Olympic Times – Sports Daily

He’s the hero of the Beijing Olympics — but Michael Phelps has become the bane of bookmakers.
Gamblers have joined Phelps’s winning streak with online betting sites reporting a spike in money riding on the U.S. swimmer and higher interest overall from gamblers in the Games.
Phelps has been the favourite in all of his races in the Aug. 8-24 Games on various online betting sites, with odds for his victories down to about 5/2 on — paying out about $40 on a $100 bet.
“Although he has been at short odds to win he has being doing the right thing by the punters who are getting back more than they get on bank interest,” said Phil Hannah, general manager at Australia-based online betting site SportsBet.
“He really has become a thorn in the bookmakers’ side.”
Most gamblers are betting Phelps will beat compatriot Mark Spitz’s record of winning seven gold medals at one Olympics, with the 23-year-old already snapping up five golds from Beijing, making him the most decorated Olympian of all time with 11 golds.
He is due to swim the 200 metre individual medley on Friday, the 100 metre butterfly on Saturday and the 4×100 metre medley relay on Sunday.
Online site Sky Bet is also paying 5/2 on for Phelps to beat Spitz’s record.
The Olympics is not traditionally a major sports event for gamblers but Hannah said the interest had picked up for the 2008 Games particularly in Asia as the events were televised during the day.
Swimming is the sport attracting the most bets but weightlifting, table tennis, judo and soccer are also getting some interest.
U.S-based Betsonline.com has also experienced an increase in Olympic wagers although spokesman Tommy Allen said the Olympics still lagged far behind sports such as basketball and baseball.
U.S. television network NBC, which paid almost $900 million for the exclusive broadcasting rights to the Olympics, has been delaying showing the Games to hit prime-time viewers in the United States which could impact gambling interest.
“But Phelps is such a phenomenon we have seen interest in him,” said Allen.
He said the odds for Phelps winning the 100 metre butterfly on Saturday were set at minus 255 which means a win would pay out $39 on a $100 bet.
“He’s the clear favourite of the Games,” said Allen.
Horse racing reappeared in mainland China in the early 1990s as jockey clubs were set up but gambling remains illegal, except for state lotteries.

from: guardian.co.uk

The Sydney Olympics ran out. Athens doubled the number. So organizers of the Beijing Games are hoping 100,000 condoms will satisfy the needs of Olympic athletes.

While sex is not an Olympic sport it is expected to be an activity in the Beijing village housing 10,500 athletes, all of whom are in great shape and with plenty of free time on their hands once knocked out of the Games.

Athletes have received free condoms at every Olympics since Barcelona in 1992 to help raise awareness of AIDS, and Beijing is no exception.

“There are many young, strong, single people in the athletes’ village and, like everywhere, some will fall in love or other things so we need to make condoms available,” Ole Hansen, spokesman for UNAIDS China, told Reuters.

“A lot of these young people are not married or in relationships so we want to make sure they have the information and tools to protect themselves if they have sexual encounters.”

The UNAIDS, the Beijing organising committee BOCOG and International Olympics Committee are providing 100,000 condoms as part of a campaign on HIV prevention and anti-discrimination.

At the Sydney Games in 2000 athletes quickly exhausted a supply of 70,000 and another 20,000 had to be brought in.

The Foundation for AIDS Research, amfAR, said 100,000 were distributed at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 after a plan to distribute 250,000 condoms met protests by religious groups and was scaled back.

At Athens in 2004 about 130,000 condoms were distributed.

Hansen said the number available at Beijing was based on previous Games’ experience and in keeping with previous Olympics would be available at medical centres at athletes’ centres in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong rather than put in rooms.

“We have people here from all religions and cultural backgrounds, some of whom may feel uncomfortable or offended with condoms in their room,” he said.

To be discreet, two condoms are tucked inside every a brochure about HIV that are available at medical centres.

“No one can see that you are carrying condoms to save any embarrassment,” said Hansen.

“People are encouraged to take the leaflets and to take as many as they like. They can use them or take them home for friends and spread the knowledge and awareness.”

