I admit that it certainly is trendy to compare modern political leaders with their brutal predecessors (especially in the case of communist countries such as China and Russia), but I noticed something while reading the news today that eerily reminded me of something I learned a class I took on Mao Zedong. Namely, the Hundred Flowers Campaign. While this is a simplification of the complete issue, many people believe that Mao used this campaign, supposedly set up to allow dissidents to freely express their criticisms, as a “political trap” to identify and silence his enemies.

Some of you may have heard about “protest zones” set up in Beijing for the duration of the Olympics. While the idea of “special” protest zones already leaves a bad taste in the mouth, what’s worse is that “not a single demonstration had taken place at the three city parks approved for protests.” In fact, Chinese government officials have already detained several people who applied for protest permits. Ji Sizun, 58, a self-described grassroots legal activist from Fujian province, applied for a permit to hold a protest in one of the official protest zones. He was arrested after checking back at the police station on the status of his application.

It seems like the Chinese are shrouding the process in red tape, ignoring those that apply, and even relying on force if persistent protesters manage to get through the bureaucracy. In addition, establishing this protest process provides a perfect explanation for the international media (international because you know you won’t be reading about this on Xinhua) when they crack down on protesters…they didn’t go through the proper channels. It doesn’t matter that some of these same protesters applied to protest at the “official” protest zones and never heard back.

Perhaps the Chinese government might even have the gall to point to the empty protest zones at the end of the Games as evidence of how everything is just fine and dandy in the motherland…

Qin Gang, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, insisted that protests would be allowed as long as they did not break the law or disrupt social order. I would argue that this presents a paradox, as a protest that does not disrupt social order isn’t much of a protest at all.

If anyone affiliated with the Chinese government (and of any particular importance) happens to read this humble blog, please open a dialogue with protesters, and do not allow this to stain your legacy as the Hundred Flowers Campaign has already stained Mao’s.

“As with previous games, our athletes will be perfectly free to express themselves, so long as it is done in a manner consistent with Rule 51.”

Spokesman Darryl Seibel, U.S. Olympic Committee

What exactly is Rule 51?

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