Summer Olympics 2008

Protesters describe removal from Tiananmen Square

By SOLVEJ SCHOU – 1 day ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three Americans kicked out of China after protesting in Tiananmen Square said they were treated well by the Chinese government, other than being dragged away, detained for 10 hours and threatened with a lengthy jail stay.

"They bought us Kentucky Fried Chicken and filmed us eating it," the Rev. Patrick Mahoney told The Associated Press after arriving at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Mahoney was accompanied by Brandi Swindell and Mike McMonagle on the flight from Beijing, where they protested human rights abuses before the start of the Olympics.

The three were greeted by supporters after getting off an Air China flight in Los Angeles, ending a long day that began when they were dragged away from a crowded square and detained without access to their cell phones. The travelers were carrying only plastic bags filled with clothes — the rest of their luggage was still in China, they said.

"Right on!" Mahoney said as he raised his fist in the air. "We call for the end of the religious persecution."

The three arrived in China earlier this week and went to Tiananmen Square, where they unfurled a banner that said "Jesus Christ is king," and laid roses on the ground to honor those killed there in the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations.

Mahoney said uniformed Chinese officers confiscated the banner and escorted them out of the square.

"I asked, 'Are we under arrest?'" Mahoney said. "They said, 'No.' I asked, 'Can we leave?' They said, 'No.'"

During a one-hour interrogation, the activists said, they told Chinese officials they intended to return to the square to hold a news conference. When they came back to the square, now filled with journalists and cameramen, they said they were grabbed by security agents and dragged into a van and brought to a police station. While being held for about 10 hours, they said officials disabled their cell phones, revoked their travel visas, demanded that they sign papers and pay $2,000 each for a ticket out of China.

"We didn't do anything wrong. We were speaking up for the Chinese people. We refused to pay," said Mahoney, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian Defense Coalition.

Finally, Chinese officials agreed to pay for the tickets and told the trio they had to leave China immediately or else they'd face extended jail time, Mahoney said.

His wife, Katie, said in a telephone interview from the couple's home in Virginia she was worried about her husband's safety when she wasn't able to reach him.

"It was very disconcerting" she said. "Let's face it, China doesn't have a very good record on human rights. ... It's very troubling when you don't hear from someone in 24 hours."

Mahoney, Swindell and McMonagle were scheduled to return to their respective homes in Fredericksburg, Va., Boise, Idaho, and Philadelphia on Friday.

They said they wanted to raise China's abortion policy and human rights record as the world focuses on the Olympics, but had no intention of spoiling the games.

"We're not opposed to the Olympics or the athletes," Swindell, 31, said.

Also Thursday, two Americans who arrived in San Francisco said they were deported from China after for climbing two poles near the Olympic stadium in Beijing and hung pro-Tibetan slogans.

Phillip Bartell of Boulder, Colo., and Tirian Mink of Portland, Ore., told KTVU-TV they were arrested and questioned for about eight hours.

U.S. State Department officials said Chinese authorities informed them of the deportations and were aware of what happened to the protesters.

"We call on China to use the opportunity of the Olympics to demonstrate greater openness and tolerance and to respect the fundamental and universally recognized right of all people to peacefully express their views," department spokesman Gordon Duguid said.

Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee in Washington, D.C. contributed to this story.

The Associated Press: Protesters describe removal from Tiananmen Square
 
DVDFreaker said:
I guess I am the only one who doesn't care about Olympics
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Same here. I don't sit and watch every match that goes on. If there's nothing on television (or I happen to turn on the television and it's already showing an interesting match involving USA), then I'll watch it. I watched a little of 2 different matches... rowing and beach volleyball.

So far, USA has 5 metals. :)
 
Pacman said:
No, my post time was 10:33 pm EST (USA time), it means 10:33 am for China on Friday morning.

Now, it's 6:28 pm for China.
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OKay -- what time is it in Australia, if China is @ 6:38pm?
 
So far China's gymnastic team is doing better than the USA.

But they still predict our Iowa girl to win some individual golds.
 
not to butt-in and drag this thread down, but the olympics dont pique my interest. They do a little bit--obviously theres a few events that are noteworthy but shit like judo, weightlifting, archery, equestrian, and shall i say it syncronized (sp?) swimming arent exactly eye-opening events.

im only gonna watch if i even remember to--the track and field events/basketball (even thats a joke) soccer, and yeah thats it.
 
Bottesini said:
So far China's gymnastic team is doing better than the USA.

But they still predict our Iowa girl to win some individual golds.
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4x100 Men swimming game from last was sooo AWESOME!

US team make comeback after France babble that they would smash America. While I watch them swimming as France were ahead of US. Until the last man swimming. WHOA! HUGE COMEBACK and won by .03 sec. OMG! OMG! It's one of excite I ever watch in Olympic.
 
Bottesini said:
So far China's gymnastic team is doing better than the USA.

But they still predict our Iowa girl to win some individual golds.
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USA got silver medal. It's not bad. I am surprise that Russian team is stink right now. It's USA turn to get a medals. :) The best gymnastic player are Shawn Johnson and Naslita Lulkin
 
PowerON said:
4x100 Men swimming game from last was sooo AWESOME!

US team make comeback after France babble that they would smash America. While I watch them swimming as France were ahead of US. Until the last man swimming. WHOA! HUGE COMEBACK and won by .03 sec. OMG! OMG! It's one of excite I ever watch in Olympic.
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Yeah!!! It was sooo awesome! GO USA!!!! USA swimmers are the best than other countries in history. I was laugh that Michael got real emotion and very thrill!!!!! Did you know it's Michael's nickname is Jaws or Shark?? People called him a Shark. Because he is swimmer so fastest!
 
~♥~Pinky~♥~ said:
USA got silver medal. It's not bad. I am surprise that Russian team is stink right now. It's USA turn to get a medals. :) The best gymnastic player are Shawn Johnson and Naslita Lulkin
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And Shawn Johnson is the Iowa girl.

The newspaper here this morning said they predict three individual gold medals for Shawn. She qualified for four events.

I will be interested to see how many she gets.
 
Is this one of two threads that I know to cover the same subject? Should we merge them?
 
damn you, USA. Phelps just collected 5 Olypmic gold medals at the Beijing Olympics - Just said it in the morning newspaper today... and has three more to go to be the world record for the USA olypian to collect a lot of gold medals than the others have.
 
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