Beijing to Set Up Olympic Protest Zones

Beijing will set up specially designated zones for protesters during next month's Olympics, a security official said today, in a sign that China's authoritarian government may allow some demonstrations during the games. "This will allow people to protest without disrupting the Olympics," said the director of the Shanghai Institute of American Studies, which lobbied Chinese leaders to set up the protest zones.

Human rights groups, however, dismissed the move as cosmetic, since activists have been denied visas. Worries about terrorist attacks and protests of any kind have prompted one of China's broadest security clampdowns in years. (More 2008 Beijing Olympics stories.)