UNANSWERED QUESTIONS #2: RIGHTS

On July 23, Beijing announced that it had earmarked three parks as "protest pens" where demonstrations would be allowed during the Games. But not a single demonstration was allowed during the Olympics. Those who applied for permission to hold protests at the parks were detained or sentenced to re-education through labour, including two old women who wanted to protest the forcible demolition of their homes for the Olympics. Coming on a year where China is marking 30 years of "reform and opening up", such actions raise fears that the reform agenda could indeed be losing steam.