Countdown Beijing -- Olympic Organizers Resolute on Live TV from Tiananmen Square

Broadcasters Have Fair Deal, Says BOCOG

Beijing Olympic organizers tell Around the Rings they have approved more than 400 applications from rights-holding broadcasters to Tiananmen Square is usually off limit to live broadcast. (Getty Images)allow satellite news gathering trucks the freedom to roam around the city.

Restricted areas include Tiananmen Square where reporting restrictions are already in place and broadcasters will be moved on if they disrupt traffic flows in the city, says BOCOG spokesman Sun Weide.

“I believe the arrangements we have worked out with [host broadcaster] Beijing Olympic Broadcasting can satisfy the needs of the rights-holding broadcasters,” Sun tells ATR.

“We have tried our best to help broadcasters cover Beijing and China.”

But the decision to grant greater freedom for satellite trucks could be small compensation for Olympic broadcasters who have tried and failed to get the Chinese authorities to provide unfettered access to Tiananmen Square.

Their hopes were dashed last week when BOCOG announced that live broadcasting from the square would be limited to just six hours a day-- 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. That schedule effectively rules out prime-time broadcasts for most of Europe

Sun says that BOB will provide live footage 24 hours a day from camera positions in Tiananmen Square and other beauty spots such as the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall of China.

“BOB will have standing positions in Tiananmen Square and rights-holding broadcasters can make bookings,” Sun adds.

With 23 days to go before the Games open Aug. 8, Chinese authorities are keen to ensure the square and other prominent Beijing locations do not get hijacked by activists set on embarrassing China over its policies in Tibet and Darfur.

BOCOG insists broadcasters have a fair deal. And Sun says there are no more meetings planned this week about broadcasting issues.

BOCOG expects thousands of domestic and foreign tourists to descend on the square during the Games.

“On Tiananmen Square we are going to have a number of very important large-scale cultural events, almost on a daily basis, and some presidential visits during the Games,” says Sun.

“It is reasonable for the public and broadcasters to share Tiananmen Square.”

Last week, senior IOC members including Hein Verbruggen and Alex Gilady met with Chinese officials including BOCOG's executive vice president Wang Wei and dozens of rights-holding broadcast officials to seek a compromise deal.

Gilady, a senior vice president of NBC Sports, reportedly pushed Chinese organizers hard over the scant live air time from Tiananmen.

“I think as a representative of the IOC TV commission, I have to try and follow what the broadcasters want-- and they want more time,” Gilady told AP.

The IOC's director of communication Giselle Davies later defended BOCOG's arrangement to restrict live broadcasting from Tiananmen Square, saying that some time constraints for live access were needed to be given by the Chinese hosts because the iconic location was much in demand.

Spectator Rules

Beijing's new codified rules for Games spectators ban many items and label four behaviors inappropriate. An art project on the Great Wall over the weekend brought together the flags of the 205 countries competing in the Games. Versions less than one by two meters are allowed in venues. (Getty Images)

Large banners and signs are prohibited, as are all flags of countries not in the Olympics-- a reference that covers both the flag used by the Tibet government in exile and the white-sun flag of Taiwan. The island competes in the Games under a special flag.

Also prohibited from venues are political leaflets, all weapons, unauthorized recording equipment, dangerous tripods, big umbrellas, walkie-talkies and other items.

The rules are in line with the Sydney and Athens Olympics, emphasized Zhang Zhenliang, vice-director of the volunteer department of BOCOG and chief of the spectator call center. He and several colleagues outlined the rules during a July 14 press conference.

They also pointed out four "inappropriate" behaviors: smoking in no-smoking zones, jumping guardrails, standing too long in seating areas and flash photography.

No Olympic Dissidents Detained

A BOCOG spokesman dismisses stories of arrests in China over Games criticisms.

"lt's unnecessary to arrest so-called 'dissidents' for the sake of the Olympic Games. The accusation is untrue," a July 14 Xinhua story quotes an anonymous BOCOG spokesman. "Release Hu Jia" reads a banner dropped from a Hong Kong building as the torch passed on May 2. (Getty Images)

The unnamed spokesman is extensively quoted touting China's dedication to human rights and "some" basic freedoms which include freedom of speech.

The spokesman notes that the Chinese Constitution also guarantees freedom of gathering, association, demonstration and publication.

"Several overseas organizations and figures accuse China of arresting some 'dissidents' for the sake of the security of the Olympic Games, and call for release of 'dissidents' under custody. Such claims are groundless," says the spokesperson.

Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia is among those most often cited as a victim of a Games-time crackdown. Last year, he coauthored an open letter accusing China of corruption in Olympic construction, forced evictions in Beijing, persecution of media and depriving dissident athletes of the right to join the Games.

In April 2008, a range of his activist activities earned him a sentence of 31/2 years in prison for subverting state authority.

Amnesty International claims at least two more activists who tied their protests to the Games are in prison. Ye Gouzhu was sent to prison for "picking quarrels" about forced evictions in Beijing, and Yang Chunlin headed a campaign entitled "We don't want the Olympics, we want human rights," according to AI.

Beijing Briefs…

The Qingdao sailing course is free of algae, in the time frame promised by event organizers. A barricade is keeping the weed off the course, while it continues to bloom in other parts of the bay. Thousands of Qingdao residents and soldiers were mobilized to remove more than 600,000 tons of algae after the bloom invaded the shoreline in late June.

"The training of the sailing athletes was influenced by the algae, but it never stopped, and now their training is back to normal," This week, Beijing police step up security ahead of the Games by checking out-of-town cars entering the city. (Getty Images)says Lin Hong, a spokeswoman for the Qingdao Emergency Center on Algae Disposal.

The Olympic Torch finishes its tour of the city of Jilin, en route to a Korean enclave. The July 15 relay through Jilin, a city in the northeastern province of Jilin, was similar to other domestic legs: just over 100 torchbearers in a relay of not quite two hours. The provincial capital, Changchun, had twice as many torchbearers on July 14.

The torch next visits the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, an area within Jilin province that was given special status in 1952 for its predominantly ethnic Korean population. It tours the capital, Yanji City, on July 16.

Coastal Liaoning and Shandong provinces are the next stops as the torch continues south; July 24 is empty on the torch relay schedule. After that, the torch moves inland to Henan province.

Whistleblowers can get a reward of some $73,000 for providing accurate information about major threats to the Beijing Games, state media report. Major threats include terrorism, assassination and sabotage, according to the report. Payouts start at about $1,500 and grow with the value of the tip. The special scheme is in place from July 10 until Oct. 31.

State owned enterprises in Beijing will open an hour late minimize Games-time traffic. Only schools and essential services will keep their regular working hours; all others will report to work at 9:00 a.m. Other institutions are asked to start their working day later and stay open later as well.

Media Watch

Politicizing the Games only hurts the feelings of all peace-lovers including the Chinese people, says a Xinhua editorial. It lists friends of an apolitical China Games such as The Globe and Mail and The Hindu newspapers.

Written by Mark Bisson and Maggie Lee

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