Posted on 05/06/2008 1:26:33 PM PDT by The_Republican
Too bad there's not an Olympic medal for getting your argument backward. If there were, the People's Republic of China might have to share the gold with those agitating for a boycott.
With fewer than 100 days to go before the opening ceremonies, Chinese officials want outsiders to stop using the Olympics to bring up what a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman calls "irrelevant political factors." By irrelevant political factors, she means China's suppression of Tibet, its weapons sales to the Sudanese government, its indifference to the God-given rights of its own citizens, etc. If people would just stop bringing these things up, the Olympics that the world will see on television would be the same fantasy that you see on those propaganda billboards featuring happy Chinese citizens appreciative of the care and concern they receive from the people's government.
Now, it is true that in the three decades since China opened its economy up to the world, life has changed in good and important ways for the Chinese people. Yet what the Chinese government does not seem to understand is that the flip side to increased trade and investment from the outside world is increased interest in, say, your policy of forced abortions for women who get pregnant without official permission.
To put it another way, by agreeing to stage the Olympics, the government has also given a world stage to anyone with a grievance. In a country whose actions have life or death consequences for people from Darfur to North Korea – and whose rule over one billion people is without the benefit of free elections – that adds up to a lot of grievances.
The government also seems not to have appreciated the potential consequences of having world leaders on hand for the opening ceremonies.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
How about it’s decision to build up it’s military despite the fact that it has no natural enemies pressing down on it’s borders? China is a pariah state. It’s almost too late for the world to come to terms with this fact, and alter it’s enablement.
The Olympics in China’s eyes is their way of making themselves look good. But with the honor its dirty laundry has more and more been exposed.
True. But with the honor comes parity as well.
China is honored as a state no different than any other respected state on the world stage.
It’s sortof like Carter meeting with the terrorists. Stature is afforded, where it shouldn’t have been.
China should have been refused the Olympics, and the grounds sited.
I think history will judge this Olympics, similar to how it has judged the Hitler Olympics, as a grotesque propaganda event.
Oh yes, there has been comparisions to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Big difference is that there is going to be 21st century hightech glare of exposure.
...And America has had a bitter taste of China’s dirty laundry exposed starting early last year with the pet food posionings scandel, the lead in the toys, ete.,.
Just imagine if you will, what China has been doing to it’s own people over the decades.
Could there be another “Jesse Robinson” to emerge to “embaress” the ChiComs just like what Jesse Robinson did to Hitler?
Yep, and we Americans learned that for ourselves last year.
Agreed...
I assume you mean Jesse Owens
Yes, thank-you for your help!
I think that the kind of Olympics that you might get might be more comparable to Mexico City 1968. Those were the “party hard” games and the “Black Power” protest games. You could see a spontaneous replay of Tienanmen type protests over Tibet, Darfur — or whathaveyou. China would be faced with a choice of allowing the demonstrations, or pulling the TV/Internet plug on the whole thing while sealing the Olympic Village & cracking down on the organizers.
I don’t think the Jesse Owens ‘36 example is good even though the Han Chinese might consider themselves racially superior to other Asians. It just wouldn’t register much outside the region — unless the Japanese or South Koreans come up really BIG — that might be embarrasing for China.
I just received this alert today:
NORTHBROOK, Ill., April 21, 2008 -- Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is notifying consumers that portable 500-watt halogen work lights manufactured by Shanghai Xiangshan Industries may pose a risk of fire and electric shock. These lights do not comply with UL requirements and are not eligible to bear the UL Mark.
http://www.ul.com/newsroom/newsrel/nr042108.html
Holding the Olympics in Beijing only empoowers the Butchers of Beijing, who have nuclear warheads pointed at our country and who dump their slave-labor products here to destroy our economy.
But evidently, neither the IOC nor the Establishment cares about that or about human rights either. As George Will once said, “they love commerce more than they loathe Communism.” Besides, they know that a Marxist socialist economy is the best way of preventing people like you and me from getting where they are.
...I was thinking more of the Americans in regards to the suprise of 36 games which was a Jesse Owens. But again it was also to show an America at that time which was still dealing bigtime with its own issues of race.
Great commetary.
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