Don't mess with China's flag.
Olympic sponsor Adidas learned that lesson when it recently placed a sports bag on the market in Hong Kong, which mixed its own logo with that of China's national flag.
The issue was first raised by the Hong Kong newspaper Mingpao, which pointed out that Adidas had violated China's flag law. The law forbids using the flag in commercial images.
China's national flag consists of a large yellow star with four smaller stars arranged alongside in an arc _ all on a red background. In the design of the sports bags, Adidas put its logo inside the large star.
Erica Kerner, the director of Adidas' Beijing Olympic program, said the bag was never marketed in mainland China. She said it was on the market for about a week in Hong Kong and then pulled. She said she did not know how many _ if any _ were sold.
«Hong Kong obviously has lots of their own rules,» Kerner said. «We knew the China flag rule but (the Adidas staff) missed it in Hong Kong. The intent was to celebrate China, not to cause any discomfort and of course not break any rules.
Hong Kong is Chinese territory, but has its own legal system, some autonomy and western-style civil liberties.
A high-profile Beijing Olympic sponsor, Adidas has reportedly paid about US$200 million (€130 million) for the rights. It has paid a similar amount for rights to the 2012 London Olympics.
COACH NELSON:@ Donnie Nelson has a second job _ assistant coach of China's Olympic basketball team.
The president of basketball operations for the Dallas Mavericks will assist head coach Jonas Kazlauskas with the Chinese national team at this summer's Olympics.
«Nelson and Jonas Kazlauskas have worked together very well before in Lithuania,» said Hu Jiashi, deputy director of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Hu said hiring a foreign assistant _ rather than a Chinese _ would have advantages.
«A foreign assistant can communicate better with the head coach,» Hu said. «During the game, a substitute or change of tactics is important, and if they speak different languages there'll be a problem.
Presumably the common language will be English. Kazlauskas' native language is Lithuanian.
Former Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris coached the Chinese Olympic team to eighth place in the Athens Olympics. Nelson served as a team consultant at the time.
NO FAVORS:@ Superstar athletes won't get special treatment when the Olympic Village opens on July 27.
«In the Olympic village, all athletes are equal,» said Yu Debin, deputy director of the Olympic Village Department for the Beijing organizing committee. «We have the same (rules) for all athletes.
A few high-profile athletes like tennis No. 1 Roger Federer have suggested they might skip the village. Federer complained about drawing too much attention from other athletes during the 2004 Olympics.
If Federer is absent, the stars of the Olympic Village will be Brazil's soccer team, which could have stars such as Kaka and Robinho. In past Olympics the Brazilians have stayed in five-star hotels. This time Brazil's soccer confederation president Ricardo Teixeira says they'll be in the village. The Brazilians have won the World Cup five times, but have yet to win Olympic gold.
«It's an Olympic team, so the players will stay at the Olympic village and where the Olympic committee assigns it to stay and will travel with a commercial airline,» Teixeira said.
OPENING CEREMONY:@ Steven Spielberg or no Steven Spielberg, top Chinese officials are pressing on with plans for the opening and closing ceremonies. Few specifics have been revealed about the pomp, and a top official speaking this week didn't add much.
Chen Weiya, deputy director of opening and closing ceremony committee, said the ceremonies would «spread the essence of Chinese culture and conception to the world.
Chen acknowledged the pressure of expectations.
«Everyone has conceived an ideal opening ceremony in their mind and the Chinese people have pinned too much hope on the galas,» he said. «The hardest thing for us is to present the fruits of Chinese and world civilization harmoniously.
Stay tuned.
RELIGION:@ Hotels in China might provide Bibles to foreign visitors during the Olympics. Liu Bainian, head of a government-authorized group that runs the Catholic Church in China, told the English-language China Daily that Beijing organizing committee «was still studying the proposal.
Religion is heavily regulated in China by the officially atheistic ruling Communist Party. Chinese officials have said that Bibles and other religious items will be welcome at the Olympics _ as long as they are for personal use.
A temporary religious venue will be set up in the Olympic Village, a 600-square-meter «religious services facility.» It will serve five major faiths: Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims.
TIDBITS:@ English soccer club Chelsea is trying to find Chinese soccer talent. The club will be part of a TV program in April called «Super Soccer Star.» The program, aired in the southern province of Guangdong, with select four finalists who will visit Chelsea's England-based academy later this year. ... The San Diego Padres are scheduled to tour the Great Wall of China before their March 15-16 exhibition games in Beijing against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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