Eight days before the 2008 Summer Games kick off in Beijing, the city’s air quality is still so unpredictable that officials were forced Thursday to announce emergency contingency plans.
In recent days, the Chinese capital has been blanketed in a haze, and vehicle emissions have been higher than those expected by experts. Olympic organizers fear the pollution could not only prove a nuisance to spectators, but also hinder the performance of athletes if they deeply inhale the pollutants.
Chinese authorities had previously earlier ordered many gunk-spewing factories to move out of town or shut down. On Thursday, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced that officials would close another 220 factories, coal-fired power plants and steel plants in Beijing, nearby Tianjin city and surrounding Hebei province if air quality was forecast to be poor for any 48-hour period.
Beijing will also ban all forms of construction “if there is very unfavorable weather, and the air quality is forecast to not be up to standard for the next 48 hours,” according to the ministry’s Web site. Experts said they interpreted this to mean that the emergency plan would begin if Beijing’s air pollution index, or API, was forecast to be 100 or more for two days in a row.
Officials describe an API over 100 as unhealthy for sensitive groups such as the young and the elderly.
On July 20, authorities began banning cars from the roads based on their license plates — vehicles bearing odd and even plates were given permission to take to the roads on alternate days. But afterward, the city’s API actually increased, from 55 that Sunday to 110 on Friday and 118 on Saturday.
Zhu Tong, an environmental sciences professor and the director of the Beijing Olympics Air Quality Research Group at Beijing University, said officials hadn’t calculated that creating special highway lanes dedicated to Olympic travel would clog the other lanes.
“We expected that with the odd and even restrictions there would be no traffic jams, and therefore fewer pollutants emitted. But because of the special Olympic driving lane, there are still a few traffic jams, so the emissions are higher than our predictions,” Zhu said.
Still, Zhu said the measures imposed July 20 have already improved air quality, and the emergency measures announced Thursday were only a “just-in-case” plan.
“The hazy days we had last week were due to unfavorable weather conditions,” Zhu said. “If there’s no unfavorable weather, I think we can guarantee good air quality during the Games.”
Under the new emergency measures announced Thursday, more cars would be taken off Beijing’s roads with a ban on vehicles whose license plates had a last digit that matched the date, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. There are more than 3.3 million cars in Beijing, and more than 1,000 are added to its streets every day.
Some greeted the measures with a degree of cynicism.
“Being able to drive is an important part of ordinary people’s quality of life. If they expand the restrictions, it will be even more inconvenient,” said Xu Shuqiang, 34, a university law school lecturer.
“Government policy should be fair to everyone, not injure some groups in favor of others. I suspect all these measures are only for the Olympics, just to please the foreigners, since they will end on Sept. 20,” Xu added. “Beijing is always polluted. They should come up with a long-term solution.”

An estimated 50,000 athletes and 22,000 journalists are expected in Beijing for the Games, which run from Aug. 8 through Aug. 24. Leaders want to showcase not only China’s economic and athletic prowess but also its environmentally friendly policies. The capital now has an expanded subway system, a new bus fleet powered with natural gas and state-of-the-art Olympic venues that recycle rainwater.

By Wednesday, thanks to rain showers and a strong breeze, which helped disperse pollutants, the API had dropped to 44. By noon Thursday, it was 69, still within the acceptable limit of 100, which is considered moderate in Beijing.

But even moderate levels in Beijing are still above the World Health Organization guidelines for healthy air, experts said. Beijing describes an API over 100 as unhealthy for sensitive groups such as the young and the elderly.

Part of the problem is that Beijing does not regularly monitor nor publish data on the two most dangerous pollutants that affect respiratory health — ozone and fine particulate matter known as PM 2.5.

Officials are also weighing other expert suggestions, Zhu said. “Some say we should adjust the way we use the Olympic lane, others say we should spray the streets with water, still others say we should do more propaganda to get more people to take public transportation. Some experts say maybe we should adjust the opening hours of gas stations.”

source: washingtonpost.com

Russia’s Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Open in Toronto after her second-round victory Wednesday because of a shoulder injury, possibly jeopardizing her participation in the Olympics.
Sharapova beat Marta Domachowska, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. She will have an MRI today.
Trailing 3-4 in the second, the third-seeded Sharapova had the trainer look at her right shoulder, an injury that might have contributed to 17 double faults.
She said her presence at the Olympics and the U.S. Open, which begins in late August, will depend largely on the results of the tests.
“I’m too good of a player to go out there and try to fight through something that I think can eventually become something serious,” Sharapova said.
Nike swimmers can wear Speedo: Nike will allow its swimmers to wear Speedo’s sleek LZR Racer instead of its suit at the Olympics.

Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said the company felt it was fair to extend the offer it made in June, when it allowed its swimmers to wear Speedo’s suit at the U.S. Olympic trials.
Four swimmers who signed with Nike, which has some of the industry’s tightest controls on athlete contract agreements, will head to Beijing, including breaststroker Brendan Hansen and backstroker Aaron Peirsol.
Speedo’s LZR Racer has had a major impact this year. Since its launch in February, swimmers have broken dozens of world records and athletes not sponsored by Speedo have clamored to wear it.
Iraqi rowers heading to Beijing: Two Iraqi rowers will be allowed to take part in the Olympics, the International Rowing Federation said.
Haidar Nozad and Hamzah Hussein Jebur were allowed back in the men’s double sculls because their places had not been given to competitors from other countries, Smith said.
North Korea declined to take the spots after the spots were offered last week, IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said.
The IOC readmitted Iraq to the Olympics Tuesday, six days after the deadline to enter athletes for the rowing, judo, archery and weightlifting competitions had passed.
FIFA frees up under-23 players: FIFA ruled that professional clubs must release players age 23 or younger for the Beijing Olympics, clearing the way for Lionel Messi to play for Argentina despite opposition from FC Barcelona, which said in a statement it would appeal the decision.
“Barcelona continues with its stance of not wanting to let me go and I understand it,” Messi said on Barcelona’s website before the ruling. “But I also think they have to understand that my dream is to take part in the Olympic Games.” … The U.S. men’s soccer team was held to a 0-0 draw by Ivory Coast at a four-nation tournament in Hong Kong. … Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia withdrew from the Olympics road time trial because of a knee injury. … Mate Parlov, the 1972 light heavyweight gold medalist boxer from the former Yugoslavia, died. He was 59. … Former world triple jump champion Charles Friedek of Germany won’t compete at the Olympics after losing a court appeal. Friedek, 36, argued he qualified by leaping 55 feet, 9 1/4 inches and didn’t need to jump that distance twice as required.

source: courant.com

The organizers of the Beijing Olympics on Thursday rejected criticism from the US House of Representatives, which accused China of cracking down on dissidents ahead of the Games.
Sun Weide, spokesman for the Beijing organizing committee, said in Beijing that the committee opposed any attempts to politicize the August 8-24 Games and argued that preparations for the competition had “promoted the social and economic progress in China, especially in Beijing.”
His comments came a day after the lower chamber of the US Congress voted 419-1 for a resolution that called on China to “immediately” end human rights abuses ahead of the Summer Olympics.
“In exchange for the privilege of hosting the Olympic Games, the Chinese government made commitments on freedom of the press, human rights and on the environment,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “Many of these commitments have been violated repeatedly and blatantly.”
China’s human rights record has come under increased scrutiny ahead of the Games, and civil rights groups have alleged Beijing has used the need to provide security as a pretext for pressuring political dissidents.

from: bangkokpost.com

Amnesty International has accused the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of caving in to China’s demands on Internet censorship and urged the IOC and Beijing to provide unfettered Internet access as they had promised.

“The International Olympic Committee and the Organizing Committee of the Beijing Olympic Games should fulfil their commitment to full media freedom and provide immediate uncensored internet access at Olympic media venues,” said Mark Allison, East Asia researcher for the London-based rights group, in a statement issued late Wednesday.

“Censorship of the internet at the Games is compromising fundamental human rights and betraying the Olympic values,” Allison said.

The organization was reacting to statements by Kevin Gosper, chair of the IOC’s press committee that “some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered Games related.” In Gosper’s statements to the South China Morning Post Wednesday, he also said the IOC could not tell China what to do.

Amnesty, however, noted that on July 17 Jacques Rogge, the IOC’s president, said “there will be no censorship of the internet.”

“This blatant media censorship adds one more broken promise that undermines the claim that the Games would help improve human rights in China,” said Allison.

Beijing authorities have blocked access to internet websites considered politically sensitive or critical of China, including sites for Amnesty and other human rights groups, as well as websites for exiled Tibetan groups and the banned Falungong spiritual group.

Some foreign media websites, such as the BBC’s Chinese-language service, the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the Hong Kong-based Apple Daily and the Taiwan-based Liberty Time, also are blocked.

The IOC said late Wednesday its officials are meeting with Beijing Olympic organisers to try to resolve the problem.

“We’ve learned there are issues accessing some websites and the IOC is talking with the organizers to see what may need to be rectified,” Sandrine Tonge, the IOC’s media relations coordinator said in an email to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa late Wednesday.

