World | China Media at Full Boil Over China Restrictions Awarding Olympics to 'dictatorial regime' was 'drastic mistake' By Sam Biddle Posted Aug 5, 2008 4:40 PM CDT Copied Police officers push back a journalist away from an area where a large crowd was waiting to buy tickets for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Friday, July 25, 2008, in Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) As the Beijing Games draw near, journalists are worrying about the Chinese government's handling of a swarm of international reporters in an otherwise heavily censored society. Der Spiegel compiles commentaries from varying German sources, all of which agree that the decision to award China the 2008 Olympics was misguided at best. “The Olympics cannot be held in a country ruled by a dictatorship without having to play by its rules,” one paper argues. “They are only doing what authoritarian and dictatorial regimes always do,” comments another paper. “No one can really be unclear about the true character of the Chinese system of rule." Read These Next A look at President Trump's fast pivot on Minneapolis. Treasury drops Booz Allen over Trump tax return leak. Minnesota judge makes an unusual move against the ICE chief. Sydney Sweeney is at the center of a controversy yet again. Report an error