Date:23/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/23/stories/2008072352492000.htm

Sport - Olympic Games

No ban on Africans, Mongolians

Beijing: China’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denied a newspaper report that police in a popular bar district in Beijing had banned Africans and Mongolians as part of a security crackdown ahead of the Olympics.

The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported last week that police in the popular Sanlitun bar district had warned bar owners not to serve customers of African or Mongolian descent.

“Beijing’s public security departments, including the Sanlitun police station, have never demanded that any bar stop serving customers from any region or country,” said an official.

In April, police detained eight foreigners during a drug raid on a bar in Sanlitun, according to the official Xinhua news agency. — AP