VARIOUS: Beijing Games one-year countdown begins and Olympic movement is confident but human rights groups are still wary

The Beijing Olympics begin one year from Wednesday (August 8) and the organisers say preparations are on track, shrugging off concerns about human rights, food safety, pollution and accusations that China has not lived up to its media freedom pledge. The organisers say all Olympic venues -- with the exception of the showpiece 'Bird's Nest' stadium -- will be finished by the end of this year, ticket sales are going well and work is progressing on improving air quality. Beijing is being helped in that by one of the main sponsors of the Olympics, General Electric, which is involved in hundreds of projects, hoping to deliver one of the most environmentally-friendly games on record. General Electric Chief Marketing Officer Dan Henson told Reuters: "International stadium -- the 'Bird's Nest' that you've probably seen pictures of -- we've got a rainwater reuse facility that captures rainwater that helps provide water for the games. We have built a wastewater reclamation facility to help fuel the irrigation of the landscaping associated with the Olympic Games, which will save billions of dollars -- billions of gallons rather -- of water. We've also put in place a combined cycle turbine at a power plant in Beijing which, using our IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) technology, reduces the emissions associated with burning coal. So, a wide variety of products and projects, many of which relate to 'eco' and helping Beijing host a greener games." But efforts to improve China's international image vary. The organisers say that new regulations to ease reporting restrictions for foreign journalists have been well received, but the Foreign Correspondents Club of China unveiled a survey which indicated that the government still harasses reporters and does not respect its promise for total media freedom. On Monday, China's censors cut the signal for a 'live' CNN broadcast from Beijing when the 'freedom of media' question came up. A range of Chinese exports, from fish and toys to pet food and toothpaste, has been found to be mislabelled, unsafe or dangerously contaminated, creating an international backlash. The past months have also seen revelations of workers in slave-like conditions a day's drive from Beijing and children making Olympic Games merchandise in a factory in the far south. Everyone from Olympic organisers to human rights activists are focused on the event and how it might change China's future. Lord Sebastian Coe, head of the London 2012 Games and a former gold medallist, told Reuters that the Beijing Summer Olympics is already proving to be a catalyst for change. "Beijing is a city that is looking outwards" he said. "The Games has been a catalyst for that." Coe said he had noticed on his visits to China the physical effects of change, including city regeneration and the tackling of pollution. General Electric's Hanson is also positive about China's future. "China is such a huge place, with such a vibrant economy that the likelihood of a dramatic slowdown - absent some type of externality - we don't see as a strong likelihood. We're hoping to double our revenue in China between now and 2010," he said. As for the present, Beijing residents not wanting to be displaced by the games have complained that water, power and gas have been cut off and jobs have been threatened. With a year to go, some people are still refusing to quit their houses in areas marked for redevelopment. They say compensation was offered at levels set in 2001, when prices were much lower. The Chinese government says such reports are groundless and all is well, but overseas pressure groups still paint a bleak general picture of human rights in China. Amnesty International says China has not made nearly enough progress on human rights ahead of the 2008 Olympics and if more is not done quickly, the games will be a stain on the country, the Olympic movement and the world. In a report on China's human rights a year ahead of the games, Amnesty looked into executions as well as three other areas of concern: detention without trial and "enforced drug rehabilitation"; restrictions on the activities of rights activists; and a clampdown on domestic and foreign journalism. "This is a moment to be proud of, you know, to be proud of the Olympic Games. But if that pride is stained with human rights violations, that's bad for China, it's bad for the Olympic Games and it's bad for the international community that will be participating in those Games," Amnesty's Secretary-General, Irene Khan, told Reuters. Sebastian Coe pointed out that social changes are not the responsibility of the Olympic movement. "It's not for the International Olympic Committee to dictate the rate of change on the potential direction of that country. What I suppose I'm saying is that sport inherently does that anyway, to a certain extent," he said. But Amnesty's Khan commented: "Well, when the Chinese authorities made a bid for the Olympics and when they won the bid, they promised that the Olympics would also be an opportunity for them to develop human rights. With a year to go, we still see human rights concerns overshadowing the preparations for the Olympics." While in some areas Khan said she believed China was making an effort and there was some evidence of an improvement, she said the overall picture was still cause for deep concern. Other organisations also have specific concerns. China will breed pigs using hormone-free food for the Olympic athletes to avoid false doping tests in Beijing's latest step to cool worldwide concern about the quality of Chinese food. The use of antibiotics and growth stimulants to boost yields in meat and vegetables is widespread in China, where unscrupulous food suppliers and patchy quality enforcement have lead to a rash of health scares in recent years. That's all aside from straightforward drug abuse, which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will be looking out for. WADA intends tightening its code before the games. "We certainly want to go to China again, I think that's important. I think we've got to visit India, which is clearly a problem. I've done something in Latin America just before the Pan American Games, we'll do it in Europe. We're working with a lot of the European governments as they try and deal with these issues too. So it's just a matter of being there and then setting our sights on the Third World Conference in November in Madrid where we'll amend the code based on our four years of experience with it now," said WADA chairman Dick Pound. For now though, construction is continuing and those most closely associated with the Olympic movement are optimistic when they see works progressing. "They give Beijing the feeling of being an Olympic city. Each time I go back to Beijing it feels more and more like a city moving in on the great celebration," said London's Sebastian Coe. Also, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge was back in Beijing on Monday and whilst he acknowledged some concerns, in particular relating to the environment, he anticipated a vast improvement by next year. "I'm sure that the Olympic games would be a force for good in China. The Olympic Games will move ahead the social aspect and evolution of the Chinese society. But one should not forget that we are a sports organisation. We are not a government, we are not the representative of all the NGO's of the world. We respect their point of view, we stand for human rights, we stand for strict social values, but we are only a sports organistaion. We believe that the games are going to move ahead the agenda of the social and human rights as far as possible. The games are going to be a force for the good but the games are not a panacea," said Rogge.

ITN Source | August 7, 2007

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