Reporting on public gatherings and demonstrations

Some of China’s 1.3 billion people and visitors attending the Games from around the world may attempt to take the Chinese government at its word that human rights will be improved for the Olympics and try to hold public demonstrations.

For Chinese citizens or foreigners wishing to demonstrate legally, the applicable regulations are contained in the 1989 Law on Assembly, Procession, and Demonstration (Demonstration Law) and the 1992 implementing regulations. Some of the provisions are ambiguous and subject to ad hoc interpretation. Article 4, for example, states: “In exercising their right to assembly, procession, and demonstration, citizens… shall not impair state, public, or collective interests or the lawful freedoms and rights of other citizens.” Article 12 forbids any demonstration that would "seriously undermine public order." In addition, the law deliberately leaves enforcement and severity of punishment to the discretion of the police and the courts and makes no attempt to define an assembly, procession, or demonstration.

Permission to demonstrate has been granted on occasion, for example, to Muslims seeking to denounce books they deem offensive to Islam. However, requests to peacefully demonstrate against government policies are routinely denied. Demonstrations that are not specifically authorized are illegal. Officers of the Public Security Bureau (PSB), the official name for the police, can forcibly break up any assembly they deem illegal and detain those who refuse to disperse. The more sensitive the locale (such as Tiananmen Square) or the more publicity the incident is likely to generate, the greater the possibility of police intervention.