Get ready for the blackout Games if China has its way. With the Olympics less than three weeks away, news organizations are nervous, including host U.S. broadcaster NBC, about the restrictions being imposed on news coverage as the communist country with a capitalist bent seeks to put the best light possible on itself.
One of the most common hypothetical questions NBC officials have bandied about involves the opening ceremonies on Aug. 8.
One of the most common hypothetical questions NBC officials have bandied about involves the opening ceremonies on Aug. 8.
Hundreds of athletes will parade into a stadium in front of world leaders, including President Bush, and a huge global television audience. If an athlete holds a protest sign or waves a Tibetan flag, how will the Chinese hosts react? Will the television networks show the scene? How will the Chinese handle the media for the rest of the Games?
One IOC official told the New York Times that Chinese officials had “put a tourniquet” on the Olympics. This official also made an interesting comment:
“Had the I.O.C., and those vested with the decision to award the host city contract, known seven years ago that there would be severe restrictions on people being able to enter China simply to watch the Olympics, or that live broadcasting from Tiananmen Square would essentially be banned, or that reporters would be corralled at the whim of local security, then I seriously doubt whether Beijing would have been awarded the Olympics,” the commissioner said.
Some are already calling these the “no fun Olympics” for the rigid restrictions being put on visitors and the media. This example from The Age in Australia takes the cake:
Beijing police have been visiting bar owners in the popular Sanlitun area and asking them to sign pledges agreeing to not serve black people or Mongolians and ban activities including dancing.
Bar owners said that police have been clamping down on black people and Mongolians, who are sometimes implicated in drug dealing and prostitution, as part of an Olympic clean-up campaign that they and locals fear will make for a secure but sterile Games.
None of this should have been a surprise since China remains very much a country controlled by the state. This is the same country that is trying to control the weather during the Olympics. If Chinese authorities have no fear of taking on Mother Nature, what’s a few reporters or Mongolians? –Jim Buzinski
