China's discontented challenge Olympic hurdles

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - Add one more contest to the spectacles on show during the Beijing Olympic Games -- the national protest hurdle.

With China's leaders demanding that none of the nation's simmering unrest upset the Games, officials have launched an onslaught of checks to stop aggrieved citizens reaching Beijing.

On Sunday, 19 days before the Games open on August 8, that crackdown intensified with even tighter checks on travelers coming to the capital. But while these "petitioners" may be outmatched by the rings of police at rail and bus stations and government offices, the contest is not all one-sided.

Many citizens nursing well-thumbed files filled with grievances have defied the security barriers and warnings in the hope of winning attention for their woes at this sensitive time.

On Sunday, dozens gathered near official petitions reception offices in Beijing's south, yelling out claims of police torture, lawless land grabs, and court corruption. Many said they expect to be thrown out or detained in coming days.

"They take away hundreds of us every day," said a farmer from Zhejiang province in eastern China, only giving his surname, Ma. "We're waiting to see who can tough it out for the longest."

Others are biding their time in rented village huts and makeshift shelters on the city's outskirts, avoiding police watching the petitions offices, and waiting for the Games.

"It's like guerrillas. We've scattered to the hills and countryside," said one of them, Yu Zhonghuan, a soft spoken man from Shanghai who for years has pressed for compensation for a demolished apartment.  Continued...