Chinese condom makers have jumped on the Olympics bandwagon.

One manufacturer, Elasun, has come up with a set of cheeky advertisements featuring a stickman swimming over a rippled condom that looks like a wave, riding two condom rings like a bicycle, and using a condom as a basketball hoop.

Condoms depicting the five Olympics mascots are also for sale on various online sites although nowhere to be seen in official merchandise stories.

from: in.reuters.com

Olympic chiefs today said they were investigating reports that Beijing officials confiscated the notebooks and tape recorders of Chinese journalists covering the Games.

A witness at a press conference involving the US men’s volleyball team yesterday claimed local reporters were accosted after frank interviews with some of the players about the murder of Todd Bachman.

The 62-year-old American, who was stabbed by a Chinese man while sightseeing in Beijing on Saturday, was the father-in-law of Hugh McCutcheon, the US team coach.

The Beijing Olympic staff claimed they wanted to know what was said because they had not properly understood the discussion in English, despite the presence of official interpreters. But the Chinese journalists did not later recover their notes or tapes, according to the observer.
The incident raises concerns that the Chinese authorities are trying to erase the Olympics link to the murder of an American citizen in order to limit damage to the image of their games.

Mr Bachman’s connection to the US volleyball team was initially reported on CCTV, the state television channel, and in the Chinese-language press. However, the news was relegated to a paragraph on the front of the English-language China Daily and has subsequently been removed from some Chinese internet sites.

Comments relating to the “death” of Mr Bachman were carried on the Olympic News Service, the official intranet system in Olympic venues, but the quotes by American players had been edited.

Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (Bocog), claimed he had no knowledge of the incident. He said: “Chinese journalists have rights to cover the Olympic Games. Their rights are protected by the Chinese constitution.”

A spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said the matter was being investigated. It has maintained that journalists would be free to report on the Games, not just inside official venues but outside as well so long as local laws were respected. The freedom is a contractual obligation between the IOC and Beijing, the host city.

But the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) accused the Chinese authorities of “snooping” after it received reports of security officials shadowing the media on assignments in Beijing.

On Saturday, as journalists covered the scene of Mr Bachman’s murder and the subsequent suicide of his Chinese attacker at the Drum Tower, a tourist spot near the Forbidden City, their notes were photographed by unidentified strangers.

In a separate incident, a foreign journalist told the IFJ he had been stopped by two men with no press accreditation who took pictures of him and his notes after he had interviewed a French athlete at the airport.

Similarly, journalists interviewing a discontented landowner in Tiananmen Square were photographed by strangers who refused to identify themselves.

“This is unacceptable interference in the work of journalists,” Aidan White, IFJ general secretary, said.

“Once again we call on the Chinese authorities to make good on their promise that journalists can work without intimidation. Protection of journalistic sources is a cornerstones of press freedom. This sort of activity shows complete disregard for that principle by the Chinese authorities.”

source: timesonline.co.uk

The father-in-law of the U.S. Olympic men’s indoor volleyball coach was stabbed to death in Beijing yesterday by a lone man who then killed himself, in what the U.S. embassy called an “isolated” incident unconnected to the Games.

Todd Bachman, his wife, daughter and their Chinese guide were attacked shortly after noon yesterday at the Drum Tower near the Forbidden City in central Beijing by a man wielding a knife, the U.S. Olympic Committee said in an e-mailed statement. Bachman’s wife Barbara, 62, underwent eight hours of surgery and is in critical but stable condition at a Beijing hospital, the committee said.

Bachman, also 62, was chief executive of Bachman’s Inc., a closely held Minneapolis-based floral-and-garden center company founded in 1885 that has seven stores.

The attacker jumped to his death from the second floor of the tower, said Zhi Shaodong, a spokesman of the Chinese capital’s police.

The murder on the first day of Beijing’s Olympic Games cast a shadow on the world’s largest sports event as China’s government seeks to project the image of a progressive and peaceful nation to an estimated 4 billion television viewers globally. As many as 500,000 tourists are likely to visit the Chinese capital during the Olympics, which run through Aug. 24.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and the U.S. government has offered to provide any assistance the family needs,” President George W. Bush said in Beijing, where he was attending the Games.

