Demonstrations to be allowed in secure pens near Olympic Green
Mainlanders with an axe to grind will be allowed an unprecedented chance to demonstrate in special protest areas during the Olympics, the South China Morning Post has learned.
Secure pens will be set up and policed in locations just outside the Olympic Green, the Games' organising committee, Bocog, confirmed last night. 'We will create special areas for protesters and cater for their special needs,' said Bocog media director Li Zhanjun .
'There will be special areas like there were in Athens. It has not been decided whether there will be an area for international protesters.'
A senior International Olympic Committee security chief who was heavily involved in the last two Olympics - in 2004 in Athens and in 2000 in Sydney, and is among those advising Bocog - said the areas would be for Chinese citizens only.
The expert, who requested anonymity, said the areas would be either to the southeast or southwest of the National Aquatics Centre, known as the 'Water Cube', and the National Stadium, or the 'Bird's Nest'.
'It is something that the Chinese side has initiated.'