Chinese Lawyers To Settle Disputes Between Olympic Athletes

The Chines Olympic organizing committee has assigned a group of local Beijing practicing lawyers to help settle disputes in the 2008 Olympic Games in case the need arises. The Court of Arbitration for Sports had setup a 12-member arbitration court for the Olympics. They will primarily be assigned to those participating athletes who do not have any lawyers but would need legal help.

The group of 12 Chinese lawyers, though well versed in legal procedures in general, do not have experience in Sports arbitration. They will be undergoing a month long training to be able to understand the intricacies of Sports arbitration just in time for the kick-off at the 2008 Beijing Olympic games in August

Olympics Will Be Safe Says Beijing Officials

China's Minister of Health Chen Zhu said on Monday the government will ensure public health safety during the Beijing Olympic Games by strengthening disease monitoring, emergency response and medical treatment. "The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games provides a great opportunity for the country's public health development. Beijing will join hands with co-host cities and its neighboring provinces to strengthen disease-related information monitoring and make risk evaluations on the possible public health accidents." He said rehearsals would be held and exercises in public health accidents would be improved. This was to prevent, reduce and eliminate risks in the public health sphere during the August Games to the maximum. Liu Zejun, director of Beijing Municipal Disease Prevention and Control Center, said special attention would be paid to the following aspects when making public health risk evaluations: epidemic disease spread, group incidence of a certain disease, food-inflicted disease, vector organism and its control, hotel disinfection, drinking water safety, environment safety and heat stroke. "Great efforts will be made in preventing rabies, bird flu, SARS and group poisonings," Chen stressed.

Since the 2003 SARS outbreak, China has gradually improved its national disease prevention and control system. From 2002 to now, about 10.5 billion yuan (76.3 U.S. million dollars) had been spent on infrastructure construction of disease prevention and control centers nationwide. Source.

 

Selling Beijing Olympics Tickets End Tomorrow

The second phase of ticket sales for the 2008 Olympic Games will close on Sunday with more than 340,000 people having booked over two million tickets, the Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) said on Monday."By 12:00 Monday we have received more than 340,000 orders, and about 90 per cent of the orders were over the Internet and the rest through Bank of China branches," BOCOG said in a statement posted on its website.

BOCOG also received bookings for 23,000 tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Paralympic Games. Orders were relatively centralized and rhythmic gymnastics, table tennis, diving, synchronized swimming and artistic gymnastics were already over-booked, according to the statement. Tickets will be allocated by a random draw, but the date of the lottery has yet to be announced. A total of seven million tickets for the Aug. 8-24 Games are available to the general public with nearly three quarters reserved for domestic sales. The first batch of 1.6 million tickets were allocated by lottery earlier this year.

2008 Olympics "Invades" California

The Beijing Olympic Float joined the renowned Pasadena Tournament of Rose Parade in Los Angeles on Tuesday, giving the show a spectacular flavor. Millions of spectators from around the world cheered as the Beijing Olympic Float passed.

The Rose Parade featured magnificent floral floats, high-stepping equestrians and spirited marching bands, displaying the tradition and pageantry for which it is renowned. The Beijing Olympic Float, organized by the Round table of Southern California Chinese-American Organizations and sponsored by Pasadena-based Avery Dennison Corp., was one of the highlights of the 119th Rose Parade. This was the first time that the Chinese people from the Chinese mainland and overseas Chinese have joined their hands in participating in the grand gala in its 119-year history. The float represented the good will of overseas Chinese to the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, organizers said. The theme of this year's New Year's Day parade is "Passport to the World's Celebrations." It featured 46 floats, 21 marching bands and 18 equestrian units. The Beijing Olympic Float themed "One World, One Dream" was a generous gift from the Beijing Olympic Games to the American people and the Parade, according to the organizers. The float featured the upcoming Olympics' five official mascots rotating on a base and decorated with a combination of flowers, including carnations and daisy petals.

Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard said the Beijing Olympics Float " celebrates a great international tradition of competition, discipline and commitment to strong human values." "The tournament views the float as I do, as a celebration of the Olympic Games," Bogaard said. "The Tournament of Roses, which now has a history extending over 119 years, is a nonpolitical organization," he said. "It celebrates a great competition consistent with the theme of the Rose Parade this year, which is the World's Great Celebrations." "My sense is that the spirit of the day will be to celebrate the strength and the positive achievements of people," Bogaard said. Richardson Rowe, a tourist from New York, said the Beijing Olympic Float gave a new meaning to the Rose Parade on the New Year eve. "The beautifully-decorated float impressed me a great deal. It serves as a vivid introduction to the Beijing Olympic Games," he said. This year's Rose Parade was broadcast on the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Univision, HGTV, Travel Channel, Discovery HD as well as several local television stations in the Los Angeles area. Source

 

Beijing 2008 Olympics - The biggest terrorist target for 2008

or some of the world's worst terrorist groups, Beijing China in 2008 might as well have a bullseye sign on it. If some people might remember correctly, investigations reveal that terrorist cells often prepare years ahead of the actual event. They can operate with such independence that cells do not even communicate with any known high-profile terrorist groups.

Why is Beijing such a juicy target for terrorists? Primarily because China is an outsider in terms of global anti-terrorism campaigns. Without any formal military or intelligence sharing with major countries fighting terrorism like the U.S. or the U.K., China may seem like a sitting duck against disaster. For years now, the terrorist have kept silent with no major events since the World Trade Center attack. They may have been preparing for the biggest opportunity yet.

Chinese security officials admit they are very aware & that this is their biggest concern. To address this, they have teamed-up with the Interpol & the Australian police to get prepared for eventualities. Personally, they should be be more wary of outside threats instead of home-grown. They should be watchful of people who have entered their country within 1-2 years before the Opening of the Beijing 2008 Olympics. This is a time window for terrorists to acclimate, study & prepare for their targets just like they have done in the past.

Here's some more related news:

Beijing Olympics 'face terrorism threat'- China's top cop said terrorism is the biggest threat at its Olympic Games, and a leading terror expert warned Tuesday that Beijing faces a long-term threat from an Islamic separatist group in its far west. In remarks appearing on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang said China would seek closer cooperation with other nations in dealing with the threat. Although the general security situation for the Beijing Olympics remains stable, we still face the challenges of terrorism, separatism and extremism, Zhou was quoted by the state-run China Daily newspaper as saying.

Terrorism seen as biggest threat to Beijing Olympics - Terrorism is the biggest threat to next year's Beijing Olympics, a state newspaper cited top Chinese security officials as saying on Tuesday, a concern echoed by the head of Interpol. The report did not say which groups might target the Games, but China is home to several restive minorities such as the Muslim Uighurs in the far western region of Xinjiang who have been blamed by Beijing for bomb attacks in recent years.



OlympicsTerrorismTerrorism

Beijing Cleans Up For The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

The Clean up in Beijing China has been kicking up in high gear with less than one year to go before the 2008 Olympic Games start. Everything from security measures, to new commute routes, to lowering crimes rates & also building new commute routes to relieve traffic congestion.

Here's some news tidbits in & around Beijing China:

Bad habits anger Beijing residents What disgusting habits turn your stomach when you walk the streets of the capital?Beijing residents say spitting is what they hate most about living in the city, among the multitude of anti-social behavior to be witnessed on a daily basis.Following close behind spitting are dog owners who fail to clear up their pets excrement.

Beijing implements old city protection regulations Regulations on Protecting Historical and Cultural Sites in Beijing began to take effect on May 1st. The Regulations cover the overall protection of old city, the protection of historical and cultural blocks, the protection of cultural relics preservation units and the protection of buildings of preservation value.

5000 'Electronic Eyes' safeguard Beijing The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau says that over 5000 "electronic eye" inspecting devices have been studded all over the city to strengthen security.Currently, more than 440,000 people in Beijing are employed to help keep the city safe.

Beijing-Tianjin commuter rail to start construction The 115-kilometer-long track is expected to be finished at the end of 2007 and to go into service in July 2008. At 200 km per hour, the trip from Beijing to Tianjin will take approximately 40 minutes only, some 30 minutes less than the current time, a source with the ministry acknowledged.