Acted Alone

The assailant, identified as Tang Yongming, 47, came from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in eastern China. An identification card was found on his body, police spokesman Zhi said.

The U.S. embassy in Beijing said in an e-mailed statement that it had “no reason to believe the assailant targeted the victims as American citizens” or that the attack was tied to the Olympics.

Tang was recently divorced and hadn’t been seen by relatives in the last two months, Interpol said in an e-mailed statement from Beijing. Tang’s name didn’t appear when checked against Interpol’s database of 178,000 individuals, including 12,000 suspected terrorists, it said.

The Bachmans weren’t wearing any apparel that identified them as part of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Olympic Committee said.

Head Coach

Bachman was the father-in-law of U.S. men’s indoor volleyball head coach Hugh McCutcheon and the father of 2004 U.S. Olympic women’s indoor volleyball player Elisabeth Bachman. She wasn’t injured during the attack.

Barbara Bachman suffered “multiple lacerations and stab wounds,” the U.S. Olympic committee said.

McCutcheon won’t be involved in the volleyball team’s opening games against Venezuela today, it added.

The Beijing Olympics organizing committee issued a statement expressing its “heartfelt sympathies” to the families of the victims, adding that Beijing police were investigating what they considered to be an “isolated” incident.

“Beijing is a safe city, the police will do its utmost to ensure a safe environment for Chinese and foreign visitors here to view the competition,” the organizing committee said in a statement on its Web site.

The Drum Tower, a major Beijing tourist site, was sealed off after the incident and uniformed police stood guard.

“Nothing like this has ever happened around here,” said an eyewitness to Tang’s suicide, who would identify himself only by his family name of Li. “We get a lot of foreign tourists around here, and it’s always very peaceful. That assailant must have been crazy.”

source: bloomberg.com

The government has installed about 300,000 cameras in Beijing and set up a network to spy on its citizens and foreigners.

The blocking of human rights websites in China leading up to the Olympics is part of an information control and surveillance network awaiting visitors that will include monitoring devices in hotels and taxis and snoops almost everywhere.

Government agents or their proxies are suspected of stepping up cyber-attacks on overseas Tibetan, human rights and press freedom groups and the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement in recent weeks. And China is spending huge sums on sophisticated surveillance systems that incorporate face recognition technology, biometrics and massive databases to help control the population.
China has installed about 300,000 cameras in Beijing under an estimated $6.5-billion, seven-year program dubbed the Grand Beijing Safeguard Sphere. Although face recognition software still can’t process rapidly moving images, China hopes that it can soon electronically identify faces out of a vast crowd.

“China is trying to project a picture and a narrative about the Olympics,” said Nicholas Bequelin, Hong Kong-based researcher with Human Rights Watch. “By limiting journalists, shutting down the Internet, arresting activists, it’s hoping to control the message.”

The world’s most populous nation has legitimate concerns, as seen this week in an attack in the far western province of Xinjiang that killed 16 police officers. Few expect the security infrastructure to be even partially dismantled, a step Greece took after hosting the 2004 games.

Critics said these systems give China more advanced tools in its bid to control domestic critics, activists and media. In recent months China has recruited thousands of Beijing taxi drivers and hundreds of thousands of neighborhood busybodies to keep an eye on foreigners and its own citizens.

“Everyone feels they’re entering a police state, which by the way it is, duh,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of New York-based Human Rights in China. “So they’ve got people reporting down to the lowest neighborhood level, which is not new, overlaid by state-of-the-art technology. It’s the best of the old and the new.”

Another technology that raises concern involves the new identity cards China is phasing in for its 1.3 billion citizens. The cards, developed with help from Plano, Texas-based China Information Security Technology, carry radio signal devices and a chip that records not only a person’s height, weight and identification number, but also health records, work history, education, travel, religion, ethnicity, reproductive history, police record, medical insurance status and even his or her landlord’s phone number.

