2008 Olympics: Beijing's Hopes and Hurdles

China wants the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to highlight the country's economic and political development and global significance, but the games have become a focus for a wide variety of activists. Beijing's attempts to balance openness and control are exacerbating political and security issues at home and abroad.

Key Analysis
Beijing's Drum Tower
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
The Drum Tower in Beijing
Beijing Olympics: Tourist Attack and Security in the City
August 9, 2008 1429 GMT
A knife attack in Beijing raises questions about whether security measures have been more focused on managing image than real threats. [more]
Chinese policeman in Xinjiang
China: Signs of a Looser Militancy in Xinjiang
August 4, 2008 1820 GMT
The militancy in China's Xinjiang province appears to have a looser structure than previously thought. [more]
Chinese plainclothes security check the bags of tourists as they enter Tiananmen Square in Beijing on August 3, 2008.
China: A Pre-Olympic Attack in Xinjiang
August 4, 2008 0543 GMT
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]
Members of the Israeli Olympics team in 2002 at a monument in Munich for 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian terrorists in
China: Foreign Security at the Olympics
July 28, 2008 1702 GMT
Israeli athletes participating in the Olympics in Beijing have created a security issue for Chinese officials. [more]
Chinese antiterrorism exercise
China: ETIM's Direct Threat to the Olympics
July 25, 2008 2221 GMT
The Islamic Party of East Turkistan, a militant group in China, has threatened to strike critical targets during the Olympics. [more]
China - Olympics and Mao
Managing Change in China
July 24, 2008 1332 GMT
China is tightening controls over society and taking a hard look at economic policy as the clock winds down on the Olympics. [more]
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