Beijing will permit public protests inside three designated city parks during next month’s Olympic Games, but demonstrators must first obtain permits from local police and also abide by Chinese laws that usually make it nearly impossible to legally picket over politically charged issues, the authorities announced on Wednesday. The arrangement marks a break from normal practice in China’s authoritarian political system and seems loosely modeled on the protest zones created at previous Olympic Games and at many recent international political gatherings.But it remained unclear whether international advocacy groups on issues like Tibet, Darfur and broader human rights would be able to secure the bureaucratic approvals needed to use the protest zones and whether they would be arrested if they held demonstrations elsewhere in Beijing. With only 16 days until the Olympic opening ceremony, China’s ruling Communist Party is tightening security across the country and has shown little appetite for domestic political dissent. Several dissidents have been jailed, monitored or placed under house arrest in recent months. Liu Shaowu, director of security for Beijing’s Olympics organising committee, said Ritan Park, Beijing World Park and Purple Bamboo Park would be designated for protestors during the Games and that the approval process would be regulated by Beijing’s public security bureau. “The police will safeguard the right to demonstrate as long as protestors have obtained prior approval and are in accordance with the law,” Liu said during a news conference. Under Chinese law, citizens must apply to the local public security bureau five days in advance of a scheduled protest. Applicants must appear in person and offer detailed information about their topic, any possible slogans and the expected number of demonstrators. The law prohibits protests that are deemed harmful to national unity and social stability or that agitate for ethnic separatism. These prohibitions can be interpreted so broadly that most legal protests are not approved. “As a first step toward opening up space for dissent, it is appropriate,” said Xu Zhiyong, a legal rights advocate. “There should be many people who are willing to use this space, petitioners and people who have experienced injustice.”
