BEIJING — The eight foreigners detained Wednesday near the Olympic Village after unfurling a "Free Tibet" banner followed pole sitters, pirate radio jocks and slogan-shouting Christian activists in finding holes through China's security operation to challenge its human rights policies.
The question is whether their protests will make any difference.
In the short term, such stunts do little more than gain publicity for their causes. Given the government's skill at controlling information, their message is unlikely to reach many Chinese citizens.
And though some human rights activists urge using quieter means to press for change, China is more sensitive to foreign pressure than it acknowledges. Some say wacky antics can heighten global attention that eventually could lead to greater openness.
Students for a Free Tibet, which organized Wednesday's event at which the activists chained themselves to bicycles, started planning a series of Olympics protests months ago, said Lhadon Tethong, the New York-based group's executive director. A British journalist also was briefly detained, reportedly because police mistook him for a protester. China has been particularly sensitive about Tibet protests since riots erupted across the Tibetan plateau in March.
Tethong said her group believes that engaging in discussions with China doesn't work. "The idea that China is going to naturally move to a more open society absolutely isn't true," she said.
Two days before the opening ceremony last week, the group carried out a complex action timed for maximum impact. Two Britons and two Americans slipped into China in early August on tourist visas, careful they weren't on any Chinese watch list.
The four spent a few days casing the area around Beijing's National Stadium. Then at 5:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, two members quickly assembled climbing equipment and ascended halfway up 120-foot electricity pylons on a pair of slings.
Pro-Tibet activist Phil Bartell, a tattoo artist from Boulder, Colo., said he practiced climbing for months. Once aloft, he and fellow activist Iain Thom unfurled "Free Tibet" banners as two female colleagues ran interference below.
When police arrived, they seemed unsure what to do, Bartell said. The activists blogged and conducted interviews aloft on cellphones. Eventually, a cherry picker and firetruck appeared and the group surrendered. They were interrogated for eight hours, had their visas revoked and were deported.
