Yay for China! (not)

From a WaPo article:

With the [Olympic] Games three weeks away, the precautions already have proved so sweeping that some observers question whether the sense of fellowship and fun that is supposed to accompany the Olympics can survive...[China has implemented] confusing new visa restrictions, multiple roadside checkpoints, reinforced pat-downs at airports and subway stations, and raids on bars popular among foreigners. The result has been an atmosphere of coercion, not celebration...

China's leaders have extended the scope of their concerns to include peaceful political protests. In public and private comments...

At a checkpoint...near Beijing's southern suburbs, more than 100 cars lined up Wednesday...awaiting a security check. The checkpoint was staffed by a dozen men in police and camouflage uniforms, several carrying weapons. Drivers and their passengers were asked to produce identification while security agents searched underneath the cars and opened suitcases. Foreign passport holders were singled out for extra scrutiny, and their IDs were checked against what appeared to be a national database...

From another WaPo article:

Thousands of foreign residents are finding China far less hospitable than it once was because of visa restrictions tightened ahead of the Olympics and reported increasing hostility toward outsiders...

Some human rights advocates, business associations and foreign visitors say the visa crackdown has more to do with keeping out potential foreign protesters upset about China's control of Tibet, investment in Sudan despite oppression in Darfur or other human rights issues. They say the process is alienating foreigners. Whether this reflects a temporary shift because of the Olympics or a more permanent change has been much discussed by expatriates.

They are also spooked by several recent attacks on foreigners. The harassment of a recent Boston College graduate in Hunan Province at a protest against French hypermarket chain Carrefour in April has served as a warning that the growing nationalist sentiment can turn ugly. Although James Galvin, 22 and American, wasn't harmed, one youth lunged at him while others shouted, "Kill him! Kill the Frenchman!"

In June, an Associated Press reporter and two photographers were dragged from the scene of a protest by parents whose children had died while at school during the Sichuan earthquake.

In an interview, a 24-year-old French student recounted how he was attacked by three Chinese men on a Shanghai subway train one night last week. He said one of the assailants told him: "This is my home. You are not welcome here" and punched him until he fell.

[T]he student said he was shocked and angry about the attack, which left him with large, painful bruises near his ribs and on his legs...

All in all, it appears that the Beijing Olympics will be less of a coming-out party for China and more of a curt, no-nonsense announcement of China's power. In other words: Meet the New Boss.