This popped up in my GMail feeds as “Oddly Enough” news. It’s worth sharing, but none of it really strikes me as odd, since we’ve been hearing rumors about the new visa regulations and the need to carry one’s papers at all times for a while now.

The organizers of this summer’s Beijing Olympics Monday reminded foreigners coming to China for the Games to behave, warning them that everything from protesting without permission to sleeping outdoors was banned.

The extensive list, written only in Chinese and put on the organizers’ official website (www.beijing2008.cn), also said that purchase of Olympics’ tickets did not guarantee the holder would automatically get a Chinese visa.

Entry would be banned to anyone who was intent on “subversion” upon arriving in China, those with mental illnesses and sexually transmitted diseases and people who wished to engage in prostitution, the rules read.

“Foreigners must respect Chinese laws while in China and must not harm China’s national security or damage social order,” the rules say.

The stability-obsessed government, determined to ensure the Olympics go off without a hitch, has in the last several months tightened controls on visas, residence permits for foreigners, and places of entertainment.

The handbook warns the estimated 500,000 overseas visitors who are expected to come to Beijing this August that China is still a country with many off-limits areas and beholden to bureaucracy and public security organs.

Insert my usual rant about how such a heavy-handed approach will only reinforce the stereotype of China as a repressive, authoritative regime.

Via Reuters