Olympic Games Mean Freedom Doesn't Exist

When the International Olympic Committee awarded the Olympic Games to Beijing (北京) one of the stipulations or conditions was that the press would be free to report freely on China and the games. Protests were also to be allowed. The opening of the International Press Center meant reporters were met with incomplete access to the internet and though the Chinese set-up three "protest areas" for which permits are required, no protest permits have been issued. Because the IOC is more interested in the monetary success of the games rather than the original reasons for awarding the games to China they have done little to hold the Chinese accountable. Which has lead to this:

Elderly women sentenced to year's labour over Olympics protest Neighbours in their late seventies applied to protest about their forced eviction from their homes in 2001 Chinese authorities have sentenced two women in their 70s to a year's "re-education through labour" after they applied to protest during the Olympic games, a relative said today. This week, officials said they had not approved a single permit for a demonstration, despite designating three parks as protest zones. The International Olympic Committee's communications director said she would look at the women's case, but stressed that the games were "not a panacea for all ills". Wu Dianyuan, 79, and her neighbour Wang Xiuying, 77, sought to protest about their forced eviction from their homes in 2001. They went to the Beijing Public Security Bureau four times this month to request permission to demonstrate in the new zones — created for the Olympics to counter criticism of the limits to political expression in China.