Near the Second Ring Road in downtown Beijing, Wu Naimei, 74, sat on a folding chair fanning herself. “If we see any suspicious people, we call the police and report on them,” the retired subway worker said, adding that she can’t define a suspicious person but knows one when she sees one. “We are happy to help protect our motherland, assist the nation and help our leaders relax.”

The West might have a stronger argument in questioning China’s potential for intrusive surveillance if it weren’t moving rapidly in the same direction. London is believed to have the largest number of closed-circuit TV cameras of any city in the world. Many countries have seen vast troves of personal data lost or stolen. Financial records and phone calls are now routinely monitored.

The difference is that Western countries have better checks on police power, some human rights activists said, even as they expressed concern that the U.S. could soon be using technologies developed in China.

“Every country wants to avoid abuse of police power,” said Xu Zhiyong, a lecturer at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. “It’s getting better in China, but we still have a ways to go.”

In addition to blocking online information about corruption and human rights violations, the government is suspected of collecting information on visitors’ Internet search activity.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) said late last month that foreign-owned hotels in China were under pressure to sign contracts authorizing police to install hardware and software to monitor their guests’ Internet activity. Hotel managers contacted in Beijing declined to comment.

This followed a State Department warning in March that “all hotel rooms and offices are considered to be subject to on-site or remote technical monitoring at all times.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang quickly called the U.S. report irresponsible and denied that China employed more surveillance than normal.

In Beijing, two taxi drivers who asked not to be identified while discussing confidential matters displayed a pair of black button-sized devices just to the left of their steering wheel linked to the vehicle’s navigation system. They said the devices allow a central monitoring station to listen to anything inside the taxi.

One driver said that besides listening in on passengers, officials can hear any griping he might do about the Communist Party, which could result in punishment.

The Danish women’s soccer team caught two men spying on its members in September during a FIFA World Cup meet in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Lars Berendt, the group’s communication director, said in a telephone interview from their headquarters in Brondby.

Berendt said team members were in a hotel room having a tactical meeting when they noticed some movement behind what turned out to be a one-way mirror. In an adjoining room, they found two men, at least one of whom wore a hotel badge, and they held them until police arrived.

Berendt said the hotel denied any knowledge of the incident, and the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, said it was a matter for local authorities. Chinese police haven’t commented on any investigation.

“We’re not holding our breath,” Berendt said.

The state-run New China News Agency quoted fans as saying the Danes were just sore losers.

Security experts say company executives attending the Olympics are being advised to bring computers that have been wiped clean and to safeguard their smart phones. In extreme cases, they are also weighing the laptop to the gram to test whether ultra-light hardware devices have been added.

But a Western security consultant for one Olympic sponsor who asked not to be identified given the sensitive nature of his work said many of these fears were overblown, and that Chinese police had better things to do than spy on every “self-important corporate executive.”

Li Wei, a counter-terrorism expert with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, a semiofficial research organization, said most Chinese surveillance was in line with that of other Olympic host nations and didn’t dangerously compromise privacy.

Still, experts such as Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center and author of a recent report on Chinese surveillance, believe that China is pushing the envelope.

“With Internet controls, there are ways around,” Rotenberg said. “But with surveillance technologies, you’re getting into the fabric of the state.”

source: latimes.com

After Tibet, the theme of religious freedom is once again at the centre of a fresh protest in Beijing 48 hours before the Olympic opening ceremony is to get underway. Three US Christian activists, two men and a woman, have put on a protest on the edge of Tiananmen Square against religious repression and the abortionist policy limiting couplet o a single child. The three, members of the organization Christian Defence Coalition, unrolled a banner in English and Mandarin saying that “Jesus Christ is King”, according to spokesman Rob Schenck. The demonstration only lasted a few moments, since, while the three knelt down to pray, police intervened and tore down the banner, taking the activists away in a police van according to Shenck, who said that since then he has not been able to contact them. The three are: J. Mahoney, Brandi Swindell and Michael McMonagle. This morning four pro-Tibetan activists, two Americans and two Britons, raised a banner saying “Free Tibet” in front of the “Bird’s Nest” stadium, the heart of the Olympics, before being arrested.

from: agi.it

The haze was back on Monday after several more or less clear days, bringing with it new concern about pollution affecting the Beijing Olympics.

