2008 Olympics: Beijing's Hopes and Hurdles

A knife attack in Beijing raises questions about whether security measures have been more focused on managing image than real threats. [more]

The militancy in China's Xinjiang province appears to have a looser structure than previously thought. [more]

An attack early Aug. 4 on a border police station in China’s Xinjiang province left 16 dead and another 16 injured, according to Chinese media reports. [more]

Israeli athletes participating in the Olympics in Beijing have created a security issue for Chinese officials. [more]

The Islamic Party of East Turkistan, a militant group in China, has threatened to strike critical targets during the Olympics. [more]

China is tightening controls over society and taking a hard look at economic policy as the clock winds down on the Olympics. [more]

Beijing has announced the designation of three parks as official protest zones during the Olympics. (With Stratfor map) [more]

Seven years after winning the right to host the 2008 Olympics, what China hoped for and what it may well get from the Olympics seem far apart. [more]

Giving in to intense pressures from several fronts, China has lifted price caps on energy — but it still must tap-dance in order to avoid public unrest. Marla Dial explores the political strategy behind the announcement. [more]

A stream of low-key cautions and alerts for Beijing and Shanghai ahead of the August Olympics bears watching. [more]

As a large-scale secessionist movement in the making, the Uighur threat is overplayed by the Chinese, who view the various Uighur groups as more unified than they really are. Still, as Beijing tries to clamp down on Uighur militants outside of Xinjiang, a more significant threat could soon be targeting China. [more]

The East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is at the top of China’s most-wanted list of terrorist organizations. Although the group has a long and varied history, there are indications today that a revived movement may be integrating into the broader international jihadist movement in Central and South Asia.(With Stratfor map) [more]

In the run-up to the summer Olympics in China, Beijing has implemented stringent security measures to guard against terrorist attacks — and any politically motivated protest that could embarrass the regime. To help justify the measures, the government has shined a spotlight on the East Turkistan Islamic Movement.(With Stratfor map) [more]

Two earthquakes struck China within the space of seven minutes on the afternoon of May 12. This natural disaster will bolster Beijing's defense against external critics of the upcoming Olympic Games. (With Stratfor map.) [more]

Chinese media reported that the Olympic torch was extinguished May 8 in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Stratfor sources confirm that the torch was briefly extinguished, but it was the result of crowd control being unable to contain over-enthusiastic spectators. Still, fears remain that the mainland torch run will be impeded at some point by political protest.(With Stratfor map) [more]

Although Chinese Internet activists had called for a nationwide boycott of all Carrefour stores on May 1, protesters made a relatively meager showing. [more]

Zimbabwe's neighbors are blocking a Chinese arms shipment from reaching Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's regime. But China is willing to recall the shipment rather than add another public relations challenge to its plate. [more]

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is sending representatives to China not as a sign of a change of heart toward Beijing, but as a move in the diplomatic game. (With Stratfor map) [more]

The San Francisco Olympic torch relay April 9 revealed the organizational capabilities of the Chinese government and its intelligence collection apparatus inside the United States. [more]

Nationalism awakened, the Chinese diaspora is planning a series of pro-Beijing demonstrations in Europe and elsewhere -- but the show of support is at best a mixed blessing for the government of China. [more]