Here is another reason to pay attention for your own safety when you visit China - especially during the Olympics.
The BBC World News ran a story yesterday of a local Beijing woman whose house was about to be torn down, leaving her homeless. Why was her home being demolished? The Government had decided that her house would not look nice enough to the foreign visitors coming to Beijing for the summer Olympics. They planned to plant flowers in the spot where her home stood.
Apparently, the authorities knew that the woman was not going to willingly accept this obvious abuse of power. A couple of Police vans watched the house from about a block away. Then the cameras left after interviewing the woman. When the television cameras came back the next day, the house was gone and so was the woman. The house had been torn down in the middle of the night when there were no witnesses. Nobody could say what happened to her as the flower planters went about the task of digging flower beds.
The BBC had obtained similar footage that had been covertly recorded earlier at another house. In this instance, a couple of the homeowners tried to resist the authorities tearing down their house. The camera graphically recorded two men who attempted to protest on the roof of their humble abode. A couple of "heavies" pulverised the seated men with vicious blows and kicks. One poor man was kicked full-force in the face and head several times. The camera shot him being taken away by ambulance and his whole face was swollen and lacerated. It seems that the Chinese Government are very serious when it comes to planting flowers. They certainly appear to have a higher regard for flowers than they do for human rights.
Our advice to you if you are visiting Beijing this summer - don't pick the flowers. I have seen how they treat people when they think nobody is watching. It isn't pretty.
The BBC World News ran a story yesterday of a local Beijing woman whose house was about to be torn down, leaving her homeless. Why was her home being demolished? The Government had decided that her house would not look nice enough to the foreign visitors coming to Beijing for the summer Olympics. They planned to plant flowers in the spot where her home stood.
Apparently, the authorities knew that the woman was not going to willingly accept this obvious abuse of power. A couple of Police vans watched the house from about a block away. Then the cameras left after interviewing the woman. When the television cameras came back the next day, the house was gone and so was the woman. The house had been torn down in the middle of the night when there were no witnesses. Nobody could say what happened to her as the flower planters went about the task of digging flower beds.
The BBC had obtained similar footage that had been covertly recorded earlier at another house. In this instance, a couple of the homeowners tried to resist the authorities tearing down their house. The camera graphically recorded two men who attempted to protest on the roof of their humble abode. A couple of "heavies" pulverised the seated men with vicious blows and kicks. One poor man was kicked full-force in the face and head several times. The camera shot him being taken away by ambulance and his whole face was swollen and lacerated. It seems that the Chinese Government are very serious when it comes to planting flowers. They certainly appear to have a higher regard for flowers than they do for human rights.
Our advice to you if you are visiting Beijing this summer - don't pick the flowers. I have seen how they treat people when they think nobody is watching. It isn't pretty.
