the latest casualty of this system.
They can’t handle dissent. Maoism is basically Confucianism with a machine gun.
Bet Denver is wishing they could see the same thing at the convention.
The direct implication posting an Al-Jazeera sourced report is that the USA media is not covering this most American issue for its sports fans?
Well, they don’t report the same thing happening in America–so–
Yep.
Anyone who actually thought they would be used?
Free Speech Zones for everyone!
Who says America doesn’t export anything.
#2, I was living in downtown Chicago in 1968… It was ‘wild in the streets’ during the ‘convention’…
I don’t think we will ever see anything like it ever again.
So who is going to be protesting at Denver? And why? I don’t get what the big deal is. I thought the rabid left loves Obama.
Probably make all applicants sign a waiver after being shown a video of the tanks rolling over the student protesters in Tiananmen square.
#7 Obama is racing so fast to the center it scares the rabid left. And the Really Rabid left believes even Dennis Kucinich is right wing. And then there are the anarchists (some of whom probably live up the road in Boulder) who just want any excuse to protest (i.e. riot) on TV.
You would need to be brain dead to try and use one of those zones. It would amount to asking for a beating at best.
Read Nicholas Kristoff’s column in the NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/opinion/17kristof.html?hp
You can’t get into one of those “protest zones” if you try.
Wtf was the IOC thinking, holding the Olympics in a totalitarian backwater like that.
Give them 25 – 50 years. Maybe then. In 2008? NFW.