Beijing officials rejected several news reports that said the city is contemplating legislation to expel about one million rural migrant workers during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Zhou Jidong, director of the Beijing Municipal Legislative Affairs Office and head of the headquarters’ legislative affairs task force, rejected the report saying “there are no plans for making any laws or decisions to force migrant workers out of Beijing during the Olympic Games”.
Zhou added, that what the newspapers reported were “just some suggestions put forward by conference attendants and they are by no means what the Beijing municipal government is trying to implement”.
He said that any legal proposal for the 2008 Games cannot clash with the existing legal spirit and must go through the full legislative process before being enacted.
Beijing has a rural migrant population of about four million and most are employed in the construction, manufacturing and service industries.
Shen Tiyan, an associated professor with the School of Government at Peking University said, “the migrant workers have had a great role in the development of the capital and they have equal rights to enjoy the achievement of the society, including watching the Olympic Games. The game is a grant event open to the whole world”.
