06.16.08

Beijing University Students Booted from Dorms for Olympics

Posted in Beijing, Law and Order, Olympics, Rumors at 14:35 by Nator

I haven’t seen this anywhere in English yet, but it’s a pretty hot topic among many university students in Beijing. On June 12, announcements similar to the one below were posted at dormitories in several universities (my sources have asked me to delete information that indicates which university this announcment came from):

It says that all students in certain areas of the school have to move out by July 5. (It’s “for the safety of the dormitories”, of course.)  Certain areas will be cleared out completely to make way for various Olympic teams and officials, and all students will need written permission with the seal of various school bodies in order to stay on campus. The application process to stay on campus is detailed for students who have work related to the Olympics (most likely as volunteers), as well as for any other students with “special reasons”. No one who does not have special permission will be allowed to stay on campus.

This has come as a surprise to many students. Although many were notified months ago that facilities at their schools would be used for the Olympics, it was not stated that students would not be allowed to stay in the dormitories over the summer. Even though many students will in fact be doing volunteer work for the Olympics, and even though many others will choose to go home for the summer break, there are surely tens of thousands of others who want to stay around: graduate students writing dissertations, science majors doing labratory research, and students doing summer work internships, to name a few. Most of these students would have difficulty renting an apartment in Beijing during normal times, and rents will likely be unusally high this summer as landlords look for wealthy visitors coming in for the Games.

I looked around for links online, but most had already by blocked, so here is a screen capture from the ChinaRen online forums instead (click for full size):

Quick summary (Again, I don’t have time for the full translation right now): The author pasts part of an IM chat with a friend who is attending graduate school in Beijing. The friend mentions that all the students in his school are being kicked out to make way for a team of Olympics “representatives” from the US. The author complains about the forced evictions (rough translation):

This is going too far. . . We’ve already done so much — building the Olympic village, all the stadiums and gymnasiums, and all the infrastructure improvements. What else do you want from us?

My sources tell me that that only certain schools have made such announcements, but that others are likely to do so soon. Notably, nothing yet has been heard from Peking University and Tsinghua University, but if students there are asked to leave, you can be sure that there will a lot more talk about this. And if no more students are asked to leave, those who have been asked to leave are likely to be even more angry that some of their peers at other schools that will get to stick around in their inexpensive dorm rooms all summer. 

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