Natasha

 __Protesting within the Law__ By Natasha We have all heard about the protests in China over the beijing Olympics But just how do you protest in China? And how would you do this within the law? How does this compare with New Zealand? And If you were a protestor where would you choose to protest????

 How to protest in China! If you disagree with a law or event such as the Olympics you might find yourself wanting to spread the word and protesting. If you want to protest you must follow the slow process of trying to get your say out there. First you must send them an application outlining the problem then five days before you protest you must submit a request along with details of what you will protest about as well as information on the participants. And after that they can accept or reject your application to demonstrate. So after all of that you may be rejected just like that and half to start all over. You may think oh it's alright if i have a serious issue my request will be accepted. But it is not easy and I mean it. A total of 77 applications submitted to protest against the Beijing Olympics and not one got passed. Even if you do protest with a permit there can be serious consequences like Two elderly Chinese women in Beijing. They submitted for an application to protest during the Olympics and were ordered to spend a year in a labour camp.

media type="youtube" key="EHN6uonVjZk&hl=en&fs=1" height="344" width="425" This is a video talking about the consequences of protesting in China.

How to protest in China within the law How to protest in China within the law!!!! If you are wanting to protest in China and not have harsh consequences then you will want to protest within the law. There are many silly and unneccessary laws against protesting in China for example:
 * The police can change the path of your protest for example: If you were going to have a march protest down the main street with loads of people they could steer you through an empty alleyway.
 * You cannot protest about the laws so how are you ever supposed to get laws changed because you cannot protest about the law of not protesting against laws.
 * Also government employees cannot take part in protests that go against their duties and responsibilities so no one with any real power can do anything to chang the law either.
 * You cannot protest within 10-300 meters from government offices and organizations, such as military committees, the People’s Supreme Court, major military facilities, airports, air facilities, train stations and more. Which are mostly great crowded places to get your say out there.

Protesting in New Zealand If you wanted to protest against something in New Zealand you could pretty much just walk over to the place that you wanted to protest and have your say. There is the odd law against not harming or endangering anyone and a couple of other laws but none half as silly as those in China. An example of someone protesting in New Zealand was Tama Iti. He protested against Tuhoe land that had been confiscated 150 years ago. He was arrested by the police but not for protesting. Unlike China in New Zealand you can protest freely he was arrested because he discharged a firearm in a public place. Although there are not laws against protesting other laws still apply so you cannot break the law whilst protesting.

So where would you protest So if you wanted to protest where would you do it? In China the place with all of the issues and conflicts but unreasonable laws and very challenging ways of demonstrating. Or New Zealand where you can protest as much as you like but about what???? You decide!!!!!!

References


 * http://peijinchen.com/blog/2008/08/25/protesting-in-china-or-the-red-tape-olympics/
 * http://www.star-telegram.com/279/story/848472.html
 * http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7545112.stm
 * [|www.youtube.com]