Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BEIJING3051
2008-08-07 09:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Beijing
Cable title:  

OLYMPICS: MANY MIGRANTS AND MINORITIES LEAVE

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL KOLY CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5403
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #3051/01 2200935
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 070935Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9040
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003051 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2038
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KOLY CH
SUBJECT: OLYMPICS: MANY MIGRANTS AND MINORITIES LEAVE
BEIJING DURING THE GAMES

Classified By: Classified by PolMinCouns Aubrey Carlson
for reasons 1.4 b,d.

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003051

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2038
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KOLY CH
SUBJECT: OLYMPICS: MANY MIGRANTS AND MINORITIES LEAVE
BEIJING DURING THE GAMES

Classified By: Classified by PolMinCouns Aubrey Carlson
for reasons 1.4 b,d.

Summary
--------------


1. (C) The closing of construction sites and factories
in and around Beijing has forced many of Beijing's
migrant workers to return home during the Olympics.
The loss of income caused by the Olympics-related
workplace shutdown has caused anger and frustration.
In some cases, authorities have reportedly ordered
migrants to leave Beijing. For example, one contact
told us that the authorities ordered migrant trash
collectors to leave the city. There is also evidence
of an unevenly implemented campaign to reduce the
city's Tibetan and Uighur populations during the
Olympics. End summary.

Lack of Work Causing Migrants to Leave
--------------


2. (C) Wei Wei (protect),the founder of Little Bird,
an NGO that provides legal assistance to migrant
workers, told PolOff July 29 he had not heard of
coercive measures being used by security forces to
expel migrants from Beijing, but the shutdown of
construction sites and factories is giving many
migrants little choice but to leave the capital during
the Games. Wei said migrants in service industries,
such as restaurants and retail stores, have not been
significantly impacted. A teacher at Bai Nian
Vocational School, a politically well-connected
charity with a student body of 150-160 teenage
children of migrant workers, said all of the students
are still in Beijing as Olympics Volunteers. Li Qiang
(protect),Dean of Tsinghua University School of
Humanities and Social Sciences, told PolOff July 29
"Migrants cannot get tickets to the events, and there
is no work for them in the Beijing, so they feel they
might as well go home and watch the Games on TV."
PolOff spoke with three migrants from Shandong
Province August 5 who said they were leaving Beijing,
at least temporarily, because of the lack of jobs.
The three said the involuntary "vacation" would give
them a chance to visit relatives.

"Migrants Have No Role in the Olympics"
--------------


3. (C) Wei Wei criticized authorities for shunting

aside the very migrants who built the Olympic venues,
saying no effort has been made to include them in the
Games. Wei said he suggested to the Beijing Municipal
Government that 100 tickets to key events be reserved
for migrants as a symbolic thank you to the tens of
thousands involved in the preparation efforts. The
proposal went nowhere, Wei lamented, even though it
would have helped deflect international criticism of
China for poor treatment of migrants.

Certain Migrants Targeted in Beautification Campaigns
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Some contacts report that authorities have
engaged in targeted actions against migrants in
"unsightly" occupations. Wang Chong (protect),an
international affairs columnist for the China Youth
Daily, told PolOff that government authorities have
ordered migrant trash collectors (who pick through
trash for recyclable materials) to leave the city.
Other contacts report that open air vegetable and
fruit stands, which employ mostly migrants, have shut
down as part of the effort to beautify the city.
Contacts also report that some migrants who lack
formal employment (e.g., those who work as domestic
servants) are having more difficulty than usual
obtaining temporary residence permits. Wei said the
loss of income due to Olympics-related restrictions is
causing considerable anger among the migrant
population.

Discrimination against Tibetans
--------------


5. (C) Beijing residents we spoke with generally
confirmed press reports that Tibetans and Uighurs are
encountering discrimination and pressure to leave the
capital. An American cultural anthropologist
(protect) who is a visiting scholar at Central

BEIJING 00003051 002 OF 002


University for Nationalities (CUN) told PolOff August
1 that University officials were strongly encouraging
Tibetan and Uighur students to return home during the
Games. At Beijing railway stations, he said, Tibetans
and Uighurs seeking to depart the capital are finding
it easy to get tickets, even for trains that are
listed as sold out. He reported that the CUN campus
is largely quiet because most students are on summer
break, but school leaders are still on guard against
possible disturbances. (Note: PolOff observed
security guards checking the IDs of everyone entering
the CUN campus.) Furthermore, our contact said school
administrators, in the context of discussing Olympic
security, told him that his office was "too Tibetan"
and that he should put up decorations reflecting the
cultures of other minorities. CUN officials urged him
to "not publish" articles on Tibet during the Games.

"Government Wants Uighurs Out"
--------------


6. (C) Zhou Qing'an, an editorial writer for The
Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao) and Director of the Public
Diplomacy Research Program at Tsinghua University,
said even ethnic Han Chinese residents of the Tibet
Autonomous Region and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
Region are encountering discrimination. Zhou told
PolOff August 5 that a family friend, who is Han, was
recently turned away at a Beijing hotel after showing
the clerk her Xinjiang-issued identification card. A
China Academy of Social Sciences scholar told PolOff
August 7 that an ethnic Han colleague of his "who
looks Uighur" has attracted special attention on the
subway from security types who have examined his
briefcase especially closely and followed him during
his commute. PolOff spoke to several Muslim residents
of Beijing August 5 who confirmed that many Uighurs
have left the capital. The owner of one restaurant (a
Hui Muslim from Qinghai Province) said "the Government
wants (Uighurs) out," he said. Another Hui
restaurateur told PolOff that his single Uighur waiter
went home "because of the Olympics." The pressure on
Uighurs to leave is apparently unevenly applied. The
Uighur proprietor of a restaurant near the Embassy
said he had no plans to return to his hometown of
Kashi (Kashgar) during the Games. The restaurant,
which employees mostly Uighur workers, appeared fully
staffed.
RANDT