“We are looking into what is happening. Yesterday was a wonderful day. Today, is it hazy? Is it pollution? I don’t know,” said International Olympic Committee marketing chief Gerhard Heiberg.

Local organizing committee (BOCOG) spokesman Sun Weide said the Air Pollution Index (API) was below 100 and therefore suitable for competition.

According to the forecast, today’s air quality is grade two. The API is under 100,” said Weide. “We thing this is suitable for outdoor activities, including sports events.

The IOC has announced contingency plans for endurance events such as cycling road races, marathons and triathlons of the air quality is too bad during the Games which open on Friday and run until August 24.

“We are most concerned for the athletes,” said Heiberg.

China has moved and closed down factories and is imposing drastic traffic restrictions in Beijing to reduce pollution. Further restrictions could apply during the Games if necessary.

from: bangkokpost.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

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

Remain calm, don’t fight back and try to send a text message to the police. That’s how Chinese police have advised people to respond if captured by terrorists during next month’s Olympic Games, the official Xinhua News Agency said Friday.

The new “anti-terrorism manual” is the latest in a string of warnings issued by an increasingly jittery Chinese government in the run-up to the Aug. 8-24 Olympics. In addition to worries over foreign terrorist plots, Beijing is also concerned about political protests from domestic critics.

China says it fears an attack by Islamic insurgents in the restive western province of Xinjiang, as well as from Tibetans it says who want to split China — fears brought to the fore by violent riots that erupted in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa in March.

A vast security apparatus has been charged with guarding Beijing during the games, including thousands of soldiers, police and anti-terrorist squads. The government has also declared a “people’s war” against those who could disrupt the games, enlisting the help of neighborhood watch groups to root out threats.

Xinhua said the manual described potential terrorism threats, including explosions, shootings, hijacking and even chemical or nuclear attacks. It was not clear when the manual, written in Chinese, would be published, or how it would be distributed. China has already repeatedly said that a terrorist attack is one of the biggest worries for the games.

The manual follows a series guides China has published to tell its people how to behave during the games. A training manual for thousands of volunteers working the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics was released in May, on everything from handling visitors to sitting, standing and shaking hands. Campaigns have also been launched to get citizens to form lines in public places stop spitting and improve their driving habits.

China has already installed checkpoints on roads and subway stations around the capital, as well as areas which border Hebei province.

Reflecting China’s fears that an attack is possible, Chinese authorities will close Beijing’s airport for about five hours during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, affecting dozens of flights, local media and airlines said Friday.

Read the rest of this entry…

A spokesman for the Beijing Olympic Games Monday dismissed as “groundless” recent accusation by some overseas organizations and figures that China arrested so-called “dissidents” to ensure security of the August Games.
“In order to ensure the hosting of a successful Olympic Games, and to ensure the safety of foreign athletes and visitors, China has indeed taken a series of necessary, legitimate and reasonable security measures.

This falls in line with routines of previous Olympic Games and major international sports events,” the spokesman told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

“lt is unnecessary to arrest so-called ‘dissidents’ for the sake of the Olympic Games. The accusation is untrue,” he said.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

It’s the time for the Dalai Lama to respond with sincerity and prove it by deeds after the Chinese central government had communicated goodwill to him during the meeting with his private representatives, a spokesman of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee said on Sunday.
During the meeting with Dalai Lama’s representatives, Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, Du Qinglin, head of the department told them the Dalai Lama should openly and explicitly promise and prove it in his actions not to support activities to disturb the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games, not to support plots to fan violent criminal activities, not to support and concretely curb the violent terrorist activities of the “Tibetan Youth Congress” and not to support any argument and activity to seek “Tibet independence” and split the region from the country.
Previously, the central government had asked the Dalai Lama to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games.
The spokesman said that the four “not-to-supports” are detailed measures of the three “stops”. They are more practical and more convenient for the Dalai Lama to follow.
“If the Dalai Lama fails to meet such simple and rational requirements, it will be impossible to have necessary atmosphere and condition for next round of contact,” he said.
“The door for dialogue is always open and contacts will make positive moves as long as the Dalai Lama suits his actions with his words and truly practices the four ‘not-to-supports’,” he said.
As required by the two representatives, the central government agreed in principle that the next round of contact may be held before the end of this year, he said.
He stressed that the contacts and dialogues were about Dalai Lama’s personal future, not so-called “China-Tibet negotiation” or “dialogue between Han and Tibetan people”.
During their stay in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday, the two representatives met with central government officials, including Du Qinglin and two deputy heads of the department, Zhu Weiqun and Sitar, toured the Olympic stadiums, and talked with some Tibetologists.

