China Bars American Gold Medalist Active on Darfur

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The Chinese government is barring an American Olympic gold medalist who has criticized China’s policies toward Darfur from traveling to Beijing for the Olympics. In a statement sent to reporters via e-mail, the former Olympian, William “Joey” Cheek, said he was scheduled to fly to China today, but an official from the Chinese Embassy in Washington called last evening to advise him that his visa, issued a few weeks ago, had been canceled. Mr. Cheek, who won the gold in speed skating in 2006, said the diplomat said he was not obliged to give a reason for the cancellation.

“I am saddened not to be able to attend the Games,” the athlete said. “The Olympic Games represent something powerful: that people can come together from around the world and do things that no one thought were possible. However, the denial of my visa is a part of a systemic effort by the Chinese government to coerce and threaten athletes who are speaking out on behalf of the innocent people of Darfur.”

Activists such as Mr. Cheek, who heads an athletes’ group called Team Darfur, have pressed China to use its influence over Sudan to bring an end to the genocide in that country’s Darfur region. However, China has largely deferred to Khartoum on the issue and has vigorously denounced efforts to link the conflict to the Olympics.

“I still remain convinced of the great role the Olympics can play as a force for promoting peace around the world, including in the still raging crisis in Darfur,” Mr. Cheek said. “Yet, despite the fact that I’ve always spoken positively of the Olympic ideal, and never called for a boycott or asked an athlete to break an IOC rule, my visa was revoked less than 24 hours before my scheduled departure.”

TIBET ACTIVISTS REPORTEDLY DETAINED AFTER STADIUM PROTEST

In one of the first high-profile Olympic protests in Beijing, Tibet activists unfurled banners and a Tibetan flag outside the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium Tuesday morning, ABC News reported. Two men scaled 120-foot light poles to display large signs reading “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet” and “Tibet Will Be Free.” Students for a Free Tibet, which organized the protest, said four of its members from America and England were detained. ABC’s report did not mention any arrests.

AMERICAN BICYCLISTS ARRIVE IN FACE MASKS

Several American bicyclists arriving in Beijing for the Olympics yesterday stepped off the plane wearing black face masks to protect themselves from the air pollution Chinese officials have been scrambling to rein in. “You got to take every chance you have just to protect the airways,” athlete Michael Friedman told the Associated Press. “Who knows how bad it’s going to be in a few days so if you can resist any air pollution, any contaminants, then you know it’s better performance hopefully.”

The jarring images of the mask-clad athletes seemed certain to irk the Chinese, who claim the pollution issue has been exaggerated by foreign press.

CHINA APOLOGIZES FOR BEATING JAPANESE PRESS

China is apologizing to two Japanese journalists who were beaten and detained by police while trying to cover an apparent terrorist attack in China’s Xinjiang region. China’s official news agency, Xinhua, reported that Chinese border police apologized to a newspaper photographer and a television reporter who flew to the city of Kashgar Monday night to investigate reports that two Uighur Muslims used a truck and explosives to kill at least 16 police officers.

“The Japanese reporters violated the rules of China by forcing their way into a military area. The act was not well-justified, and they should accept the consequences,” a regional security official, Liu Yaohua, said, according to Xinhua. “I, however, apologize to the reporters, as the top regional public security official, for the clash they had with the border policemen.”

In an unusual move, the police offered to pay for damage to the journalists’ equipment and for medical check-ups for the pair in Beijing, Xinhua said. Japan’s embassy lodged a formal protest with the Chinese Foreign Ministry over the incident and received a statement of “regret” yesterday from a Chinese official, Kyodo Press of Japan, reported.


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