Beijing, or St. Paul?

Via: New York Times
Date: July 24, 1008
Author: Jim Yardley
China Sets Zones for Olympics Protests
BEIJING - The Chinese government will permit public protests inside three designated city parks during next month’s Olympic Games, but demonstrators must first obtain permits from the local police and also abide by Chinese laws that usually make it nearly impossible to legally picket over politically charged issues. The arrangement, announced by authorities on Wednesday, is a break from normal practice in China's authoritarian political system and seems loosely modeled on the protest zones created at previous Olympic Games and at many recent international political gatherings that attract large numbers of protesters.