“The IOC has always encouraged the Beijing 2008 organizers to provide media with the fullest access possible to report on the Olympic Games, including access to the internet. BOCOG has said ’sufficient and convenient’ internet access will be provided for the media to cover the Games,” said Tonge.

The French press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday also condemned the Chinese authorities for restricting journalists’ access to the internet and slammed the inability of the IOC to stop them.

Freedom House, a nonprofit organization which promotes democracy, said earlier this month that China has also put more pressure on Chinese journalists in recent days, banning them from covering sensitive issues.

from: bangkokpost.com

Beijing Olympics 2008

Olympic-themed condom adverts have been released in China to coincide with the start of the 2008 Beijing Games.

The cheeky adverts, which depict stick-man athletes using condoms as apparatus in Olympic events, have become a viral sensation in China.

The contraceptives prove themselves remarkably versatile, standing in as bicycle wheels, basketball nets, archery targets and gymnastic rings.

A ribbed condom is also used to illustrate choppy water in the swimming version of the campaign.

The adverts were made for Chinese condom-maker Elasun, with the broken English slogan “Sports make you health”.

The firm is by no means first to make the connection between the Games and sex, with Olympic villages reputed to be hotbeds of after-hours indulgence.

Earlier this week it emerged that the 16,000 competitors staying in the Beijing village will be able to purchase a wide variety of soft pornography, including erotic books featuring provocative pictures of naked women with titles such as “Drawing book for the Nude”.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics 130,000 free condoms were made available to athletes and officials.

In the Sydney 2000 Games, each competing athlete was given 51 condoms on arrival at the Olympic Village, but another 20,000 had to be shipped in when supplies began to run low.

Some of the biggest and richest names in world sport will be at the Beijing Olympics, with the superstar mega-list headed by Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Lionel Messi, Yao Ming, LeBron James, and Michael Phelps.
Some will be mucking in with their teammates at the Olympic Village although others are expected to stay in hotel suites more becoming of their status and financial clout.
While the Olympics will attract more than 10,000 athletes, only a handful can claim to be truely global household names, and even fewer can boost of multi-million dollar bank accounts to boot.
Perhaps the most recognisable face is Federer, the Swiss tennis machine who has dominated the sport for five years, although in China, home to 1.3 billion people, Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming and 110m hurdler Liu Xiang are bigger.
When it comes to money, the American basketball team carries perhaps the most clout.
Players like James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade are heavyweights of the game who have multi-million dollar salaries and all will be in Beijing.
James, or ‘King James’ as he is known, is one of the richest sportsman on the planet, and, if you believe the reports, is well on his way to becoming the first billionaire athlete.
Once the Cleveland Cavaliers star made it in the NBA, he reportedly bought all of his high school basketball team a new car. And his house just outside Cleveland includes a bowling alley, a barbershop, and casino.
Bryant and his teammates are equally flush, but it will be about face in Beijing after the Americans suffered the most humbling moment in their basketball history when they lost in the semi-finals in Athens.
It ended their three-Olympics reign as champions and they are desperate to reclaim the mantle.
“We will be Olympic champions this year,” James said.
“We have guys who don’t want to lose - Kobe (Bryant), Carmelo (Anthony), Dwyane (Wade) — and the guys off the bench are very good. We’ve got so many great players.”
Federer has reigned as the number one tennis player since 2004 - although his position is now under threat from Rafael Nadal - which makes him not only seriously rich, but a top draw in August.
But he has indicated he will be one of those forgoing the Olympic village.
While the overall experience, including bonding with teammates from more traditional Olympic sports, is part of the attraction of the Games, being a celebrity means autograph hunters badgering you even among fellow athletes.
Federer doesn’t want distractions in his quest for a first-ever Olympic gold.
“It was quite difficult in Athens,” he said. “Taking the bus and not being in control of my own schedule, and many people recognising me in the village.
“Every time I go to eat everyone taps on your shoulder.”
Maria Sharapova will also be in town, and is certain to be one of the most photographed competitors.
“One of the things I’m really looking forward to is the opening ceremony and walking with athletes from my country in front of thousands of people,” said the Russian, adding that she would love to watch some gymnastics.
“When I was younger I wanted to be a rhythmic gymnast,” she said.
Barcelona’s star striker Lionel Messi, considered by many to be the best young player in the world, hopes to be in Beijing, although his club Barcelona are dead set against it.
Many clubs have barred players competing, but Barcelona have little choice. Messi is 21 and clubs are obliged to release players under 23 years of age.
Yao, another from the mega-rich basketball fraternity, is huge in China and is sure to be a major focus of attention.
China’s richest celebrity earned some 55 million dollars from basketball and sponsorship activities last year alone and is perhaps the most recognisable Chinese face in the world, alongside President Hu Jintao.
Phelps isn’t on the same pay scale although he will reportedly receive one million dollars from Speedo if he matches Mark Spitz’ record of seven swimming golds this summer.
Regardless of his earnings power, Phelps could become the star of the show, with few other athletes in a position to win so many medals.
Another major attraction will be Athens gold medallist Liu Xiang, whose rock-star following in China and sponsorships by Nike, Coca-Cola, Visa and a host of Chinese brands have made him not only rich but very popular.
The world’s fastest sprinters, Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, will also be top draws, with their 100m showdown set to be one of the great moments of the Games.

