China worse not better

Media find set-up slow going
Internet connection is proving to be a major problem at the Beijing Games, despite Olympic organisers promising uncensored access. Slow connection speed and apparent restricted access to news websites have riled many of the media outlets already in Beijing 12 days out from the opening ceremony. The Chinese ruling party is widely known to monitor and limit all internet access within China. However, two years ago BOCOG media services head Li Jingbo promised in the official China Daily newspaper that there would be uncensored access during the Games, which begin on August 8.

China promised when it got the Olympics that it would clean up its act on human rights, pollution and censorship but the reality has been a bigger crack down on human rights, the pollution problem has not gone away and air quality is still severe despite ordering cars off roads and shutting down industry and censorship is making itself felt in the very face of the worlds media. The opportunity to turn China away from its totalitarian brutality and take the worlds stage as a genuine super power with the mana that goes with that has been missed and we haven’t even started the games yet.

How terribly disappointing.