Posted August 14, 200816 yr ITN reporter attacked and detained by Chinese police at Tibet protest By Clifford Coonan in Beijing Thursday, 14 August 2008 The Independent Chinese police knock-ed a British journalist to the ground and dragged him away from a pro-Tibet protest yesterday, in an incident that is sure to reopen the debate about interference with media freedom at the Beijing Olympics. Police hauled John Ray, ITN's China correspondent, from a park less than a mile from the "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium to a nearby restaurant, where they threw his shoes in the corner and sat on his arms, shortly after foreign protesters unfurled a pro-Tibet banner. The reporter said after his release: "I wonder how this fits in with their solemn promise of free and unrestricted reporting... it was a wrestling match". Ray, who is fully accredited to report in Beijing during the Games, said he was detained for about 20 minutes and his equipment bag was confiscated, despite repeated protestations in Chinese that he was a journalist. He was thrown into a police van and he had bruising on his hand from where a police officer stood on it, he said. The pro-Tibetan independence group, Students for a Free Tibet, said two of its protesters who unfurled the banner were arrested while six other members were also detained for protesting nearby. They included six Americans, an Israeli-American and a Japanese national. Last month, the Beijing Olympic organisers said they were introducing three "protest parks" where anyone who wanted to express their opinions could do so. However, the demonstrations require approval and any protests that might harm "national unity" and "national, social or collective interests" are forbidden. Ji Sizun, 58, who describes himself as a grassroots legal activist from Fujian province, was arrested this week after he applied for a permit to hold a protest in one of the three designated protest zones. In his application, Mr Ji said the protest would call for greater participation of Chinese citizens in political processes, and denounce rampant official corruption. When it was awarded the right to stage the Games in 2001, China pledged to allow foreign media to report just as they would anywhere in the world, but the government has been criticised for continuing to block reports on sensitive issues, such as Tibet and Xinjiang. The British embassy expressed "strong concern" to the Chinese authorities about the incident involving Ray. Jonathan Watts, president of The Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) in Beijing, said: "The FCC is appalled by this treatment of an accredited journalist within half-a-mile of the main Olympic stadium. We call on the authorities to return his equipment, to apologise and, if it is proved that a crime has been committed, to punish those responsible." Absolutely disgraceful.... Yet another promise made the IOC that the Chinese authorities has broken.... "Free and unrestricted reporting" eh....? Three more weeks to go of this and we've already had this, the fact that journalists were restricted as to what internet sites they could access and the fact that Chinese people themselves are facing endless bureaucracy, intimidation and a total uphill struggle to actually voice their protests in the so-called "Protest Parks" which the Chinese authorities claim would be set aside so ordinary people could voice their concerns.... What a bloody sham..... And SHAME on the IOC for giving this disgusting, Fascistic, murderous regime the Games in the first place, the "spectacle" cannot compensate for any of the broken promises.....
August 15, 200816 yr Hmmm, no comments...? :unsure: Surprising.... Unfortunately it is obvious why. Most people are politically ignorant don't care about Sports and politics mixing. Most members on Buzzjack care more about "important" news stories like Jade Goody in Indian Big Brother, than the most disgraceful Olympic Games in 70 years.
August 16, 200816 yr Author Unfortunately it is obvious why. Most people are politically ignorant don't care about Sports and politics mixing. Most members on Buzzjack care more about "important" news stories like Jade Goody in Indian Big Brother, than the most disgraceful Olympic Games in 70 years. I reckon that's it in a nutshell Rich.... I'm honestly despairing at the childish, naive attitudes of some of the thick-as-pigsh!t w/ankers on this site..... I've really gone off on one over on the Beijing thread on the Sports Forum in response to the new news articles you've posted..... Some people, it appears, need a sledgehammer to the face to provoke them into a response.....
August 16, 200816 yr It's sick! Fake Fireworks, fake National Anthem singer because the original singer didn't look cute enough, reporters attacked, members of Athlete Family's killed, people on the streets locked up etc. etc. China are no more different than Germany than what it was under Hitler's reign. I'm not going to lie, I love watching the Olympics and seeing Team GB doing so well, but Sports + Politics should never be mixed, it's un-healthy (just like mixing War + Religion, and we all know what happens there). The games ARE a disgrace, and it's been said that they never should of happened. But really, what can you do?
August 16, 200816 yr Author Sports + Politics should never be mixed, it's un-healthy Tell that to the IOC mate.... They're the ones doing the mixing.... Also, tell it to George W Bush, Gordon Brown, Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin and all the other scumbag politicians out there who are currently enjoying a nice little jolly at their taxpayers' expense.... Tell it to the British athletes who were censured by China, through Gordon Brown and the British Olympic Committee who warned them of disciplinery action if they spoke out against Chinese authoritarianism and Chinese ethnic cleansing in Tibet.... As for what you can do..? At the very LEAST you can stop watching the coverage, thereby not giving your indirect support to what's going on out there....
August 16, 200816 yr Ahh don't get me started on Gordon Brown and Boris Johnson, as if they can actually give a shit about the Olympics. (I somewhat don't think they seem the sporty type :lol: ). and It's hard to stop watching the Olympics, comes every 4 years and it's one of the 'greatest' (-_-) sporting events, ever. It's just the Country that is the disgrace.
August 16, 200816 yr Author Ahh don't get me started on Gordon Brown and Boris Johnson, as if they can actually give a shit about the Olympics. (I somewhat don't think they seem the sporty type :lol: ). and It's hard to stop watching the Olympics, comes every 4 years and it's one of the 'greatest' (-_-) sporting events, ever. It's just the Country that is the disgrace. It's easy to just pick on China as being the ones totally to blame, but, come on, the IOC was hell-bent on awarding China the games, regardless of the better bids put in by Toronto and Paris, and regardless of China's appalling records on human rights... So, the IOC are, to me anyway, as much to blame for this farce as the Chinese authorities... It certainly used to be the Greatest Sporting event, but too many politicians have jumped on the bandwagon and used it as a political tool.. Even Ken Livingstone did this, although his goals were a tad more honourable - to regenerate a depressed, run-down area of London, the ONLY way he was able to get the investment needed was a successful Olympic bid - pretty fukked-up that is if you ask me.... -_-
August 28, 200816 yr The games ARE a disgrace, and it's been said that they never should of happened. But really, what can you do? Be happy that finally the games are finished? :P I somentimes understand why some nations hate the way we live :D We dunnot understand they're way of living either :lol: xox.
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