II. Outside the Arena

For the 2008 Beijing Games, some of the most important stories will be found outside of sporting venues. Reporting during any Olympics invariably includes coverage of the host country, its challenges, its policies, and the context in which the Games take place. Indeed, hope for positive international coverage is a key motivator for many countries that bid to host the Olympics. The large number of reporters from around the world expected in China presents a rare opportunity for a worldwide audience to better understand important changes taking place in Chinese society, and for Chinese people to interact with overseas reporters.

Human rights issues, not typically at the forefront of media attention during the Olympics, are likely to be more prominent during the Beijing Games than during previous Olympic Games. Human rights continue to be a big part of the story of China: its unprecedented combination of autocracy (no one is allowed to challenge the Communist Party’s political monopoly) and unbridled capitalist growth, its struggle to contain labor and other social unrest amidst demographic and environmental upheaval, the growing urban-rural disparities that have accompanied explosive growth, and its increasingly prominent international role, including its much-criticized role in places like Burma, Darfur, and Zimbabwe. Even the staging of the Beijing Olympics itself has been accompanied by serious abuses, as described below.

Reporting human rights and other sensitive stories (including such topics as corruption or the environment) will not be easy, but it is an important responsibility, and we hope this Guide will help you to do your work in the most responsible way. Perhaps most important, not only is there an opportunity for the world to see a changing China through your pens, cameras, and video recorders, but Chinese people—long cut off from the world’s media—may also benefit as your stories and findings echo back into China.

China has a well-documented history of serious human rights abuses, including systemic political controls, widespread torture, censorship of the media and internet, controls on religious freedom, and repression of ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang. The government classifies the number of people executed as a state secret, but it is believed that China executes many more people than the rest of the world combined each year. Most trials are deeply flawed, as the accused often do not have access to adequate defense counsel, trials are usually closed to the public, evidence is often obtained through torture, and the appellate process lacks needed safeguards. China’s courts lack independence, as they remain controlled by the government and ruling Chinese Communist Party.

The staging of the Olympics has significantly exacerbated preexisting problems of forced evictions, abuses of migrant laborers, and the use of house arrests to silence political opponents. Some migrant workers were swept out of the city. Others have never been paid for their work, and some have had their children thrown out of school. “Olympics dissidents” have been jailed or kept under tight surveillance. And the government is continuing its crackdown on lawyers, human rights defenders, and activists who dedicate themselves to rule of law and the exposure of rights abuses. Fear of citizen activism has led to government obstruction of local activists and grassroots organizations working to stem China’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. Fears of harm to China’s national image have even led Chinese officials to stop prominent activists from leaving the country. To win the right to host the Olympics, Beijing pledged in interviews and official bid documents to improve human rights in general terms and to guarantee press freedom specifically.