China Limits Athlete Hurt in Crackdown

China is barring an athlete from international games for the disabled because his legs were crushed by a tank during the bloody crackdown on the Tian An Men Square democracy movement, a friend said Friday.

Xu Liangying, a longtime democracy activist, said the authorities were afraid foreign reporters would start asking embarrassing human rights questions if they found out how the athlete, Fang Zheng, was disabled.

Fang’s permission to compete in next week’s competition in Beijing was canceled in July.

Fang was a senior at the Beijing Physical Education College when the capital was rocked by the huge student demonstrations for democracy in 1989. During the crackdown, Fang’s legs were crushed under a tank. One of his legs was amputated at the knee, the other above the knee, Xu said.