BEIJING: China’s communist rulers have designated three Beijing parks where demonstrators can legally stage protests during the Olympic Games, a top security official said Wednesday.

However spontaneous demonstrations will not be allowed, with people having to gain permission in advance for their protests to ensure they remain in line with Chinese law, Beijing Olympic security director Liu Shaowu said.

“We have made plans to have designated places for protesters to express their opinions and they will be in parks,” Liu told a press conference.

“They are all close to the city proper and to the Olympic venues,” he said.

The three locations are Zizhuyuan Park in the northwest of the city, Ritan Park in the east and Shijie Park in the southwest.

Wu was hazy about how groups would go about getting approval to stage a protest in Beijing during the Games, saying only that a specific government group would be set up to handle individual applications.

“How to get approval for protests and what requirements are needed for people to participate in the protests will be explained to every applicant in the process of application,” he said.

Chinese law normally stipulates that demonstrators wanting to stage a protest must apply for permission at least five days in advance, detail the nature of the protest and the number of people expected to take part.

Liu also declined to answer whether Chinese protesters would be allowed to join foreigners in the parks and whether there would be any restrictions on what they could protest about.

At a previous news conference in November, Liu said that protests over sensitive issues such as Tibet would be banned during the Games.

Without saying so explicitly, Liu indicated that demonstrations outside the designated park areas would not be permitted.

“Normally we will ask people to go to the approved places for their demonstrations,” he said.

Activists at home and abroad have already sought to use the Olympics to pressure China over a range of controversial issues, such as its human rights record, rule of Tibet and alliance with the Sudanese government.

Critics have accused the government of going to extraordinary measures to silence dissent ahead of the Games, which begin on August 8, such as detaining or intimidating domestic dissidents.