Beijing in final preparations for Olympic kick-off
9:28 p.m. Monday, August 4, 2008
Grey haze and tension hangs over Beijing as the city counts down its grand coming-out party.
After a weekend of blue skies, the smog has returned. If it continues, officials may enact an emergency plan that entails more restrictions on traffic and more factory closures.
The "Weather Modification Office" even has rockets pointed at the sky. Officials believe they can use cloud-seeding techniques to time the rain so that it doesn't storm on the elaborate opening ceremony, which is in final dress rehearsals. China is sparing no expense for a picture-perfect kick-off.
But behind the 40 million potted flowers decorating the city, lies some discontent. Two dozen residents held a small protest near Tiananmen Square Monday, demanding more compensation for being evicted from their homes to make way for development.
"We aren't against the Olympics," Liu Fumei says, "but they shouldn't have destroyed my house and left me homeless."
The demonstration was a brazen act in this high-security environment. More than 100,000 police and troops have been trained to secure the games.
Tiananmen Square, flashpoint of the '89 student demonstrations, is crawling with police, both uniformed and undercover. Public gatherings of any kind are banned, and so are banners, of any kind, as these Polish tourists found out.
But it's terrorists, not tourists, that security experts say should be the focus.
President Bush in on his way to the Far East on a trip that is centered around the Olympic games.
Bush will be the first president to attend the games on foreign soil.
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