Olympics Protest Watch

Thumbs up to the protesters getting through the strict security apparatus at the Olympics in Beijing to register their voice in opposition to Chinese repression in Tibet and in their own country. Noel Hidalgo shot some qik video of protesters for the outside world to see and was deported, and then there was this protest at the equestrian event:

Two American activists from the New York-based Students for a Free Tibet unfurled the Tibetan flag among the spectators at the equestrian stadium in Hong Kong's suburban Sha Tin district.

Earlier in the day, Hong Kong university student Christina Chan and another protester tried to unveil a Tibetan flag that was concealed behind a Canadian flag but security officers covered them with a piece of cloth before it was fully exposed.

Radical opposition lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung and a fellow activist held up a piece of paper that said «No dictatorship» and chanted «End one-party rule,» referring to the Chinese Communist Party's monopoly on power.

A Students for a Free Tibet statement identified the Americans as Matthew Browner-Hamlin from Anchorage, Alaska and Brianna Cayo Cotter from San Francisco, California.

I've known Matt through the blogging world for some time now, and can't help but be impressed with his commitment to free people.

Anyway, it's better than going to the Olympics to play some grab-ass.

(slightly related PS: In researching a different Olympics post, I came across this from my archives. Remember that four years ago, Bush ran ads with footage of the Iraqi and Afghan Olympic teams to prove how well things were going there? Amazing.)