Two Concerns for Olympics: Air and Access

[Woodmonkey]

BEIJING — With a month remaining before the Beijing Olympics, the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday praised the city’s preparations but also cited two “open issues” that remain: whether the city can deliver good air quality and fulfill promises to allow television networks to broadcast from non-Olympic sites.

“We think we’ve done everything,” said Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the I.O.C.’s Coordination Commission, in a telephone interview. “But now we have to see in practice how it will work.”

Pollution and media access remain uncertainties as Beijing hustles to finish construction projects, plant flowers and get the city ready for the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies. On Tuesday, Beijing organizers christened the two state-of-the-art Olympic media centers, which will house more than 20,000 journalists during the Games.

The controversy over broadcast access began in March, after the authorities suppressed the violent Tibetan protests in western China. Beijing announced that networks would not be allowed to broadcast live from Tiananmen Square. The square is the symbolic center of Beijing and offers striking views of the Forbidden City. But it is also where Chinese troops crushed pro-democracy protesters in 1989 and is still a magnet for occasional protesters.

Mr. Verbruggen, who led a 12-member I.O.C. delegation in Beijing this week, said the issue of broadcast rights from the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China and other “icon” destinations was discussed during meetings Monday and Tuesday with the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee.

“There will be a lot of opportunities to use all the icons,” Mr. Verbruggen said. He said that networks would face restrictions on when they were permitted to televise from Tiananmen Square, but that local authorities had “granted it will be possible to film there.”

Last year, Beijing lifted certain domestic travel restrictions on foreign journalists as part of its Olympic pledge to allow more open media coverage. But foreign journalists have continued to experience sporadic interference, especially after the Tibet crisis. Foreign journalists are still blocked from traveling to certain Tibetan areas in western China. On Monday, Human Rights Watch released a report accusing China of failing to fulfill its promises on media freedom.

Now, television networks want assurances that Beijing will follow through on its pledges to allow live shots at non-Olympic venues. Last week, members of a German ZDF television crew said they were harassed by plainclothes and uniformed security officers as they tried to film live shots from the Great Wall of China — even though the crew had government approval. Security officers jumped in front of the cameras during live shots and some Chinese citizens interviewed by the crew were later questioned by the authorities, according to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China.

Executives at some American television networks privately acknowledge problems securing broadcasting access in Beijing. Some stations that reserved locations for live shots later had the permission revoked.

Security has become a paramount issue. The authorities have intensified scrutiny of foreign visa holders, cracked down on dissidents and issued orders to local authorities to prevent public disturbances. The Chinese military is supposedly using airplanes, helicopters, warships, missiles, radar and chemical defense as part of the Olympic security effort, according to Chinese media reports. Officials say that 100,000 anti-terrorism forces will be mobilized during the Games and that 300,000 surveillance cameras have been posted in Beijing, according to Legal Daily.

Meanwhile, environmental officials are focused on delivering blue skies, despite recent weeks that have brought unusual amounts of rain mixed with haze. Mr. Verbruggen said local officials briefed the I.O.C. delegation about the city’s contingency plans to improve air quality during the Games by temporarily closing factories in much of northern China and also restricting automobile traffic in Beijing. In a statement released Tuesday by the I.O.C., Mr. Verbruggen was quoted as saying that it remained an “open issue” to what degree the temporary measures “will make an impact on air quality.”

But in the telephone interview, he sounded more confident. “I think they will do the maximum,” he said. “I feel pretty comfortable about it. I’m sure they will go out of their way to prevent pollution.”

Beijing officials point to reductions in certain air pollutants and say the city has made measurable progress, even as they agree that more needs to be done. But independent analysts have questioned claims of progress. Earlier this year, Jacques Rogge, the I.O.C. president, cautioned that Beijing might need to postpone the marathon and other endurance events if air quality did not meet certain standards.

The Source