The recent protests along the route of the Olympic flame have involved Tibetans, citizens of the respective countries, local and national officials, and even the torch-bearers themselves. In London, Konnie Huq both carried the flame and voiced her opposition to Chinese policy; San Francisco is scheduled to receive the torch on April 9, but in possibly the only backbone-requiring task committed in decades, the Board of Supervisors has expressed their disdain for China’s disgraceful human rights record. These disruptions will almost certainly continue and may increase, and will likely occlude the importance of the Olympics as a sporting event. Chinese officials have repeatedly expressed that the Olympics are an athletic event for international peace as an excuse for why Tibet should not be an issue.
What has not been discussed is that the Chinese government itself is responsible for tainting the Olympics - not Tibet. Communist Party officials have committed egregious acts both against their own people, and against people in areas that they consider their own. Holding an international sporting event in such a place would be somewhat akin to having daycare in a whorehouse. Since the Maoists took over, official Chinese government policy has completely gone against the spirit of the Olympics and anything resembling a free society.
Capitalism has unfortunately not brought China any closer to democracy, although it has helped to bring about a more slick image. China has worked carefully for the last decade to sculpt an international image as a benign giant, becoming a significant trading partner in many areas and obtaining leadership roles in intergovernmental organizations. Hopefully the 2008 Summer Olympics will serve as a wakeup call to the world to see the pig behind the lipstick.
Related links:
FreeTibet
Tibet Justice Center
Xinhua
April 8th, 2008 at 2:49 am
It’s called Manifest Destiny
July 31st, 2008 at 7:54 pm
stephen covington, you claim, “since the maoists took over, official Chinese government policy has completely gone against the spirit of the Olympics and anything resembling a free society.”, yet it was the united states supported KUOMINGDANG, which was corrupt, tortured prisoners, blocked democracy, silenced oppresion, and had a secret police which had ruled china before the “maoists” so watch your mouth before any more shit comes out of it.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Actually, I stand by my original statement. Chinese government policy has absolutely gone against the spirit of freedom and that of the Olympics. Even now, we can see that with regards to their restrictions on press freedom at the actual event. Are they going to line those Western journalists up against a wall and shoot them in the head? Probably not, because the “People’s” Republic seems to mostly like to pick on its own people.
And as for the US position on Taiwan, it’s no secret that the Taiwanese have employed similarly brutal methods on their own. Maybe that will be a good subject for a future post.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Americans, both liberal and conservative, should get a quick lesson in chinese and american history before writing or talking about this subject. Amanpour and Convington have written numerous errors on the history. The one above is just one of them by Covington any historian will tell you that the Nationalists could not beat the Communists, becuase of the extent of corruption within their ranks. Amanpour claims that Tibet became a part of China after a 1950 invasion. Tibet has been a part of China since the Qing dynasty, which ended in 1911, when Sun Yat-sen established Republic of China. When talking about the corruption of the Chinese government, their secret police, or attempted cover ups, we need not look past our own government. Tibet’s desire for independence or autonomy should be dealt with the Chinese government, not with the Dalai Lama. Also, several unbiased sources point to unperceived notion that most tibetans do not want independence. Democracy in Tibet never existed. Try serfdom, or some might argue feudalism, instead.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I have not mentioned anything about the history in the above story; therefore, I am not in error.
The need for the Chinese military to stop bashing up Tibetan civilians is not tied to their authority over the area. The United States has authority over Florida, but it would be an outrage for the National Guard to go around beating people up over relatively minor issues. Mere authority is not sufficient reason for pointless abuse.
As for Tibetan independence, they declared that in 1913, disavowed any previous authority of China over the area, and signed a treaty with Mongolia. Since then, China has dishonored its agreement that Tibet would even be “largely autonomous”.