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Legal Issues With the Beijing Olympics

Beijing turns its attention to legal obstacles preventing it from fulfilling its Olympic obligations:

Border crossing: Olympic participants are supposed to be able to enter the country using their Olympic ID during the two months surrounding the Games; they shouldn't need to apply for a visa. This conflicts with Chinese immigration law.

Individuals carrying HIV or other diseases should be allowed to come to the Games, according to the Olympic committees. Other host contries have not put up any blocks to attendance. Chinese law, however, prohibits entry to any carriers found at the border.

Transportation: Will athletes be able to drive in Beijing using their home country's license? This is currently not allowed, but Beijing must consider whether it can provide drivers for everyone.

International media: Sales of foreign publications should be allowed in China during the Games, but Chinese law currently restricts circulation.

Reporting also presents a problem. During the games, journalists may wish to shoot footage outside of Beijing, perhaps even using aerial photography, yet the activities of foreign journalists are restricted in many areas.

It will be interesting to see how these problems get resolved.

Link (in Chinese): The Beijing News article


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