It was about three weeks ago that we reported that the government would set up protest zones in Beijing to accommodate anyone who had a grievance could hold a protest in the specified zones, while the Olympics were on.

So far 77 applications have been received, but of those 74 have “been withdrawn so far, because the problems those applicants contended for were properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations, added the spokesperson,” according to Xinhua News.

Without knowing any details of their cases, at least we can say that something must have been done.

Two other applications have been suspended because their procedures were incomplete, the spokesperson said. In one of such cases, for example, the applicant applied to take children to the demonstration, which is against China’s law.

The article goes on to say that the applications have not been rejected, they are just waiting for further details.