Ng Han Guan/Associate Press on NYTimes.com

The Chinese government has announced that it will set up specially designated zones for protesters during next month’s Olympic games, the first sign from Beijing that a modest amount of public protest may be tolerated. Demonstrators will be required to first obtain a protest permit, which will be written on the back of an arrest warrant in order to save paper. The “protest zones” have been conveniently located inside the beautiful Maowun, Laojiao, Rang-nga-khang and Trisam Laojiaio Chinese parks, which are also used as prisons. Chinese police officers will also be offering free transportation to the protest zones as a further gesture of China’s dedication to an open and honest dialog during the Olympic games. How you get home is an entirely different issue.

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