Thread: Olympics: Men of Conscience should Raise HR Issue

Originally Posted by sabang

Originally Posted by Bugs

beach volleyball

Now that should be a crowd pleaser.

The women's version seems to be. Can't imagine why ...

http://www.itv.com/News/Articles/Tib...935062927.html

Tibet protesters held in Beijing

Eight Free Tibet campaigners have been arrested during a protest at which a British journalist was also held.

ITV News reporter John Ray was released soon after the incident at the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park, near the National Stadium.

He was taken away by police as members of the campaign group handcuffed themselves to each other and bicycles

Mr Ray, who has been based in Beijing since 2006, is ITV News' first China correspondent.

ITN, which makes ITV News, said it would be making the "strongest possible" protest.

A spokesman said: "John Ray is a fully accredited China correspondent who was doing his legitimate job as a journalist.

"We intend to protest in the strongest possible terms to the Chinese authorities and seek assurances that the treatment meted out to Mr Ray will not be repeated."

The International Olympic Committee also said it was investigating.

CTV.ca | British journalist detained with activists in Beijing

British journalist detained with activists in Beijing

John Ray of London-based ITV News was rushing to cover the demonstration outside the main Olympic venue, when he was apparently mistaken as a protestor.

"Are you arresting me? I am a journalist!" an indignant Ray shouted as he was taken away in a police van.

He later said he repeatedly told officials he was not a protester, although he did not display any official media accreditation.

"They bundled me out of the park. They forced me to the floor, dragged me, manhandled me into a restaurant next door," Ray told The Associated Press.

He was later released.

What the first ITV report fails to mention, but is reported in the second link, if that the reporter did not display any official media accreditation.

But I just saw a video of the arrest and he did indeed keep flashing his press pass and telling them in Enlgish that he was a journalist.

Also from the second link:

Wary of criticism, China says it has set aside specific, if not out-of-the-way, parks for protest. But reports say those parks have not seen any demonstrations, just happy-go-lucky park regulars.

CTV News has been contacted by some groups that said they applied foer permission to protest -- groups ranging from upset homeowners to Christians looking for more religious freedom.

However, human rights groups say that once activists put in their official requests, they were rounded up.

Teng Biao, a human-rights lawyer, said that he's been kicked out of Beijing and told to go back to his hometown.

Tricky buggers - tell folks it's ok to protest in specific areas if they get permission. Then round up the folks that ask for permission to protest. Follow that up by ponting to the lack of protesters at the specified protest parks.

Originally Posted by Bugs

If all else fails I'm sure they can just bust a few heads, round up a few folks off the street and stick them in the empty seats.

We'll I don't think they are actually knocking heads, but looks like they are rounding folks up and sticking them in empty seats. Some of them are working in shifts.


Chinese Olympic Organizer's Problem? Not Enough People - DigitalJournal.com: The Power of Citizen Journalism

Any number of reasons can explain what is happening in Beijing, China, for the Olympics, but the bottom line is, they are having to bus in state-trained "cheer squads" to help fill up the seats of the Olympic Park.

The "cheer squads" are sent in shifts according to Wang Li, who is a 30 year-old working for an automobile manufacturer in Beijing, who says, "Today, 50 workers came to do the cheerleading job. Our company sends us to softball today, but other workers were sent to other venues to do some work. We come here on shifts."

She goes on to tell how they are coached in how to cheer properly saying they are taught to say, ""Olympics, Go, Go, Go! China, Go, Go, Go! Beijing, Go, Go, Go!"

Volunteers are brought in to cheer for each side to provide a "good atmosphere"

Why Are There So Many Empty Seats In Beijing? : NPR

...I'm watching a Chinese tennis player being thrashed, but the crowd is still on her side. The stadium is almost half empty. I'm feeling guilty. Full disclosure: I didn't buy my ticket. That pass and other highly sought-after tickets for basketball and gymnastics were given to me for free by a well-connected businessman. I keep thinking of people like 18-year-old Chu Chengcheng, who'd been standing outside to see tennis for two hours. She's close to tears because she can't get a ticket....

....She went to the women's gymnastics team finals.

"In the upper decks, there were whole sections that no one was sitting there," she said. "And then lower down, there were VIP seating that was obviously being reserved for someone or something, and those people didn't bother to come."....


...."This is an opportunity that only comes around once every hundred years," says 19-year-old Yu Tingting. "Everybody wants to go to be there. I don't think there can be empty seats."

But the truth is there are — and in all matches. Supply certainly isn't meeting demand.

Earlier, I visited a hotel hosting supporters of the Dutch volleyball federation. They're awash in tickets, giving them away even. The Olympics might be a global event, but ticketing is following a very Chinese pattern. Any ticket is there for the taking — but only if you have connections or money.

Tennis empty seats, bird out front crying because she can't get a ticket?

Gymnastics team finals - empty upper deck, and empty VIP seats?

Beijing Is All Dressed Up, But No One Is Going - washingtonpost.com

...Two weeks after announcing they had sold every one of the record 6.8 million tickets offered for the Games, Olympics officials expressed dismay at the large numbers of empty seats at nearly every event and the lack of pedestrian traffic throughout the park, the 2,800-acre centerpiece of the competition.

U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps won his third gold medal Tuesday in an arena with at least 500 no-shows, and there was a smattering of empty seats Wednesday morning as he captured his fourth gold in the 200 butterfly. The U.S. softball team played in a stadium only about 30 percent full on Tuesday, while the day before, 10 of 18 venues did not reach 80 percent capacity, officials said. Meantime, crowds of tourists and fans have been thin in the extravagantly landscaped Olympic Park, which holds 10 venues including National Stadium.

To remedy the problem, officials are busing in teams of state-trained "cheer squads" identifiable by their bright yellow T-shirts to help fill the empty seats and improve the atmosphere. They are also encouraging residents to apply for access to the heavily secured park....

...Business is worse than at this time last year," said a receptionist at a 22-room hotel in Beijing's Chongwen district, where rooms cost $28 a night. "It's the season for traveling and last year the hotel was full. The Olympics should have brought business to Beijing, but the reality is too far from the expectation."....

...Said Wang Wei: "The volunteers are assigned to cheer for both sides in order to provide good atmosphere. . . . The responsibility rests with the . . . venue managers. If they find there are not enough people, too many empty seats, [they should] organize some cheerleaders."....

...Meng Xianan, 28, a paralegal from Beijing, bought her ticket for men's gymnastics online last year. But her seat for the preliminaries on Saturday was in the last row of the National Indoor Stadium.

"There were quite a lot empty seats in front of me," Meng said. "I suspect the empty seats are free tickets. It's unfair. As soon as I saw the empty seats, I was annoyed."

Added Meng: "I'm going to watch diving in several days. The tickets are from my boyfriend's company, which is one of the sponsors. From what I understand, they couldn't give all their tickets away last weekend. What a waste."

Go team, go.......