China's visa squeeze is very real, according to reports we've been getting from various corners of the Beijing expat community. My colleague Mary Hennock's recent visit to Beijing's visa bureau suggests the pre-Games clean-up includes a shake-up inside the police bureaucracy:

The Chinese police have a new computer network that's got a few teething problems. You've probably been through similar misery; every IT upgrade risks a few weeks of lost data and puzzling glitches. My recent visit to Beijing's main visa office suggests its personnel are experiencing just this type of problem.

Having recently joined Newsweek's Beijing bureau, I went there to collect the precious J visa that allows foreigners to work as journalists. I took with me a carefully-assembled packet of documents - the Foreign Ministry's OK, a health certificate (stating I'm not suffering psychosis, syphilis or the plague) and my current residence permit.

As Newsweek International reported earlier this month, ["Beijing's Visa Crackdown" Feb 18], the police have toughened up on lax enforcement of China's visa rules as part of a wide-ranging pre-Olympic house-cleaning. They've cracked down on an army of shady visa agents who rely on corrupt deals with local police to procure visas for money. Strictly-speaking these visas are illegal, but they have been widely tolerated.

Name: Wang Liqin (王励勤)
Age: 29 (dob: June 18, 1978)
Hometown: Shanghai
Previous Olympic Medals Won: Gold in Men's Table Tennis Doubles at Sydney 2000, Bronze in Men's Table Tennis Singles at Athens 2004

It’s no secret that China is home to outstanding table tennis players, and Wang Liqin is no exception. The Olympic gold medalist has twice won the world championship, first in 2003 and then again in 2005, aided by his impeccable shakehand (as opposed to penhold) technique and imposing size. At just over 6ft tall, with exceptionally long arms, Wang is appreciably larger than his competitors in a sport otherwise dominated by the diminutive.

He’s had a paddle in his hand since he was six, and the Chinese national team snapped him up at the tender age of 15. Wang has more than a decade’s worth of experience playing in the most competitive table tennis environment in the world. Which means he’s no joke. Early in his career, Wang was touted as a new kind of table tennis player by coaches and fans. His superior size and powerful strokes seemed to be the qualities of a player who could change ping-pong in the same way Tiger Woods has changed golf.

Yet individual success at the Olympics has eluded Wang. Sure, he shone at Sydney when competing alongside his teammate, Yan Sen, in the Men’s Doubles finals (against two of his other teammates, Kong Linghui and Liu Guoliang; just to give you some idea of how hardcore the Chinese table tennis team is).

But his bronze at Athens in singles competition was considered a disappointment in light of his enviable talent and wealth of experience. Fans worry that he lacks the necessary mental stamina to compete on the international stage. When asked after Athens by a reporter from China’s official Xinhua News Agency what he needed the most to win, Wang immediately replied, “Ferocity. At critical points, I lack ferocity.” Can a hometown crowd drive Wang to be more aggressive and ascend to what many consider his rightful place in China’s pantheon of ping-pong stars?