The Times of India
22 Jul 2008, 0000 hrs IST

With less than three weeks to go before the Olympic Games begin, questions are already being raised on how China is going to handle political protests during the Olympics. There are fears that television crews and journalists are going to face the most restrictive environment in any Olympics in recent times.

When the Games were awarded to Beijing it was on the understanding that broadcasters would receive the same freedoms that they enjoyed at earlier Olympics. But this no longer seems to be the case. Journalists have already been hit with strict visa rules and lengthy application processes.

Now broadcasters face restrictions on what, where and when they will be allowed to film. Outside the stadiums, the Chinese authorities have allowed only six hours of live broadcast from Tiananmen Square. One International Olympic Committee (IOC) commissioner has gone to the extent of saying that if the IOC knew that such draconian rules would be imposed on the international media, Beijing wouldn't have been awarded the Games.

It is apparent that China isn't taking any chances. The Chinese authorities have clamped down on all forms of dissidence. Heading the list is a crackdown on Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region which borders Pakistan. Earlier this month, China executed two Uighurs and sentenced another 15 to jail. All 17 were accused of being members of a group having links with terrorists.

According to Chinese authorities, the police have detained 82 people in Xinjiang in the past six months for plotting to sabotage the Games. Beijing itself is being sanitised. People from the provinces who regularly visit Beijing with petitions are being rounded up by the police and sent back home. Vagrants and beggars will reportedly be removed before the Games.

These are troubling signs. When Beijing won the right to stage the Olympics, some felt that this would be a coming out party of sorts for China. But expectations of a spectacular opening up of China now seem premature. So, while China has spent an incredible $40 billion on giving Beijing a makeover, it has also mobilised more than 4,40,000 people to ensure security. The protests in Tibet earlier this year are possibly one of the causes behind China taking such elaborate precautions. There is little doubt that Chinese authorities will try their best to prevent any unexpected changes to the script that they've written for the Olympics.

And they could very well succeed. But they have not taken into account the long-term changes that could be brought about by half a million visitors entering the country over a fortnight and interacting with ordinary Chinese citizens.