from: afp.google.com

The ban on Iraq competing at the Beijing Olympics next month has been lifted, the International Olympic Committee announced here on Tuesday.

Iraq’s compact Olympic contingent was cleared to take part in the 2008 Games after agreement was reached between the IOC and the Iraqi government at a crisis meeting at the IOC’s headquarters in Lausanne.

As the deadline for competitors at the Games for all events except athletics passed on July 23 the Iraqi contingent will now number only two athletes - Haidar Nasir in the discus and sprinter Danma Hussein.

The lifting of the ban came about after the Iraqi government agreed on a series of steps leading to a fully functioning independent National Olympic Committee (NOC) in Iraq.

IOC president Jacques Rogge hailed the eleventh hour deal, saying: “We look forward to seeing the Iraqi flag in Beijing.”

The Olympic chief added: “I commend the government of Iraq for reaching an agreement that serves the long-term interest of Iraqi athletes.

“We have said all along that we want to see Iraqi athletes in Beijing.”

Under the deal brokered Tuesday rather than being frustrated observers the two Iraqi athletes will compete in Beijing under the Iraqi flag, led by coaches and team leaders selected by the independent Iraqi NOC.

Five government representatives will be invited by the IOC as observers to the Games in Beijing.

The Lausanne agreement also calls for the transparent and fair election of a new, independent Iraqi National Olympic Committee, no later than the end of November.

This process will be overseen by the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia and will be held in cooperation with the Government of Iraq, and in accordance with the Olympic Charter.

In June the IOC had suspended Iraq for “political interference” in its NOC which was sacked in May and replaced by a new panel headed by Iraqi Youth and Sports Minister Jassem Jaafar.

The Iraqi government had said that the previous Olympic committee was sacked because of “solid evidence of blatant corruption, lack of legitimate transparent electoral processes and accountability.”

It said the committee had an insufficient quorum and had failed to hold elections in more than five years.

The head of the committee, Ahmed Al-Samarrai, was kidnapped at gunpoint in Baghdad in July 2006 at the height of sectarian violence in Iraq along with several associates and he has not been heard of since.

from: afp.google.com

Beijing today defied concerns of the International Olympic Committee and press freedom groups by confirming that the internet at Games facilities would remain censored.
Officials were challenged as to why journalists and others trying to access the internet at the Media Press Centre, the Olympic Village and other venues were blocked from seeing sites including the BBC Chinese language service, other international media and human rights groups.

Sun Weide, the chief spokesman, acknowledged that sites would remain blocked, specifically those connected to falun gong, a religious movement which is heavily repressed in China.

“Falun gong is an evil cult so their sites are blocked and will remain so,” he said, though he refused to give specifics about other sites.

The International Olympics Committee says it is “concerned” about internet censorship, while acknowledging there is little it can do as long as sites pertaining to sport are left open.

“I will speak with the Chinese authorities to advise them of the restraints and to see what their reaction is,” said Kevan Gosper, the IOC member who heads its press commission.

Among the other sites inaccessible are some Hong Kong and Taiwanese newspapers, those of human rights groups such as Amnesty International, and most non-Chinese government sites relating to Tibet.

China is maintaining tight security across the city in the lead-up to the Games next week, despite hopes by the IOC that the Games would bring greater openness.

The authorities also announced yesterday that security checkpoints were being set up for tourists wishing to walk on to Tiananmen Square, which is normally accessed through underpasses from the surrounding main roads.

Among the greatest concerns is the possibility of protests on the Square, the most sensitive and surveilled public place in China since the student demonstrations of 1989. International broadcasters are still battling with the authorities over the extent to which they will be allowed to film there during the Games, in line with earlier promises.

Meanwhile, police leave has been cancelled to ensure “absolute security without a single lapse” in Tibet, one potential source of disturbances during the Games period, state media reported.

