Is there a possible downside to Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games?
Yes, there are several potential downsides. First, given the extraordinary importance the Chinese government attaches to the Games, and its commensurate ability to substitute propaganda for information, it is likely that the government will block negative or embarrassing coverage as it has done with respect to the protests in Tibet, opting to show only footage of Tibetans attacking ethnic Han Chinese people and property, but not of peaceful Tibetan protestors being violently dispersed by Chinese security forces. In preparing for the thousands of journalists who will be in Beijing before, during, and after the Games, the Chinese government has made it even more difficult for its citizens to send and receive information, and for the local and international press to cover events in China, including pressing rights issues. On March 20, for example, the Chinese government announced that might bar live television broadcasts from Tiananmen Square during the Beijing Games. It is also possible
