Making a List and Checking it Twice ....

The New York Times and many other newspapers reported BOCOG's list of FAQ that visitors might have when they plan a trip to Beijing for the Summer Olympic Games. Here's the NYT story and see bwlow for some TL thoughts:


China Lists Dos and Don’ts for Olympics-Bound Foreigners

By KEITH BRADSHER

HONG KONG — Do not bring any printed materials critical of China. Do not plan on holding any rallies or demonstrations in China. Do not think that you are guaranteed an entry visa because you hold tickets to an Olympic event. And do not even think about smuggling opium into China.

That is some of the eclectic advice issued by the Beijing Organizing Committee on Monday, in a document listing 57 questions that foreign visitors to the Olympic Games in August may have: “Does China have any regulation against insults to the flag or national emblems?” “After eating or drinking at restaurants or hotels, if you have diarrhea or vomiting symptoms, how do you lodge a complaint?”

The advisory to foreigners, posted on the committee’s Web site, but only in Chinese, provides answers for each question in a deadpan style. (Burning or soiling the Chinese flag or emblems is a criminal offense; food poisoning symptoms are to be reported to the local health department.) Some of the rules, like a ban on religious or political banners or slogans at Olympic sites, appear aimed at preventing protests of China’s crackdown in Tibet this year and other Chinese policies.

The Beijing Organizing Committee took pains at the start of the document to say that all the answers were based on existing Chinese regulations. The International Olympic Committee had no immediate response on Monday to the rules. Its position on freedom of expression issues as they relate to the Olympics is not entirely clear.

“A person’s ability to express his or her opinion is a basic human right and as such does not need to have a specific clause in the Olympic Charter because its place is implicit,” said Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, at a meeting in Beijing in April.

But Mr. Rogge also pointed out at the time that the International Olympic Committee had a rule for more than half a century that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or areas.”

The advisory issued by the Beijing Organizing Committee includes a ban on bringing into China “anything detrimental to China’s politics, economy, culture or moral standards, including printed material, film negatives, photos, records, movies, tape recordings, videotapes, optical discs and other items.”

All rallies, demonstrations and marches, at athletic sites or anywhere else, are also banned during the Games unless approved in advance by public security agencies, a longstanding policy in China even when no Games or other big events are being held.

Before being awarded the Olympics, China promised in 2001 to improve its human rights record. But China and the International Olympic Committee have never released the text of their contract for the Olympic Games, in contrast with other recent Olympic host cities.

Nicholas Bequelin, the Hong Kong-based China researcher for Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group, said China had chosen a very broad interpretation of the Olympic restriction on political and religious activity. “It is a slippery slope, and the Games in Beijing are testing the limit,” he said.

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Okay, here's my "to do" list for those departing for Beijing and it might have a few items with a bit of a USA Basketball twist:

1. When you depart USA, be sure you leave the country with at least three healthy point guards and two lethal three-point shooters.
2. Try to leave your country with a men's team that is, at least, as strong as your women's team.
3. Do not PASS Go, Do not stop in Guangzhou.
4. For those staying in the Olympic Village, be sure you do not sleep in dorms close to Aussie swimmers when swimming completes last day of competition.
5. For media, when all the elite athletes claim to be staying in the Village, do not believe them. (Psst: It's not just the basketball teams and you guys have been writing that sorry, old storyline since 1992).
6. For TV types, do not plan a stand-up in front of Tiananmen Square. Trust me, I tried it in a video message to Ed Desser upon his retirement from NBA.
7. Just eat the food, don't ask questions.
8. Do not pack your luggage with anyone named "Pacman."
9. Cubs Fans: Set up your Slingbox, pack your MacBook.
10. When using exit visas, ask this question: "Is the US Presidential election over yet?"