China forcibly evicts 1.5 million people for Olympics

[babylonsister]

http://pressesc.com/01181413136_china_evict_1_5_million_olympics

China forcibly evicts 1.5 million people for Olympics
Submitted by India IFP on Sat, 2007-06-09 18:19.Asia | China | News

The Chinese authorities are forcibly evicting 1.5 million people from their homes in Beijing without compensating them to make way for the Olympics leaving many displaced former residents homeless, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions revealed this week.

According to the Geneva based rights group's field research, based on Chinese government statements and documents, by April 2007, at least 1.25 million people have already been displaced as a result of urban development linked to the Olympic Games, and unknown numbers of these people were forcibly evicted.

COHRE reported that at least a further 250,000 people are expected to be displaced in the final year before the Olympic Games, resulting in a total of 1.5 million people being displaced in Beijing by August 2008 due to Olympics related development.

The group claimed that evictions in Beijing often involve the complete demolition of poor peoples’ houses and the inhabitants are then forced to relocate far from their communities and workplaces, with inadequate transportation networks adding significantly to their cost of living.

Their research shows that the forced evictions are often violent and abuses committed during the eviction processes have multiplied.

The Chinese government disputes these figures saying that only 6037 households have been demolished, and that all the displaced families have received adequate compensation.

[originalpckelly]

1. Remind me again, why is it that we're doing this in an authoritarian country?

Why should the Chinese leaders be allowed to have the honor of hosting the Olympics when they are so unwilling to treat their people with respect?

It's completely sickening.

[rodeodance]

2. I really so not know what the rationale was or why people would have even considered it!!

[Annces]

11. Exactly n/t

[babylonsister]

16. Not only their own countrymen, but how about Darfur?

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8PKNVVO0.htm

China opposed to US resolution on Darfur


China has rejected a U.S. House of Representatives resolution urging Chinese pressure on Sudan to resolve the Darfur crisis, saying the American move wrongly links the issue to next year's Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports, sells the African country weapons and military aircraft, and has blocked efforts to send U.N. peacekeeping forces to Darfur without Sudanese consent.

more...

[Hardrada]

3. I think even the Nazi Olympics were more humane than that.

Isn't this a sign it's just a big stage for nationalism and commercialism?

[shance]

4. The Bush Administration has done something similar on the Gulf Coast/Katrina

Forcibly evicted people who lost everything - now there are going to be 'lovely' homes built for $300,000 and $400,000 with their manicured yards and sprinkler systems and the throw away society will continue to destroy and diminish all that is sacred where others lived who may not have had money (whatever "money" represents) but had other more important things like family and sacred space for their lives.

[WinkyDink]

5. And nary a peep from democracy-promoting Bush. *sarcasm*

He's probably asking the Chinese for pointers.

[Horse with no Name]

6. This was done in Arlington, Texas when Bush was part owner of the Texas Rangers

They used imminent domain to snatch land at very undervalued prices--leaving the ones that owned it ill equipped to replace their homes.
Arlington agreed to build the team a new stadium, sticking the city with the bond issues needed to finance it with ownership of the stadium to pass to the Texas Rangers after ten years. They then used a quasi-governmental organization to seize the needed land through imminent domain, paying only a fraction of what it was worth. The team thus suddenly became very valuable, not because they started winning games but because they were going to be received this new stadium and - more importantly - the land the stadium was built on.
Bush ended up making about 11 million bucks on that deal.

[juno jones]

7. Check out scuttlebutt on the International Olympic committees

Ugly stuff, I will never support the olymics again.

[Drunken Irishman]

8. We hosted the Olympics in 2002...

And while the Winter Olympics are far smaller than the summer games, nothing like this ever took place. It's a shame stuff like this happens to tarnish the Olympic image, because I truly did enjoy the games. So many people from all parts of the world in my own backyard, it was really cool.

China should have never been granted the right to host the games. Both the IOC and the Chinese government should be ashamed of themselves. Too bad nothing will come of this. And people wonder why China is becoming a world economic power? They're doing it on the backs of the poor.

[mzteris]

9. They must have closed down, like

3 whole apartment buildings to do that.

We were in Beijing a couple of years ago. There were definitely some buildings that NEEDED to come down. (Shanghai, too.) 9-10 story buildings with no elevators and poor electrical/plumbing. Overcrowded, nasty, and falling apart.

[Robbien]

14. So over a million people put out of their homes is okay

because the people were poor and the buildings were an eyesore? These people now living in the streets are easier on the eye?

[mzteris]

15. um - no - I'm not sure how you got that.

Maybe I should have gone on to say, yes, it's a terrible thing that there are "homeless" in China - but I thought that went without saying.

I said nothing about they're being an "eyesore" - that was not my point in the least. I was trying to make the point that the buildings were unsafe, unhygenic, and WORSE than having "nothing to live in".


Did you know that there is a substantial population of China that lives in caves? The same caves they've been living in for thousands of years?

And that those caves are, in fact, better than some of the housing we saw? Cool in summer, Warm in winter. Fewer pest infestations. And they don't fall down around you.

[tridim]

10. China is just begging for a boycott

The West should threaten a boycott at the very least.

[Nikki Stone1]

12. And let them recall our debt?

They've got this nation by the gonads.

[WinkyDink]

13. Exactly. Hence, dead pets, and nothing done about it. Poisoned toothpaste, and nothing done about it

Did Bush even speak publicly about the pet food debacle, let alone protest to China? I don't think so.

[Nikki Stone1]

17. We're in shackles thanks to the globalists who have hijacked our nation.

No leverage on anything.

[Shallah Kali]

18. Don't Forget the Toxic Chocolate with Carcinogenic Aflatoxins & Undeclared Peanuts - fda link

Tristar Food Recalls Ferrari Chocolate Due to Undeclared Peanuts and Aflatoxins
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/tristar06_07.html

Tristar Food Wholesale, 115 Amity Street, Jersey City, NJ 07304 is recalling Ferrari Chocolate because it contains undeclared peanuts. People who have severe sensitivity to peanuts run the risk of serious or life threatening allergic reactions if they consume this product. The candy also contains aflatoxins in excess of the Food and Drug Administration's action level of 20 parts per billion. Aflatoxins are by products of certain fungi and, with chronic exposure, are potential carcinogens.

The recalled Ferrari Chocolates, a product of China, is distributed in 280g and 240g per box. The Ferrari chocolate was sold in New York City and in New Jersey.

[Selatius]

19. You can't recall debts on the US like you can on an individual debtor, not the same thing.

When we talk about debt in terms of the Chinese government, we're talking about US treasury bonds that China buys. You can't "call those in."

[On the Road]

20. They Do This in Other Areas of the Country, too

What sometimes happens is that the national government gives money to the local authorities for compensation, and then the local government keeps it and refuses to pay it out.

The Chinese really have to take care of this. This is not an easy situation to deal with -- there are over two thousand years' history of abusive centralized government to overcome. I don't think that boycotts are particularly effective, but this is an absolute outrage and the Chinese really need to stop takings and start running the country by laws rather than decree.