square # 116 - homeless in Beijing # 1

homeless in Beijing # 1, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A 'homeless man' sleeps on the sidewalk under a freeway overpass in the center of Beijing.
Homelessness in Beijing, like in any developed city is a major problem. This has recently become more of a concern to "Human Rights" groups across the world because of the Central Governments policy of clearing and demolishing houses (many of which are 100's of years old) to make way for development for the 2008 Olympics. Leaving hundreds of thousands of Chinese people homeless and frequently without sufficient compensation. It is estimated that the games will cost China $20bn, making it the most expensive Olympics ever, The Olympics in Beijing is going to be one of the biggest examples of a totalitarian regime taking away people’s possessions in the name of self-glorification. Remarkably, for a country with little free speech, the protests are getting louder. Evicted people have been lighting themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square, and petitions and anonymous internet protests have been multiplying. Despite the imprisonment of Ye Guozhu – a housing rights activist who was imprisoned after applying for permission to hold a mass protest against the forced evictions – there are some flickers of progress. The government has issued a series of promises and reforms. Only time will tell if these reforms materialize or are just empty promises to satisfy the ever growing numbers of angry voices.