Let the Games Begin: Protests Under Way Ahead of 2008 Beijing Olympics

In the thin air of Mount Everest base camp last week, a group of
five American activists thumbed their frozen noses at the Chinese Government by holding their own "opening ceremony" on behalf of Tibet.

They unfurled a banner that parodied China's Olympic slogan: "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008," it read. As a cameraman sent live images via the Internet, the activists even lit their own torch and sang the Tibetan national anthem -- minutes before Chinese border guards took them into custody.

The stunt was the latest effort to use next year's Olympic Games as a platform for advocacy on issues such as Tibet, Taiwan and human rights.

Winning the right to host Beijing 2008 was a coup for China. Not only will it shift the international spotlight and millions of tourist dollars towards the country for a few precious weeks, it was also a nod from the International Olympic Committee that the communist nation is fit to stand alongside past hosts from the "developed world," such as Athens, Sydney and Atlanta.

Since winning the bid, Beijing has been busy grooming itself for show. The government is spending $38 billion on infrastructure and promises to be "showing to the world a new, vigorous image of an open, modernized, civilized and well-developed metropolis."

Students for a Free Tibet members (from left) Shannon Service, Tenzin Dorjee and Laurel Mac Sutherland in Katmandu a few days after the Everest protest

But even though the games are still 16 months away, the backlash has already begun, with activists determined to insert their messages into the international media coverage of Beijing

source:World Politics Watch