Beijing detains more Chinese, U.S. protesters

Foreigners who protest Beijing's human rights record or official policy of atheism on Chinese soil normally face deportation. Chinese who demonstrate would face detention and hours of questioning by police, at the very least.

The government also has used its visa rules to try to keep out foreigners who might want to protest. Former Olympic speedskater and Darfur campaigner Joey Cheek had his visa pulled Wednesday, hours before he was to travel to Beijing.

Jill Savitt, executive director of Dream for Darfur, an initiative that has sought to pressure China to use its influence as a major trading partner of Sudan to improve security in the ravaged region, was also denied a visa.

Savitt works with actress Mia Farrow, who will be broadcasting from a Sudanese refugee camp in neighboring Chad during the first week of the Beijing Olympics to highlight China's involvement in the region.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court accuse Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir of carrying out genocide in Darfur, where up to 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million chased from their homes in fighting since early 2003.

China is widely believed to be Sudan's chief provider of small arms and, through its state-owned companies, Beijing controls nearly all of Sudan's oil potential.

"The tragedies could not continue without the ongoing support of Beijing," Farrow said Thursday during a teleconference from Chad. "Shame on them and shame on the Olympics committee for choosing Beijing and putting the athletes in this untenable position."

In the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, immigration officials denied Yang Jianli, Wang Min and Zhou Jian entry but did not give a reason, opposition lawmaker Albert Ho told The Associated Press.

Ho said he wasn't sure if the activists, who had been allowed to enter Hong Kong in the past, had planned to protest.

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