A one-month competition is being held to choose top sharpshooters for a special police force, which will be established for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Trials for the elite security squad began Wednesday. Later rounds or competition would focus on officers’ abilities to handle hostage situations and defuse bombs with only the 30 top finalists eligible to enter the elite Olympic detail.
Beijing has raised the original $1.625 billion Olympic operating budget to near $2 billion because in part, of security concerns after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Liu Jingmin, executive vice president of Beijing 2008 said, “compared with much of the world Beijing is a relatively safe city. So we’re very confident we can hold a safe and secure Games in 2008. Before the Olympics begin there may be another adjustment of the budget. Our marketing program is going very well, so the budget problem will not be a big one for Beijing”.
Time is running out for Taiwan to host any events at the 2008 Games said a top Beijing organizer. Beijing offered to run events in Taiwan early in its preparations for the 2008 Games and in May said it wanted the Olympic flame to take on Taiwan on its route to Beijing. Asked whether Taiwan would see any Olympic action Liu told Reuters “that’s impossible. We only have three years to go”. He added, “the Olympic charter says events must be held in the host city except for special reasons”. Liu said the torch relay plan was still under discussion and did not have to be set until it was turned over to the IOC late next year.
Amnesty International says the mass number of human rights abuses taking place in China are directly linked to the country’s preparations for the 2008 Games. The organization added that it is now just three years before the Games are due to open, and yet China has still not made good on promises to cease the serious human rights violations occurring. Amnesty International reports that the IOC should be extremely concerned by the violations of human rights that are linked to China’s preparation for Games.
Beijing 2008 has announced that partnership agreements have been signed with the four cities, outside Beijing, that will host the football preliminaries during the 2008 Games. The cities are Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao. Construction of the venues in the four cities are well on track, with the construction on the Tianjin stadium started earlier this year and the work on the Qinhuangdao stadium finished on a year ago. The venues in Shanghai and Shenyang already exist but will be renovated for the 2008 Games.