By Richard Spencer in Beijing

source: telegraph.co.uk

Japanese officials on Tuesday denied a report that the track cycling sport of keirin may have bribed its way into the Olympic Games.
The BBC said an investigation had uncovered documents outlining payments of $3 million from the Japan Keirin Association (JKA) to cycling’s world governing body the UCI.
But a senior Japanese official insisted there had been no wrongdoing before keirin first entered the Olympics at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
“The JKA has been co-operating with the UCI for many years to develop keirin and we have been involved in various activities to improve the sport,” the JKA’s Akihiro Matsukawa said.
“I have not been able to verify the documents the BBC say they have but the JKA denies the claims (of bribery).”
Keirin, which involves riders following a motorbike for several laps before a sprint finish, is big business in Japan, its country of origin, generating huge gambling revenues.
Hein Verbruggen, president of the UCI from 1991 to 2005, also protested his innocence.
“It has been done in total transparency,” Verbruggen, currently the International Olympic Committee’s chief inspector, told the BBC.
“This was done for the development of track cycling around the world.”
Britain’s Chris Hoy won keirin gold at this year’s world championships in Manchester and will start as favorite in Beijing.

(Writing by Alastair Himmer in Tokyo; Editing by Ed Osmond)

from: reuters.com

For months, Chinese authorities have been publicizing the threat from separatist militants in the northwest region of Xinjiang, saying members of its Muslim, Uighur minority were bent on disrupting the Beijing Olympics.

But when a group calling itself the Turkistan Islamic Party released a video threatening the Games and taking responsibility for recent bus bombings in Shanghai and in the southern province of Yunnan, China was quick to deny its claims.

That has thrown into the spotlight the issue of China’s credibility regarding its statements on domestic terror and left analysts wondering where the truth lies in the line between cracking down on terrorism and crushing dissent.

“It’s fairly hard to gather any corroboration really about the extent of the threat,” said Michael Clarke, a research fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute in Australia.

“This is the problem of looking at China. In the past there has been very little transparency from the Chinese about what’s actually going on in Xinjiang with relation to these Uighur separatist groups, so it’s quite difficult,” he said.

Turkistan, or East Turkestan, are names sometimes used for Xinjiang by those advocating for an independent state in the region.

China has said terrorism is the greatest threat to the August 8-24 Olympics and that it has broken up several cells in Xinjiang, the oil-rich Central Asian region that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan. Officials in March also said they stopped a plan by a Uighur woman to bring down a flight from Xinjiang.

But the government has provided scant detail of the plots and critics accuse it of using the Olympics as a pretext to crack down on Uighurs, many of whom resent the restrictions China’s Communist authorities place on their religion and culture.
“There are groups in Xinjiang that pursue armed struggle and others that pursue a political struggle. So there is a realistic threat,” said Robert Karniol, a Bangkok-based military analyst.

But he said it was difficult to establish the truth of either China’s claims of extensive plots, or its denial of the Turkistan Islamic Party’s claim of responsibility.

“I wouldn’t believe them one way or the other. But that’s based on historical precedence, not on any factual information,” he said.

LACK OF INFORMATION

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao repeated reports in official media that there was no link between the Olympics and the bus bombings in Yunnan’s capital Kunming last week that killed at least two and injured 14.

He also defended the lack of information from the government about security threats.

“Everyone knows that regarding security questions, a lot is based on intelligence…. So we can’t be very detailed in the information we reveal,” Liu told a regular news conference.

Some said China may have an interest in denying any terror link out of embarrassment that such an incident could happen so close to the time of the Games. But others questioned even the existence of any Turkistan Islamic Party.

Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based counter-terrorism expert, said the Turkistan Islamic Party could be a group under the banner of East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an organization that advocates a separate state for Xinjiang and that the United States lists as a terrorist group.
“The ETIM infrastructure in Xinjiang has been disrupted, but still, ETIM is capable of operating in China,” said Gunaratna.

“It is very difficult for ETIM to attack the Olympic venues because they have been very well-secured,” he said, adding the group was probably only capable of what he called “small and medium-scale” attacks.

China has been keen to ensure the international community acknowledges that it has a domestic terror threat, but some wonder whether it has done itself any favors by issuing dramatic statements on the subject without offering details or evidence.

“Everyone recognizes the Olympics is potentially a very attractive target,” said Clarke. “The question really is can they really be believed. It’s a little bit like the boy crying wolf.”

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
By Lindsay Beck

from:reuters.com

Japanese athletes may don masks made for construction workers to cope with air pollution during the Beijing Olympics, a doctor affiliated with the Japanese Olympic Committee said on Tuesday.

