Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...

Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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These efforts introduce the novel presumptions that government information should be
made public and that official agencies are obligated to disclose such information upon
request. The State Council passed a national OGI regulation that will take effect on May 1,
2008, in time for concerned citizens to request previously undisclosed information on
Olympic preparations. Efforts should be made to see whether Olympic-related information
such as budget and expenditures and details of the host city contract could be disclosed.
People's Olympics. “The Olympic Games will give an impetus to economic development
and urban construction and management, and bring about increasing benefits for the
people. We will make the preparations for the Olympic Games a process of substantially
improving the people's living standard, both materially and culturally.”
Inequality has widened in recent years, with growing income disparity between rural and
urban residents. Although the Chinese government has spent large amounts on economic
development in Beijing, development has been accompanied by forcible evictions and
crackdowns. A People's Olympics must advance equitable and sustainable social and
economic development for all of China's people, and respect for economic, cultural, and
social rights, including religious and cultural integrity.
Migrant workers. Although migrant workers provided labor for the construction of
Olympic sites, they were discarded after their work was completed and subject to evictions
and other tactics aimed at keeping them out of the cities as part of the “Olympics cleanup”
campaign. The Ministry of Public Security has demanded that all Chinese cities set up
systems by the end of 2009 to track migrants more easily.
Ethnic minorities. The “war on terror” continues to be used to justify repression of
Uighurs, Tibetans and Mongols. In Beijing, the commoditization of ethnic minorities is
evident in their portrayal as pre-modern and exotic at the National Ethnic Minorities Park.
With the tense situation in Tibet, will the Olympics be a force for encouraging the Chinese
authorities to enter into a dialogue for peaceful resolution and to address the failures of its
policies in the so-called autonomous regions?
Displacement. The number of people displaced by Olympic-related development in
Beijing rose to 1.25 million in early 2007. Another 250,000 are expected to be displaced
during 2008. Issues of compensation, relocation, and preservation of neighborhoods will
require ongoing international attention.
Looking ahead to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and beyond, an investigation of these issues
can advance delivery on the host city's promises and legal obligations. With little time
remaining before the opening ceremonies, the current time frame to consider these
challenging and complex issues is inadequate.
The problems that China faces have deep and historic political, legal, and cultural roots.
Considering a longer horizon, Liu Jianchao, foreign ministry spokesman, has stated, “The
Chinese Government will always be dedicated to improving and protecting human rights,
be it prior to, or in the midst of or beyond the Beijing Olympics.”