from: xinhuanet.com

Li Weiyi, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday that “we will be happy to see the Taiwan athletes and audience come to join the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games by charter flights.”
“We are willing to provide any possible help,” he added at a regular press conference here.
When mentioning the issues of the weekend cross-Straits charter flight and the travel of mainlanders to Taiwan, Li said “we believe that under the new circumstances and through consultation, the weekend cross-Straits charter flight and mainland tourist’s travel to Taiwan could be realized at an early date, as long as the two sides make mutual endeavors.”
When Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, met with Vincent C. Siew, chairman of the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, at the Boao Forum for Asia on Saturday, he said the economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan were facing a historical opportunity and needed joint efforts from both sides for further progress.
The mainland would also make efforts to push forward negotiations on weekend charter flights and mainland tourists’ travels to Taiwan.
Hu said the mainland would continue being concerned about Taiwan compatriots’ welfare and protecting their legal rights and interests, and would step up efforts to restore cross-Straits negotiations and talks.

from: xinhuanet.com

Drills to prepare for fires, explosions and mass incidents at large train stations in Olympic host cities and areas most at risk from terrorism will be carried out this year, the Ministry of Railways said last week.
Exercises to prepare for chaotic situations, such as a breakdown of the ticket sales system, train dispatch system or capital management system, are also planned, spokesman Wang Yongping said.
In addition, five projects to improve railway safety and management will get under way this year, he said. The projects are an inspection system for the new 300-kmh passenger railway between Beijing and Tianjin, a gale warning system to protect against trains being blown off their tracks, a video surveillance system, a railway information sharing platform, and an emergency response training base.
“The projects will enhance the railway department’s capabilities to handle extreme weather events, such as blizzards, typhoons and floods,” Wang said.
The increased attention on emergency-handling measures comes after a crisis in January in which blizzards paralyzed many railways, highways and airlines in southern China.
The public laid much of the blame for the subsequent chaos at the doors of government transportation departments, saying they were unprepared. It was particularly critical of the Ministry of Railways.
Guo Xiling, vice-chairman of the Guangzhou committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was also critical of the ministry.
Many electric trains were unable to run when power lines snapped under the weight of snow, stranding thousands of passengers either on trains or at stations.
While deadlines for the completion of four of the new projects have yet to be set, the establishment of the information-exchange platform for use by the ministry, railway bureaus and train stations will be completed by the end of the year, Wang said.
“The ministry will organize inspection teams in the fourth quarter to ensure all is going to plan,” he said.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

A Beijing Olympic official has strongly condemned the disruption of the Olympic torch relay in Paris by a very small number of “Tibet independence” secessionists and a handful of so-called human rights-minded NGO activists.
A spokesman of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee said on Monday that the serious incident clearly showed that “Tibet independence” secessionists have been disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games in a planned, premeditate and organized way.
What the separatists have been doing are far from “peaceful” demonstrations, but attempts to foil the smooth relay of the Beijing Olympic torch through violent means, and has thus blasphemed the Olympic spirit, he said.
France is the hometown of Pierre De Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, said the spokesman. The large number of Paris residents turning out to welcome the Olympic sacred flame showed that the flame belongs to the people of the whole world.
The “Tibet independence” separatists’ malicious and open challenge of the Olympic spirit and the Olympic Charter has proved unpopular and is bound to fail, he said.
The Beijing Olympic Games is not only a grand event for the Chinese people, but also for people all over the world. It bears great significance for glorifying the Olympic spirit, spreading the Olympic culture and promoting the development of the Olympic Games, said the official, adding that the Beijing Olympic torch relay will surely win wide support from all peace-loving people across the world, and will not be thwarted by any force.

