The façade of Olympic progress - Just say no to China
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The façade of Olympic progress
Alonso Yánez
Issue date: 5/12/08 Section: Opinion
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Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in
effort, the educational value of good example and respect for
universal fundamental ethical principles," says the first principle in
the Olympic Charter, the set of rules adopted by the International
Olympic Committee.
Unfortunately, from the word to the deed, there is a great distance.
Everything would be different if the most elemental rights mentioned
in diverse legal systems were respected by the authorities who are
supposed to defend and/or apply those codes for the people's sake.
The recent protests in Tibet and the brutal force used by Chinese
authorities to contain them have directed the world's attention to
China and intensified boycott proposals against the Beijing 2008
Olympic Games.
Aside from the usual fanfare, the Olympics also produced an unusual
level of accessibility for international media in China. The increased
exposure has allowed the world to see the cruel repression by the
authorities and the precarious situation endured by the Chinese
people.
It is clear that the brutality displayed in Tibet is not an isolated
event.
Just as Nazi Germany used pompous ceremonies in the Berlin 1936
Olympics to brag about their society, the Chinese government embarked
in costly projects designed to develop the infrastructure necessary to
host an event of such magnitude and show the grandeur of the Chinese
communist regime.
Chinese developers hired to carry out the projects for the Olympics
have displaced thousands of people and offered them peanuts for their
property. This produced a domino effect of protests, more violence and
clandestine jails, where people are detained indefinitely without a
judicial process. It's unknown how many Guantanamos exist in China.
If the bifocal philosophy of "if you're not with me, you're against
me," implemented after 9/11, was applied reversely, how would we look
before the Chinese families who lost their home because of a stadium
or a freeway that in no way will benefit their community?
Similarly, if a country prides itself on taking down dictators because
of human rights violations, why support the organization of the
Beijing 2008 Olympics? Just as the Moscow 1980 Olympics were boycotted
because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Beijing 2008 should be
boycotted for China's awful human rights violations record.
While the abuse and repression suffered by Cubans are used as reasons
to maintain an embargo against the island, these requisites are
conveniently forgotten when it's time to conduct business with China.
Leaders who say they are promoting democracy and peace don't even
bother China or Saudi Arabia.
Perhaps the Cuban red government is more dangerous, or less important
financially, than the Chinese red government. Some are rewarded with
the Olympics and others are rewarded with an embargo that has resulted
in the separation of many families, more human rights violations and
poverty.
But who has the moral authority to judge if the American government
details people without an explanation in Guantanamo, the Chinese
government keeps clandestine jails to silence troublemakers and the
Cuban government makes dissenters disappear? If cruel dictatorial
regimes were taken down around the world, very few leaders would stay
in power. The majority ignored international and domestic laws and
tortured whomever they pleased.
This smorgasbord of hypocrisy and political inconsistency not only
sheds lights on the existing double standards, which accentuate the
problem of extremism, but also invites us to think about what we
support, be it a government, an ideology or the organization of an
event.
Despite this, the Beijing 2008 Olympics will occur as planned. The
world will be hypnotized by shiny medals and most of the media will
praise the meticulous organization, overlooking thousands of deaths
and displaced people. The lives of poor people are not as important as
a good show for our polarized world.
But the show doesn't have to go on and if it does, we can show our
discontent, just as many Venezuelans did last year during the
continent's most important soccer competition. In numerous matches of
the Copa América Venezuela 2007, an event used by the populist and
bipolar Hugo Chávez to boast about his system, chants of "The
dictatorship will fall!" reverberated through stadiums and exposed the
frustration of the Venezuelan people.
The Latin proverb, "Vox populi, vox dei" (The voice of the people is
the voice of God), is tangible in very few, but significant, times in
our lives. I have no doubt many Chinese citizens will manifest their
frustration during the Olympics and when that happens I will get the
goose bumps again, as I did during the Copa América 2007.
I support the boycott, in the name of those who are afraid to speak
up, lost a loved one or were displaced, because no spectacle, sport or
ideology justify the atrocities that have been committed.
fyf...@gmail.com
> http://tinyurl.com/5r9tnb
>
> The façade of Olympic progress
> Alonso Yánez
>
> Issue date: 5/12/08 Section: Opinion
> PrintEmail Article Tools
> Page 1 of 2 next >
> Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in
> effort, the educational value of good example and respect for
> universal fundamental ethical principles," says the first principle in
> the Olympic Charter, the set of rules adopted by the International
> Olympic Committee.