More and more athletes from around the world are considering wearing face masks for the Games, despite official promises of clearer skies in Beijing and warnings that pictures of masked competitors could embarrass host China.

“Our previous research shows the amount of dust in the air is high in Beijing, and that may affect some of the Japanese athletes,” Takao Akama, the committee’s medical adviser, told Reuters.

Marathon runners and bicyclists might not be the only ones who opt to use the masks during competition.

“Some athletes are sensitive, so we have decided to have those pollution masks ready for any member of the Japanese Olympic team who would like to use one,” said Akama, a physician at Waseda University in Tokyo.

Koken Ltd, the company that makes the mask, has supplied the committee with 500 industrial-strength masks, designed for use on construction sites. Japan’s team has almost 600 members.

Beijing’s air pollution, a sometimes acrid mix of construction dust, vehicle exhaust and factory and power plant fumes, has been one of the biggest worries for Games organizers.

On Tuesday, state media quoted Beijing authorities as saying sauna-like weather trapping hazy pollution in the Olympic host city would not last throughout the games in August. Chinese officials have repeatedly said there is no need for foreign athletes to bring masks. Beijing is also considering additional pollution controls if the air stays too dirty.

(Reporting by Naoto Okamura, editing by Linda Sieg and Sophie Hardach)

source: reuters.com

With 10 days to go until the Beijing Olympics opens, the smog simply refuses to lift and the Games organisers are preparing emergency measures to clear the air ahead of the big day.

The traffic on the streets of Beijing is noticeably lighter, and many of the big steelworks and coal-fired power stations have been silenced. But the capital was still enveloped yesterday in a haze that restricted visibility to a couple of hundred yards.

For years the authorities have been trying to clear the yellow-tinged smog masking the city, including a recent batch of measures as a quick-fix solution. “We will implement an emergency plan 48 hours in advance if the air quality deteriorates,” Li Xin, a senior engineer with the environmental bureau, told the China Daily newspaper.

It is only a week since the government introduced an odd-even number plate system which bars more than one million of Beijing’s 1.3 million passenger cars from the streets. Now the government is considering banning 90 per cent of private cars and closing more factories as a last-ditch attempt clear the skies before the games start on 8 August. Beijing has already spent 120bn yuan (£8.9bn) on tackling the pollution, to no avail.

The authorities say the haze was normal for Beijing for a balmy late July and had nothing to do with pollution. “The air quality in Beijing during the Olympic Games will not affect the health of athletes,” said Du Shaozhong, deputy director of Beijing’s Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, the man charged with soothing fears that the Games may be a smoggy event. Athletes planning to bring respirators were only adding unnecessarily to their baggage weight, said Mr Du, who emphasised that the figures showed the air quality was improving: “A blue sky doesn’t mean the air quality is good. If you take a shower, you can’t see clearly because of the steam, but it doesn’t mean it’s pollution.”

“We can guarantee a good environment for athletes. The International Olympic Committee and its medical commission have concluded that good air quality is fully guaranteed,” Mr Du added.

However, with some athletes already training in Beijing and elsewhere in China, and others due to arrive in the coming days, the government’s assurances are unlikely to assuage fears that China’s promise of a “Green Games” is dead in the water.

The Olympic gold-medallist and world record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia has pulled out of the Beijing marathon because he suffers from asthma and believes that the pollution threatens his health.

The environmentalist group Greenpeace released a report saying that Beijing’s air quality was still well short of international guidelines and that levels of particulates in the air were twice as high as recommended by the World Health Organisation.

It is still not clear exactly how bad the air has to be for an event to be cancelled, and it is forbidden to bring in measuring equipment for any independent measurement of air quality.

Jacques Rogge, the head of the International Olympic Committee, has warned that poor air quality during the Games could result in the suspension of endurance races such as long-distance cycling and the marathon.

from: independent.co.uk

China is using the Beijing Olympics as a pretext to pursue — and in some cases tighten — a crackdown on human rights, notably ridding the capital of “undesirables,” Amnesty International charged Monday.

Reporting 11 days ahead of the August 8 opening ceremony, the rights group said that despite some minor reforms, authorities had stepped up repression of activists and lawyers to present a picture of stability and harmony.

Amnesty urged the International Olympic Committee and political leaders to do far more to challenge China, warning of even more repressive measures once the spotlight on the Games has faded away.

“Unless the authorities make a swift change of direction, the legacy of the Beijing Olympics will not be positive for human rights in China,” it warned.

“In fact, the crackdown on human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers has intensified because Beijing is hosting the Olympics.”

