Five Good Things about the World Conference on Women

More things about the Beijing conference
More things about the Beijing conference
More things about the Beijing conference

The Chinese government is making pro-active moves to create a safe space for women. They have reportedly executed at least 16 "rapists, robbers, murderers and repeat offenders" as part of a clean-up in preparation for the conference. They've also, reportedly, been sweeping up dissidents, lest the conference delegates be distracted from their important work by pointless complaints about human rights in China.
The main hall for the NGO conference has only half a roof and no walls. Chinese Organising Committee spokespeople point out that this is an advantage, as the weather will be very hot.
Though the hall only holds one-third of the estimated number of participants, it seems that overcrowding is unlikely to be a problem. Aside from the Tibetan and Iranian groups explicitly denied accreditation, and aside from the Tibetan and Taiwanese women who are not allowed to enter the country unless they travel on a Chinese passport, there will also be all those who will be denied visas. Chen Jian, a foreign ministry spokesman, has warned that delegates who "threaten the safety of the conference" will not be given visas. These will include lesbians, pro-Tibet and pro-Taiwan activists, and representatives of the US section (and perhaps other sections) of Amnesty International.
This should avoid the scenario, previously proposed by the Chinese Organising Committee, in which two-thirds of the NGO delegates could be kept entertained by field trips to historic sites, since there would be no room for them in the halls and meeting rooms.
The host government will be fair to protesters. "Anyone who violates Chinese law, whether they are a foreigner or Chinese, will be treated the same," notes Zhao Yuhe, Chief of Hauirou County (Chinese law, of course, effectively bans all forms of protest, and "violations" have known to be receive punishments ranging from prison to death). This fairness has already been demonstrated by the swift arrest of Greenpeace members who held up a banner in Beijing to protest against China's latest nuclear test.
If the final document ends up--as it seems it will--being a step backwards in the international recognition of women's rights, the UN and participating governments can blame it all on China.

More things about the Beijing conference

It is now reported that the Chinese Organising Committee has come up with a simple and elegant way of dealing with that Tibet problem. They have simply instructed all their interpreters not to translate any sentences relating to this issue. The interpreters may choose between skipping over the offending sentences entirely, or "pretending not to understand", which would probably be more in the spirit of the conference as a whole.

More things about the Beijing conference

One of the more intriguing developments in the immediate run-up to the conference is the Chinese authorities' intense, indeed compulsive, concern that foreign delegates are going to be ripping their clothes off in public. Reportedly, Li Peng saw some naked women protesting the Copenhagen Development Summit and has never recovered from the shock. Presumably UN officials tried to explain to him that Denmark is just like that ... but in any case, it is now said that the possibility of nude delegates was in fact the main motivating factor in the decision to move the NGO Forum to Huairou. Further security measures have been put in place in the form of security guards, plainclothes officers and "women between 35 and 40", who will all stand around the NGO Forum site, the hotels, and "strategic points" in Huairou and Beijing, carrying white blankets with which they may rapidly cover up any foreign women seized with the uncontrollable desire to strip.
Warning talks have also been delivered to Chinese citizens, not only those attending the conference, or those living in Beijing and Huairou, but even in nearby towns, in case the naked women also go running madly into the countryside, primary and secondary sex characteristics blazing. These talks may not be having the desired effect, however, judging from one British reporter's encounter with a Beijing taxi driver who told her that he would definitely be driving around Huairou in the coming weeks. "There's going to be some women there, and they're going to be taking their clothes off. It'll be great!"

More things about the Beijing conference

With only a few days left to go before the opening of the NGO Forum, it is still not clear how many of the 35,000 registered delegates will actually be able to attend. As of Friday, only 17,000 visas had actually been issued. Apparently many more are being processed in a great rush in the next day or two, but even the most optimistic are now estimating NGO attendance at no more than 25,000.
The Chinese Organising Committee explains that they can in no way be held responsible for this, as, despite almost daily urgings from the NGO coordinating bodies, about 10,000 delegates apparently "forgot to apply for accomodation".