Responding to a fresh wave of unrest as China gears up to host the Olympics next month, the communist leadership has told local leaders to be on alert to public grievances and find ways to resolve them.

The order is the most recent in a series of calls reflecting the government’s apparent concern over rising social inequality, rampant corruption and the weak legal system.

Communist Party secretaries at the county level have been told to “keep track of key public complaint cases until they are solved,” the English-language China Daily newspaper said yesterday, citing earlier reports in Chinese state media.
Associated Press

OLYMPIC SECURITY BRINGS BEIJING TO A HALT

A ring of steel now surrounds Beijing as the authorities pledge to take no chances with Olympic security, whatever the cost to business, workers, and dayto-day lives.

Armed police have been added to the three concentric rings of checkpoints set up on every access road into the city to screen vehicles for “suspicious” and dangerous items — and people.

On some of the busiest roads, tailbacks more than a mile long have formed, prompting even government figures to beg officers to be “civilized and convenient” in their approach.

Lorries with non-Beijing licence plates have been banned from the city, stopping vital supplies at the municipal borders near the sixth ring road.
“My business will be paralysed completely,” said Cong Peichao, the sales manager for a firm delivering basic factory supplies around the city from manufacturers in the southeast.

“But I have to put up with it— after all, the Olympics is a oncein-a-100-years occasion.”
The Daily Telegraph

HONG KONG WILL DEPLOY 4,000 POLICE OFFICERS DURING OLYMPICS

Hong Kong will deploy as many as 4,000 police during the Olympic Games as the city prepares to host the equestrian events next month.
The officers will be used to maintain security and order during the sporting contest that begins August 9, Police Commissioner Tang King-shing said yesterday at a lunch briefing with reporters in Hong Kong. The city’s police force was criticized by human rights activists during the Olympic torch relay in May, when protesters attempting to unfurl a Tibetan flag were removed from the street and taken to a police station. Police said the move was for their own safety.

AIR CHINA TO CUT 60 BEIJING FLIGHTS A DAY DURING OLYMPIC GAMES

Air China Ltd., Beijing’s largest carrier, will cut 60 flights a day during the Olympics as the city’s airport scales back regular operations to focus on handling charter services carrying athletes.

Beijing Capital International Airport will reduce regular services by 7% to 1,250 flights a day, Air China said in a statement late Tuesday. The cuts will run between July 20 to August 31. The games start August 8.

Visitor numbers to Beijing may fall in August from a year earlier, even with the Olympics, because of the tighter visa rules and slowing business travel. The city’s government expects 400,000 to 450,000 foreign visitors, compared with 420,000 a year earlier, Xiong Yumei, deputy director at the Beijing Tourism Administration said Tuesday.

BEIJING MAY JAIL DRIVERS USING OLYMPIC LANES WITHOUT PERMIT

Beijing drivers who use lanes designated for Olympic traffic may be jailed or fined $264, more than half the average monthly salary.
Olympic organizers have cordoned off 178 miles of lanes for athletes, officials, dignitaries and press — a ploy to reduce congestion that worked at the 2004 Games in Athens.

Drivers caught in the lane without permission face a 200- yuan fine, while those who refuse to switch lanes after repeated warnings may be fined 1,800 yuan and jailed, Liu Bin, a city traffic official said.

“The Olympic lanes are clearly demarcated and drivers won’t miss the signs,” said Mr. Liu, deputy head of the Olympic office at Beijing’s traffic authority, on its Web site. Only cars with permits issued by the Beijing Games organizing committee are allowed in the lanes, which will operate from July 20 to September 20, the bureau said.
Bloomberg News