Amnesty’s report, citing specific cases, said activists who had tied their cause to the Games had been singled out for the pre-Olympics “clean-up,” while many others were being detained, imprisoned or placed under house arrest.

“Authorities have used the Olympic Games as a pretext to continue and in some respects, intensify existing policies and practices that have led to serious and widespread violations of human rights,” the report added.

It listed a series of recommendations urging China to:

- release all prisoners of conscience;

- stop police arbitrarily detaining activists and dissenters;

- impose a moratorium on the death penalty;

- allow complete media freedom; and

- account for those killed or detained in Tibet.

“It is very disturbing that Chinese authorities have indulged in such a big crackdown on the activists,” Mark Allison, China researcher for Amnesty, told AFP.

“These are people who represent many many more people in China.”

Officials were also extending the use of punitive administrative detention, notably of activists and petitioners as well as beggars and peddlers, Amnesty said.

In January, Beijing police launched a campaign against “illegal activities that tarnish the city’s image and affect the social order,” it noted.

In May, authorities adopted a “re-education through labour” law to control various types of “offending behaviour.”

In June, authorities in Shanghai sent notices to activists and petitioners ordering them to report to the police every week and barring them from leaving without permission or visiting Beijing until after the Games.

A clampdown on journalists has also intensified in recent months, Amnesty said, citing figures from the Foreign Correspondents Club of China showing as many as 230 cases of reporters being obstructed from interviews this year so far, compared to 180 cases in the whole of last year.

Internet controls have also been tightened up and many websites closed down for providing information deemed sensitive, the group noted.

Amnesty said that journalists working from Beijing’s Olympic press centre were unable to access the group’s website, as well as those of the BBC, Germany’s Deutsche Welle, Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, and Taiwan newspaper Liberty Times.

“This flies in the face of official Chinese promises to ensure ‘complete media freedom’ for the Games,” said Allison.

Such tactics raised concerns that officials would seek to block broadcasts of anything deemed sensitive or inappropriate, despite public commitments by organisers not to cut coverage.

Amnesty said China’s crackdown in Tibet earlier this year, and restrictions on reporting there, highlighted the authorities’ ongoing censorship.

It urged the IOC and the international community to express concerns publicly and press China to fulfil its obligations on human rights and dissent.

“The danger now becomes that after the Olympic Games, these patterns of serious human rights violations may continue or intensify with even less attention paid by the international community than has been the case so far,” it said.

from: afp.google.com

“I have never seen such beautiful Olympic Village,” head of the Swiss Olympic delegation Werner Augsburger said here on Monday.

In an interview with a Swiss TV station, Augsburger, who attended the Sydney and the Athens Olympics, lavished praise on the Olympic Village in Beijing. “The Village is very charming, with trees and lawns everywhere and lots of gathering places for the athletes,” he said.

He also praised the warm reception by the local people, saying that everyone seems ready to help.

The Swiss athletes will take part in 17 different Olympic sport events.

