Chinese Olympic security planners are reassessing potential threats to the upcoming games following the March 14 uprisings in Tibet and the global response to the Chinese crackdown. While Beijing has focused a substantial amount of attention on the potential for Uighur Islamist militant attacks during the event, planners have also looked at various other potential sources of protest or disruption. These include supporters of a free Tibet, Taiwanese activists, human rights advocates, religious and press freedom campaigners, pro-democracy activists and Falun Gong supporters. In general, Beijing expects protests and demonstrations to be primarily non-violent, but very disrupting and embarrassing to the Chinese government and potentially to Olympic corporate sponsors. Numerous groups have already planned individual and group protests in Beijing, particularly around high-profile tourist sites, though these acts involve leaflet distribution, banner displays and verbal demonstrations. Beijing has ramped up its intelligence networks at home and abroad with the intention of discerning which individuals and groups are planning operations. The government promises to take action against suspected activists by denying visas and monitoring or restricting their movement. Recently Beijing has also raised concerns that pro-Tibetan militants may attempt suicide bombings at the Olympics, a slim possibility. One more likely fear for Beijing is the potential that Falun Gong or Tibetan protestors might carry out acts of self-immolation around Beijing during the Olympic games –- a threat that is proving difficult to identify and prepare for. Such actions would draw global attention to the causes of the protestors, without the negative responses that an act of violence against the games or visitors engenders. Unlike a bombing, these acts do not injure or kill bystanders.

Self-immolation in China

Self-immolation as a tool of protest has a long history in China and throughout East and South Asia. In recent years, it has been used to express a grievance or draw attention to a diverse range of issues, including religious freedom and property rights. A quick review of some recent cases includes:

• In July 2006, a migrant worker from Hubei province set himself alight in Tiananmen Square after failing to get government assistance in recovering back pay.
• In January 2004, an elderly couple set themselves ablaze outside the Zhongnanhai central government compound in Beijing, possibly over a dispute involving forced evictions for property renovations.
• In 2003, several protestors set themselves alight to protest the repayment terms for being evicted to make way for new development and construction projects. These included a Beijing resident who set himself on fire inside his house when developers arrived, a farmer from Anhui who burned himself in Tiananmen Square and a protestor who burned himself in front of the government office in charge of relocations and development in Nanjing.
• On Oct. 1, 2003, China’s National Day, a laid-off worker attempted self-immolation in Tiananmen Square while thousands gathered to watch the flag raising ceremony.
• In 2001, at the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, between five and seven Falun Gong practitioners set themselves alight in Tiananmen Square in one of the most high-profile cases of self-immolation. The action was denied by Falun Gong, but nonetheless aided the Central Government’s attempts to shift the public view of the organization and facilitated an intensified crackdown of the group and its practitioners.

Self-immolation as a Political Tool

In China and beyond, self-immolation has been a highly symbolic political tool. While protests and demonstrations can raise awareness, and hunger strikes or cause-driven suicides garner attention, self-immolation inherently stirs horror while focusing intense attention on the issue at hand. The visual images become, in some cases, iconic. They serve to mobilize a cause while drawing national or international attention and intervention. Self-immolation can be a powerful tool for social or political change, particularly in garnering or maintaining a broader base of support, given that the act does not harm or kill others. In June 1963, Buddhists in South Vietnam asked the predominately Catholic regime to lift the ban on flying Buddhist flags and grant them equal rights, including the ability to practice and spread their religion. When the government refused, Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc protested by setting himself on fire in Saigon. His self-immolation triggered an uprising among south Vietnamese Buddhists. A number of successive self-immolations by Buddhist monks and nuns followed, ultimately contributing to the downfall of the regime. In 1970, in South Korea, a tailor and labor rights activist named Chon Tae Il set himself alight and ran through the streets of Seoul holding a copy of the Labor Standards Law. Chon's action stirred the nascent labor movement in South Korea, rallied students and intellectuals to unite with the workers, and spurred the rise of an extremely strong, politically active and frequently militant labor movement in South Korea. It also contributed to the eventual downfall of various military-backed regimes in South Korea. The phenomenon is not isolated to the Far East, however. In the mid-1960s, several cases surfaced in which Americans set themselves on fire to protest the Vietnam War. In the late 1960s, there were also several cases of self-immolation in Romania and Czechoslovakia. The participants were protesting the Soviet invasion and the Communist governments of Romania and Hungary. In 1976, a Lutheran pastor carried out an act of self-immolation to protest the East German Communist government. In 1983, a Chilean miner immolated himself to protest kidnappings that occurred during the regime of Augusto Pinochet. The practice continues today. In 2003, a series of self-immolation attempts by Iranian dissidents in Europe took place. Also in 2003, a spate of self-immolations occurred in the Czech Republic protesting the general state of world affairs, including the Iraq war. In 2004, several protestors attempted self-immolation over the impeachment hearings of South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun. In late 2004, a Yemeni man set himself alight outside the White House, claiming he was an FBI informant. The man complained that the intelligence agency took his passport and failed to pay him reward money. He also said the agency had blocked him from seeing his family in Yemen.

Security, Politics and Public Relations

In 2006, a member of the Tibetan Youth Congress tried to immolate himself in front of the hotel where Chinese President Hu Jintao stayed during a visit to India. It is the latest case of a Tibetan protestor in India causing Beijing to reassess the threat of self-immolation attempts. For some time Chinese security officials have expressed concern over the possibility of Falun Gong activists setting themselves afire in public places during the Olympics. But with the recent unrest in Tibet, and the growing strength of the Tibetan Youth Congress within the Tibetan movement, the government now suspects that such events may be unavoidable in August. Chinese security around public places will be vigilant as they look for any so-called suspicious individuals. Event participants can expect strict bag checks, security procedures and searches at any entrances, but tourist areas and public streets create a separate challenge. Security forces will have to be alert to any disturbance and react quickly if they occur. For most major events, including the meetings of the National People’s Congress or major holidays, security forces also come equipped with fire extinguishers. However, all of these measures are post-facto. Once a person sets them self afire, cameras will inevitably capture the imagery and those images will eventually reach the world. This creates a compound affect. For Beijing, it presents an embarrassment and reveals a potential hole in security arrangements. If someone can burn themselves in public, it opens up speculation about how hostile elements could potentially harm the public at large. For corporate sponsors of the Olympics, significant public relations issues abound. The possibility of pictures depicting a Falun Gong or Tibetan protestor burning in front of a billboard hosting a sponsor’s logo and broadcasted worldwide does not bode well for any corporation. While Chinese security efforts have focused their efforts on identifying and thwarting known groups and organizations that may protest, the government ultimately has little control over the prevention of self-immolation attempts. Finding lone individuals intent on self-immolation is difficult. The diffuse nature of the various anti-China protest movements relies less on formal meetings and more on spreading ideology and ideas via the Internet. Ultimately, the potential pool of protestors –- and among them those willing to commit suicide for the cause -– is much larger and much harder to identify. It is a problem that China will try to address, but will never solve.