Beijing denies 10 deaths at Bird’s Nest

By Nick Mulvenney
Reuters
Monday, January 21, 2008; 5:49 AM

BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing organizers on Monday denied a report that 10 workers had died during the construction of the showpiece stadium for the 2008 Olympics, which start in 200 days.

A British newspaper reported on Sunday that China had covered up the accidental deaths of at least 10 workers since construction of the $400-million National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird’s Nest, began in 2003.

“The report by the Sunday Times that 10 people have died in the construction of the National Stadium is not true,” said Sun Weide, spokesman for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG).

Sun referred questions as to whether there had been any fatalities on the site of the National Stadium to the 2008 Construction Office. No one at that office was available for comment.

“At the moment construction has been going well and according to plan,” Sun added. “The Beijing municipality and BOCOG attach great importance to safety in the construction of the venues.”

The 91,000-seater stadium is the only one of the 36 Olympic venues in China not completed by the end of last year and is scheduled for completion by the end of March.

It will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as athletics and soccer at the August 8-24 Games.

Sunday’s report said the “conservative estimate” of 10 deaths “was reached by comparing numerous accounts of witnesses who worked at the site in different periods.”

The stadium earned its nickname because of the interwoven steel trusses that encase the concrete bowl of the arena. The design means many of the construction crew often have to work at great heights.

The building of a big stadium without any fatalities is unusual and at least one worker has died during the construction of the main arenas at the last three Summer Games.

“We have taken into account safety, quality, timeline, function and cost in the project,” he said. “We have taken resolute measures to ensure the quality of the project.”

Some 17,000 workers, mainly migrants from poorer provinces outside the Chinese capital, were working on Olympic projects at the height of construction.

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Congress uses Olympics to focus on China

By FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press WriterSat Jan 12, 7:26 AM ET

The world will be watching China closely as it gears up to host the Olympics this year. So will U.S. lawmakers, who hope to use the attention generated by the summer games to highlight their complaints about China’s government.

Lawmakers, in hearings and in legislation, will scrutinize what some see as unfair Chinese economic policies, its secretive military buildup and its human rights abuses. China already has been targeted by presidential candidates.

“The Chinese want this `Show’ — with a capital `S’ — to showcase their government to the world,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said in an interview. Congress, he said, should use that as leverage to “bring maximum scrutiny and light to their egregious human rights abuses.”

Smith champions legislation that would stop U.S. technology companies from aiding countries that restrict Internet access. American Internet companies have been denounced for turning a blind eye to abuse in China so they can crack that lucrative market.

The Bush administration’s criticism of China is usually muted. Lawmakers, however, are more vocal in asserting that China has failed to live up to its responsibilities as an emerging superpower.

With the presidential campaign heating up, “2008 promises to be a trying year” for U.S.-China ties, wrote Brad Glosserman and Bonnie Glaser, analysts with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. “There will be a temptation to make China a foreign policy issue or a scapegoat for problems in economic and security policy.”

U.S. manufacturers say Beijing’s low valuation of the yuan, its currency, makes Chinese goods cheaper in the United States and American products more expensive in China. Lawmakers are considering bills that would punish China for what they contend are predatory trade practices.

Lawmakers also worry about China’s rapid military spending and the country’s apparent secretiveness about its military aims. The House Armed Services Committee will hold hearings this year with top U.S. commanders in the Pacific, where China will be a major topic.

Last year, Washington criticized China’s test of an anti-satellite weapon as a provocative militarization of space. The two countries also sparred after China barred the USS Kitty Hawk from entering Hong Kong for a port call.

But it is Taiwan that could cause the most friction. Taiwan split from China in 1949, although Beijing continues to see the island as part of its territory. China has pledged to keep the island from independence by force if necessary.

Reps. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., and Tom Tancredo, R-Col., are among sponsors of a resolution that would voice Congress’ support for Taiwan’s membership in the United Nations, which both China and the Bush administration oppose as a provocation. A referendum, scheduled to be held with Taiwan’s presidential election in March, asks voters if they would support the island’s application to join the United Nations under the name Taiwan, rather than under its long-standing official title, Republic of China.

The Olympics, said Mac Zimmerman, Tancredo’s chief of staff, provide “a good opportunity for Taiwan and its friends in Congress to raise the profile of the Taiwan issue.”

Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank, noted worry that congressional support for Taiwan’s U.N. membership could encourage Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian to do something that China would see as a push for independence. Chen is trying to carve out a non-Chinese identity for the island.

“Hopefully, they won’t do too much,” Cossa said of Congress, “because nothing makes things worse than congressional efforts to make them better.”