More Notables Stay Away From Beijing Olympics

Pro-Tibetan demonstrators to be released next weekend

(NEWSER) - Washington is seeking the release of eight US protesters held by China during the Olympics, Reuters reports. Two were collared Thursday for posting a "Free Tibet" banner near an Olympic event; six others were members of Free Tibet Reporters detained the day before. Beijing vows to release all eight next weekend. This marks the first time during the Olympics that American protesters have been held for more than a day. More»

AP photographers also roughed up

(NEWSER) - Six Americans protesting China's rule over Tibet have been given 10-day detentions, in a rare instance of such punishments being meted out to visitors, the New York Times reports. Such extrajudicial detentions are common for Chinese dissidents, but foreigners at the Olympics have until now been quietly and instantly deported. Another four foreigners were apprehended yesterday, including two Americans, a German, and a Briton, during a large protest with Chinese dissidents. More»

Authorities take away American protesters in Beijing park

(NEWSER) - Chinese police arrested five American protesters who blocked the entrance to a park in Beijing while shouting "Free Tibet!", Reuters reports. The demonstrators were associated with Students for a Free Tibet, who said there were eight in total. It remains unknown where the protesters have been taken. More»

American is first athlete to protest at Games, but display is low-key

(NEWSER) - Amanda Beard became the first athlete to protest at the Olympic Games today, revealing a huge nude photo of herself outside the athlete’s village in Beijing. Eschewing Darfur or Tibet, the US swimmer blasted fur clothing in the ad for PETA. “The Olympics are a great forum for me to use to get my message out,” Beard said. More»

(NEWSER) - Those shocked by China’s bristly response to Olympic protests and criticisms would do well to remember some history, Orville Schell writes for the New York Review of Books. After what the Chinese call a "century of humiliation" at the hands of the West and Japan, the nation has developed an institutionalized paranoia and sense of injury that even a booming economy hasn't fixed. That's where the Olympics come in. More»