China flexes muscles with gag on athletes, protesters ahead of Beijing Olympics: Report

The Xi Jinping government has warned athletes against making remarks against it and placed dissenters under house arrest, a media report stated.

A total gag on speaking against the government has presented a very sombre picture of China amid the Winter Olympics. This is different from the Summer Olympics of 2008 when such restrictions were not seen. The latest gag covers international athletes participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics as well.

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This time around, however, Chinese authorities have warned athletes not to speak against the country's law and placed many local activists, of whom the communist regime is apprehensive of staging protests, under house arrest, according to a media report.

In fact, the Chinese government had designated three parks in the capital of Beijing for people who wanted to stage protests during the Games. However, the move was an empty one as no protest permits were issued by the local police. The demonstrators who risked protesting during the Games were arrested, reported Nikkei Asia.

The report said that in the run-up to the Beijing Winter Olympics, scheduled to begin on Saturday, organisers warned athletes that their accreditations could be cancelled if they spoke out of turn.

The Beijing Olympics organising committee's Yang Shu had said in January that any behaviour or speech against the Olympic spirit, especially against Chinese laws and regulations, would be subjected to punishment.

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