the black China hand

Beijing will set up specially designated zones for protesters during next month’s Olympics, a security official said Wednesday, in a sign China’s authoritarian government may allow some demonstrations during the games .. “This will allow people to protest without disrupting the Olympics,” said Ni Jianping, director of the Shanghai Institute of American Studies, who lobbied Chinese leaders to set up the protest zones.

Are you kidding me? The allowance of “areas” for protests has nothing to do with the Chinese government’s willingness to allow protest. My take is that it is a bit more nefarious: the areas will no doubt be highly surveilled and while the protesters may be happily expressing themselves the cameras will be clicking and the backdoor beat-downs and midnight “disappearing” squads will be increasing. My advice would be to avoid the areas at all costs.

China to set up designated protest zones for Beijing Olympics – Olympics.