from: xinhuanet.com 

A Beijing Olympic official on Sunday strongly criticized the attempt by some “pro-Tibet independence” activists to sabotage the torch relay event in London, as an obvious act of defying the Olympic spirit.
A spokesman from the torch relay center of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee said that as the highest symbol of the Olympic spirit, the Olympic flame represents peace, friendship and progress. Under the authorization of the International Olympic Committee, the Beijing Olympic torch relay is taking its journey of harmony throughout the world, sharing the passion and glory of the Olympics with the world, and has received warm welcome from the people en route.
However, a few “pro-Tibet independence” activists attempted to sabotage the torch relay in London today, which is a serious violation of the Olympic spirit, as the Olympic flame belongs to the world, the spokesman said. The act will surely arouse the resentment of the peace-loving people, and is bound to fail, he added.

Local policeman clashes with a protester (bottom) during the Olympic torch relay in London, April 6, 2008.
A few “pro-Tibet independence” activists tried to sabotage the torch relay, stirring clashes with British police.
At least 25 people were arrested. (Xinhua/Qi Heng)

London welcomes the Beijing Olympic flame on Sunday as part of the global Olympic Torch Relay in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games. As a grand festival in London, tens of thousands of people lined the route of the relay to cheer the event, far outnumbering the protesters.
Yet some protesters tried to sabotage the torch relay, by trying to grab the torch or extinguish it, stirring clashes with British police. At least 25 people were arrested.
The torch is traveling through ten London boroughs from Wembley in the west to Greenwich in east London, with each borough marking its arrival with entertainment and local events, bringing London’s color and vibrancy to life while showcasing the capital’s famous landmarks.

from: xinhuanet.com

More countries have voiced their opposition to the boycott of Beijing Olympics.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday that the Olympic Games are an important sporting occasion and is of great significance to the world.
He confirmed he will represent Britain at the Beijing Olympics and will be present at the welcoming ceremony when the Beijing Olympic flame arrives in London on Sunday.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said his government opposes a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games and representatives of Denmark’s royal family and government will attend the event in August.
“Sports must not be confused with politics,” he said, adding that Denmark should send official delegates to Beijing in support of its athletes’ participation in the Olympics.
Earlier, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller told reporters when attending a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Slovenia that it is wrong to threaten to boycott the Olympics and a boycott will deeply hurt the Chinese people.
Last Friday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said a boycott of Beijing Olympics is pointless. According to Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic’s spokesman Marek Trubac, the president believes sport has to tie not to divide and a boycott will only hurt athletes.
Also last Friday, Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spanish minister of foreign affairs and cooperation said that his country will be present at the Beijing Olympics in August.
“The Olympic Games are the best platform to eliminate controversies and crises and to start dialogue and so we shouldn’t be boycotting them,” he told reporters in EU foreign ministers meeting in Slovenia, noting that Spain is not in favor of a boycott.
Last Wednesday, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he does not believe “a boycott of the Olympics is a sensible or the right thing to do,” and his country will not boycott the Beijing Olympics.
He added that the Olympics should be used to facilitate China’s engagement with other countries. The Olympics are a chance to put the spotlight on China but also to enhance China’s engagement with the international community, he said.

from: xinhuanet.com 

Commenting on French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s comment that “all options are open” regarding an Olympics boycott, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman says the world should follow the Olympic spirit and not politicize the Games.
Spokesman Qin Gang said Wednesday afternoon that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is a grand event not only for the Chinese people, but also people across the whole world. China hopes to enhance understanding, friendship and cooperation with the world through this sports event.

“We believe that the Beijing Olympic Games will certainly achieve success with the support of the world people,” he said.
from: news.xinhuanet.com