>
> Unfortunately, from the word to the deed, there is a great distance.
> Everything would be different if the most elemental rights mentioned
> in diverse legal systems were respected by the authorities who are
> supposed to defend and/or apply those codes for the people's sake.
>
> The recent protests in Tibet and the brutal force used by Chinese
> authorities to contain them
Photos don't lie. And photos show only the brutal use of force by the
thugs (or you call the freedom fighters) against innocent people and
their properties. Even the police sent to deal with the situation is
pulverized by stones thrown at them.
Do you have photos to show that the authority cracked down on the
'peaceful' monks? There were so many tourists in Lhasa on Mar 14.
How come there is not a single photo taken privately to show this is
true.
You have been posting the articles written by a bunch of home
economics majors.
YaluRiverRosie
SO FEARFUL are the Chinese communists that visiting athletes and
reporters will exchange complaints about the fake sense of order and
Potemkin Village aura surrounding the polluted Olympic Village that
the Chinks plan to post two plain clothes police officers at every
door in the housing, recreation, and restaurant areas of the complex.
Moreover, each dormitory and eating place will be bugged for voice
reception and amplification to capture any discussions of Chinese
government, culture, politics, trade, "news," Internet, and military
issues.
"Violators" will be ushered away from the place of "misunderstanding"
and taken to the Olympic Administraton Office for "debriefing."
Anything to make visitors feel relaxed and comfy.
------------------------------
"Olympic Gag Order"
"Why should China's repression of free speech be imposed on athletes
from the rest of the world?"
Editorial
Sunday, May 11, 2008; B06
WHEN BEIJING was bidding to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, part of its
pitch was that the games would help promote human rights in China, and
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) bought it. But with the Aug.
8 opening ceremonies less than three months away, it looks as if the
reverse is the case -- that China's repressive norms are affecting the
rest of the world.
Consider a letter the IOC recently sent to individual countries'
Olympic committees, clarifying its policy on political expression --
even nonverbal expression -- by athletes anywhere within Olympic
venues. Rule 51.3 of the Olympic charter, the letter noted, provides
that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial
propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."
And, according to the letter, the text of which was first reported by
the Associated Press, that ban applies very broadly indeed,
encompassing "conduct of participants at all sites, areas and venues,"
which includes "all actions, reactions, attitudes or manifestations of
any kind by a person or group of persons, including but not limited to
their look, external appearance, clothing, gestures, and written or
oral statements."
The IOC's list of thought crimes discourages campaigns such as the
Color Orange, which is urging athletes to wear orange as a protest of
Chinese repression. It appears to rule out a move among French
athletes to wear a badge marked with the mild slogan "For a Better
World." It could even be construed to permit the political scrutiny of
hand signals and "attitudes." Cowardly as it is, this Orwellian edict
is depressingly consistent with previous British and New Zealander gag
orders -- from which those Olympic committees later retreated under
pressure. The United States must stick to its position that athletes,
no less than other citizens, are free to express themselves peacefully
in Beijing or anywhere else.
The IOC claims that it is merely upholding the nonpolitical tradition
of the Olympics. To be sure, not every international gathering has to
be a summit. There is a role for meetings devoted to goals such as the
one declared in the Olympic Charter: "to place sport at the service of
the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful
society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." But even
that gauzy objective is, actually, political -- it takes negotiation
to establish peace, and it takes justice, freedom and human rights to
secure human dignity.
No worthy public goal can be pursued without a measure of controversy,
debate and, yes, conflict. Let the struggles among and within nations
be peaceful. But don't pretend they don't exist -- much less try to
stamp them out for the sake of a commercialized extravaganza. In
helping China do just that, the Olympic "movement" risks sacrificing
values far more important than athletic competition.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002265.html
Jim Walsh
(in article
<b0fff08a-bf5e-4829...@k10g2000prm.googlegroups.com>):
> Do you have photos to show that the authority cracked down on the 'peaceful'
> monks?
The CCP provided clear, undisputed evidence of the persecution of monks when
it announced new "political re-education campaigns" for monks in Tibet.
You can not deny that the CCP did that, can you?
--
Love, Jim
(I often delete parts of the previous post and I often remove excessive
crossposts.)
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