from: xinhuanet.com

Paul Hamm probably could have gutted through the pain in his broken hand. A bad shoulder that prevented him from doing some of his routines? With less than a week of training before the Beijing Games?
That was too tall an order, even for the reigning Olympic champion.
Hamm withdrew from the Beijing Olympics on Monday, saying he won’t be healthy enough to compete. He still is feeling pain in the right hand he broke two months ago, but the bigger concern could be the strained rotator cuff in his left shoulder that made training last week “a disaster.”
“For my comeback to be successful, I needed to make continuous progress and have no setbacks,” an emotional Hamm said. “The time frame I was given was extremely short. … This has been hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, but I have too much respect for the Olympics and my team to continue on when I know the best thing for everyone is for me to step aside.”
The loss of Hamm is a huge blow for the Americans, who were fourth at last year’s world championships and hoped his return — and that of twin brother Morgan — would get them back on the podium. Hamm is the only American to win the world (2003) or Olympic (2004) all-around titles.
Raj Bhavsar, who also was an alternate in 2004, will take Hamm’s spot.
USA Gymnastics also is still waiting for final clearance on Morgan Hamm, who received a warning July 3 from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for getting a prescribed anti-inflammatory shot without having filed the proper paperwork.
“Paul at his best is irreplaceable,” Bhavsar said. “(But) I believe in my heart the team goal is the same, and it’s definitely within our potential. … We’re not ever going to give up on that dream.”
Hamm’s withdrawal also clears the way for China’s Yang Wei in the all-around. Yang, the two-time defending world champion, is so technically superior that Hamm was co nsidered the only one who could challenge him.
“I was giving myself the chance to see how this past week went, to see if I could turn the corner at any point. That just never happened,” Hamm said. “When you go into the Olympic Games, you’re supposed to be in the best shape of your life. Not the worst shape.”
Hamm broke the fourth metacarpal — the bone extending from his right ring finger to his wrist — May 22 at the national championships, just 11 weeks before the start of the games. It’s a devastating injury for a gymnast, because every one of the six events the men do puts a heavy load of stress on the hand. Many moves require the hand to be twisted sharply or support a gymnast’s entire body weight.
Hand specialist Dr. Lawrence Lubbers stabilized the fracture May 27, inserting a titanium plate and nine tiny screws. Though Hamm was allowed to do strength and conditioning work, he wasn’t cleared to resume full gymnastics activity until July 3.
Hamm’s recovery appeared to be on track when he proved he was physically able to compete at a July 19 intrasquad meet. He did portions of all six events that day, estimating he was about 90 percent, but said he still had pain in the right hand.
He said his shoulder began hurting the day after that intrasquad meet. When he returned home to Columbus, Ohio, it was clear just what a toll the hard training had taken.
Time and again last week, he got up on the still rings only to have to quickly drop back off. Skills he had been able to do a few days earlier were now impossible.
“There came a point in the gym where I almost threw my arms in the air and just knew, this wasn’t working,” the 25-year-old Hamm said. “It was a really tough decision for me to make. You could drag this out even further. But what I know with my body and what I feel, there’s no point for me to do that. It’s not in the best interest of everyone involved.
“I pushed for the comeback, I did everything I possibly could,” he said. “There just wasn’t enough time. I feel like if I had another month, I would have been able to get the job done.”
But he didn’t have a month. The American men go through processing Tuesday and leave for China on Wednesday. Podium training — the one opportunity gymnasts have to train on the competition floor and in front of judges before the meet begins — is Aug. 6.
The men’s competition begins Aug. 9.
The Americans likely would have needed him on all six events in both qualifying and team finals. Because the scoring format in team finals is so unforgiving — three athletes compete on each event and all three scores count — Hamm didn’t want to hurt the Americans if he wasn’t fully ready to go.
“We were so close,” Lubbers said. “Without the shoulder, we probably would have made it. But the two were just too much.”
Hamm did talk with USA Gymnastics officials about going to Beijing and only doing a few events. But that isn’t realistic or fair, he said, especially considering rings is one of the events the Americans would have needed him on.
“What stopped us, I think, is the shoulder,” coach Miles Avery said. “It’s just from working hard. It’s just an overuse injury. If you rest and ice it, you’ll be fine and can pick back up. We don’t have the time.”
Hamm’s withdrawal likely ends the career of one of, if not the best gymnasts the United States has ever had. In addition to his world and Olympic titles, he led the Americans to a silver medal in Athens, their first at the Olympics in 20 years.
His comeback in Athens was one of the most spectacular ever in the sport. After a fall on vault dropped him to 12th place with only two events left, he rallied with two of the best routines of his career to win the gold.
Two days later, however, the International Gymnastics Federation said that bronze medalist Yang Tae-young of South Korea had been wrongly docked a tenth of a point on his second-to-last event.
Add that extra tenth, and Yang would have scored higher than Hamm. That assumes, though, that everything in the final rotation would have played out the same, something nobody can say for sure.
The Koreans did not protest in time, and the FIG said it couldn’t change results after the competition. But the Koreans took the matter all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, forcing Hamm to defend his gold medal. CAS eventually declared Hamm the rightful champion.
Despite taking 2 1/2 years off after Athens — an unprecedented layoff in the sport — Hamm had firmly established himself as a contender for another gold, winning every meet he entered this year, often by large margins. Even with his injury, he still finished the first night of nationals almost four points ahead.
“Enough cannot be said about the effort Paul has made over the last few months and the contributions he has already made,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “His decision is being made with the team’s best interests in mind. It’s a shame that it’s happening right now, and one of the world’s best gymnasts will not be able to compete at this summer’s Olympic Games.”
Hamm, a three-time U.S. champion, also was the cornerstone of silver medal teams at the 2001 and 2003 world championships. He has five medals from the world championships, and three from the Olympic Games.
He had said he planned to retire after Beijing, and said Monday that is still his intention. He graduated from Ohio State last year with a degree in accounting and plans to go to business school.
“It’s going to be tough, but I’m going to be cheering on the team, watching Morgan,” Hamm said. “I’m going to try and enjoy it from the spectator’s standpoint, I guess, this time around.”

by: By NANCY ARMOUR

source: mlive.com