(24 Jun 2008)
569273
AP TELEVISION
Beijing - 24 June 2008
1. Surface to air missile launcher, with the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in the background, zoom into launcher
2. Military equipment covered by camouflage netting behind barbed wire fence
3. Soldiers running towards fence, zoom into soldiers
4. Two surface to air missile launchers, pull back to wide
STORYLINE
China has stationed a battery of surface to air missiles 300 meters from a Beijing Olympic venue, another sign of the tightening security. The fenced-off military compound has been set up just south of the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, a venue for soccer and modern pentathlon. It's also within a kilometre (half-a-mile) of the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest National Stadium, the 450 (m) million US dollar showpiece venue of the games. At least two Hongqi 7 missile launchers were visible behind a two-meter-high (seven-feet) fence, with military hardware and vehicles hidden under camouflage netting. Dozens of soldiers guarded the compound on Tuesday with a notice posted on the fence reading: "Military Administrative District. No Admittance."
The Beijing Olympics are intended to showcase the country's rising political and economic power, but the intense media scrutiny is also giving environmentalists and political activists with grievances a potential stage for protest, which could lead to a public-relations disaster for the image-conscience communist government. China has clamped down in every phase of security since deadly rioting in Tibet broke out on 14 March, followed by pro-Tibet protests on international legs of the torch relay. On at least three occasions this year, authorities say they foiled plots by separatists from Xinjiang, the far western, Muslim-dominated region of China, that targeted the Olympics. The plots included alleged attempts to crash an airliner and kidnap athletes and journalists. Little evidence has been provided, however, and many foreign security experts question the scale of the threat, while human rights groups say Beijing may be using terrorism as cover for crackdowns on legitimate peaceful dissent.
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