Kite maker hopes to soar at Beijing Games Famous kite maker Li Jingyang plans to donate his 3,000-meter-long kite composed of 2,008 swallows to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Li calls the kite Olympic swallow.

 

Beijing 2008 Olympics - What to expect when you get there?

9/05/2007 09:08:00 AM | BEIJING 2008 | 1 comments »

I was browsing one of the blog community websites I participating in & noticed an interesting thread that was something about what 5 countries you'd want to visit for a vacation. I peeked in the conversation & found that there's a lot of people wanting to visit China in their lifetime. I thought to myself... Hmm... Given the reputation of China being culturally & politically different from most developing countries, I was surprised to find out that people didn't want to visit China for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. It's because of the culture & history. But what do they really know about China? Have they researched enough to conclude what they can expect from China?

For you readers in the same situation, here are some website guides for almost everything about China, with or without the Olympics.

Chinese Embassy in the U.S.
Gateway To China
China Travel
Geography, Culture & Many more
Wikipedia - China

Beijing 2008 Olympics - Why August 8, 2008?

Not a lot of people ever thought about this but there is a very neat significance why the Chinese chose August 8, 2008 to start next year's Beijing 2008 Olympic games. The number 8 appears three times in the date 8-8-2008, is considered very lucky in Chinese culture & traditions. In China, some people have to pay some certain dough in order to have the number 8 in their phone numbers, addresses, car plates & so on. The number 8 is significant in China because it's pronunciation in Cantonese is very similar to "make money".

The number 8 written in Chinese

The Chinese, probably more than anybody else, are betting on hauling the most gold medals next year especially since they will be the host country. Funny as it seems, even with our high-tech society, one of the world's economic & military super powers still rely on superstitions to bring them luck.

Here are some good reads about the Chinese & the number 8:

The Number Eight And The ChineseIn Chinese communities around the world, eight is considered the most fortuitous of numbers, making it much coveted for addresses, phone numbers and bank accounts. If you're Chinese--every fifth person in the world is--an eight not only portends prosperity but confidence and money worth even millions, depending where you are.

Chinese Lucky NumbersIn China, six, eight and nine are considered lucky numbers, since their homophones have auspicious meanings. Six, pronounced 'Liu' in Chinese, implies that everything about you will go smoothly. Eight was originally deemed auspicious by the Cantonese, since in Cantonese, eight reads as 'Fa', which means to make a great fortune in the near future.

8888 and Other Chinese Lucky NumbersLike most cultures in the world, the Chinese believe that some numbers are lucky while others are unlucky. Like a lot of Chinese superstitions, it is mostly base on the pronunciation of number itself and not on Feng Shui. These numbers can be anything, day of the year, house or apartment numbers. Phone or license plate even serial numbers on money bills. Lucky numbers are a big industry in China, where people can choose their own telephone number. Auspicious telephone numbers can get very expensive.

Beijing 2008 Olympics - Facts You Need to Know

The Olympic Rings

First & foremost, there is only one official website for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. That is http://en.beijing2008.cn. The official games schedules, ticket agents, merchandise, sponsors can all be found on the Beijing Olympic committee's website.

Beijing 2008 Olympic TicketsThe Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad is pleased to announce that the first phase of its ticket application period ended June 30 with more than 700,000 ticket applications for more than 4.9 million ticket requests received through the official ticketing website, Bank of China Olympic ticket outlets, or via post.Beijing 2008 Olympics ScheduleBeijing 2008 Olympics SponsorsSponsorship of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be developed on both the international and national levels. The TOP VI Program supports the Olympic Movement internationally, including the Beijing Games, while the Beijing 2008 Sponsorship Program supports the Olympic Games at the national level within the host country.The Beijing 2008 Sponsorship Program consists of three tiers of support: Beijing 2008 Partner, Beijing 2008 Sponsor and Beijing 2008 Supplier.Beijing 2008 Olympics Licensed Products - Badge & Non-precious Metal, Precious Metal Products,Garments & Trappings, Caps, Bags, Ties.
Beijing 2008 Olympics Volunteer ServicesFrequently asked questions about volunteering for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

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