Is China banning blacks during the Olympics?

With just over two weeks left before the Olympics begin in Beijing, a new report suggests the government in China may be planning the unthinkable: banning black people from certain establishments.

Tom Miller of the South China Morning Post caused a stir on Friday when he reported that the government plans to "crack down on 'undesirables' in the bars of Beijing." Bars in central Beijing have allegedly been told not to serve blacks or Mongolians during the Olympic games next month, Miller reported.

"Bar owners near the Workers' Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign pledges agreeing not to let black people enter their premises," according to the story. Security officials were said to be focused on the area of Sanlitun, which Olympic organizers "expect to be a key destination for foreign tourists looking for a party during the Games."

Writes Miller: "The owners of five bars that cater to an international clientele in the Sanlitun area separately told me today that they had not been contacted by police recently about enforcing such a ban or signing a related pledge, though one said he had been asked several months ago to not serve blacks."

That prompted a quick response from Chinese authorities, who deny any plans to ban blacks or Mongolians from participating in any activities during the Olympic games.

But reporter Amy Beeman of AHN, notes that "some Africans reported being charged double what other's pay as entry fees, and others recently told the World Net Daily that they were forced to show their passports prior to being allowed into a bar. No one else had to show such identification."

Chinese officials allegedly believe blacks and Mongolians are largely responsible for drug dealing and other criminal activity, according to AHN.

Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, a Daily Voice contributor, will be in Beijing next month and expressed hope that the organizers would reflect the true meaning of the competition. "The Olympics is a global event for peace and unity, and I would expect the Chinese Government to accept all people," Lewis said in an email message today. "We've been down this road before and I thought we were past that," he added.

But at least one observer thinks the whole controversy might simply be a case of miscommunication. Beijing Boyce disclosed his own findings about the newspaper claim, and reported that his sources tell him that some bar owners were asked to "monitor black patrons."  "I talked to three Sanlitun bar owners yesterday who said the police did not tell them to ban blacks," Boyce writes.

Another China observer, Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei, believes "it seems highly unlikely that anyone with any real authority would 'secretly' plan 'to ban black people' from the city's bars." Goldkorn also faults the South China Morning Post for its anonymous sources and says "the paper does not seem to have any physical evidence to support the article."

Last September, police reportedly detained dozens of blacks in the Sanlitun bar district and, according to witnesses, beat some with clubs, including the son of Grenada's ambassador to China.

China has constructed several impressive new buildings, including the Olympic stadium, and has been sprucing up Beijing in preparation for the summer games. The eyes of the world will be watching the country for two and half weeks as thousands of athletes and tens of thousands of spectators from across the planet flock to Beijing for the games.

(Photo credit: Alexia Webster)