A couple of weeks ago, it was in the news that China celebrated the one year countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympics. I looked at my wife and told her: “I can’t wait!” Then I caught myself.
Do I really want to root for the USA team as they compete in a country where reports and allegations of human rights violations have occurred? I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, I want to root for my country, but not at the expense of rooting for the Olympics in a country with a track record of oppressing human rights.
Just over the past several decades, China has done the following:
- Enacted religious repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
- Demolished buildings or private dwellings owned by people who were living in the areas where the government wanted to build public structures.
- Secretly hid behind “closed doors” people suffering from HIV/AIDS.
- Unlawfully occupied Tibet since 1950.
- Negligence of orphans in state orphanages.
- Repression of democracy movements (Tiananmen Square).
- Refused to publicize how many executions the government does every year. (Data speculates nearly 10,000 people are executed for minor crimes)
This doesn’t include what China has done over the recent years as they prepare for the Olympics. Amnesty International reports that in its efforts to “clean up,” China has actually gotten worse.
Beijing police have used China’s hosting of the Games as a pretext to extend abusive detention practices such as RTL and ‘Enforced Drug Rehabilitation’, in the name of ‘cleaning up’ the city.
“Efforts to ‘clean up’ the city ahead of the Games through extending detention without trial raise serious questions about the commitment Chinese officials have made to improve their human rights record at the awarding of the Games to China,” said Catherine Baber, Head of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Amnesty International.
The International Olympic Committee had hoped that by awarding the Games to China, China would step up their efforts to improve human rights. Jacques Rogge, the IOC chairman, said in an interview in 2002 that “We [the IOC] are convinced that the Olympic Games will improve human rights in China.”
Amnesty International has asked China to remove the death penalty, make sure all forms of detention are in accordance to international human rights laws and standards, allow for human rights defenders to continue their peaceful activities, and end unwarranted censorship of the Internet. (PDF media kit can be viewed here.)
Not to go off tangent too much here, but while we’re on the topic of China and their human rights violations, we need to take a good look at our own. We have:
- denied rights to detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
- ignored the Tutsis in the Rwanda genocide in 1994.
- not pushed for other countries to enforce an embargo of Sudan due to the Darfur genocide.
Another even more shocking thing is that many people don’t know that eugenics laws in place in the 1920’s prohibiting interracial marriage became models for the policies of the Third Reich and Germany’s “racial hygienists.”
So, where’s the line here? Where do I, as a citizen and a fan of sporting events, find a common ground in supporting my country during the Olympics at a place known for its human rights violations when we have our own?
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18 Comments
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I am not going to watch it and send a message to advertisers at the same time.
How can you be that stupid? Don’t forget that USA took advantage of many other countries so their hosting and/or competing in Olympic games doesn’t make them any better. USA allowed many jobs, especially those unskilled, to be lost overseas. You gained a slot on my all-Time Apologists List.
Hmm…Let’s see. Torture, Secret Prisons, Abu Ghraib, Iraq, Guantanamo, and those are just the most recent and well known offenses. Until the USA cleans up it’s own act, we have no business complaining about other countries. Of course, as long as we think that “supporting our country” consists of watching sports and shopping, there isn’t much hope for change.
This is correct. We don’t have the right to complain of human rights abuses by other countries given that Gitmo exists and the prisoners are possibly subject to extreme physical pressure, AKA torture. Heckuva job, Bush!
Chris - you forgot a blatant human right violation that China is committing: the right to breathe fresh air…not to mention all those endangered species those a**holes are eating for “magic potents and virility”… Instead of learning from mistakes made by western countries, and investing in innovative solutions such as wind and solar power (plenty of winds in the deserts of western China….) not to mention others, they build on average 2 coal-burning plants a WEEK. If they truly want to “clean up” their country, they have an immense task to do.
You need to consider that countries need to take their own paths when it comes to the environment. Their own people will have to protest the conditions and suffering and get the govt to change their ways. We were like that at one time polluting the skies with heavy metals and such. We continue to change and improve.
I think the better thing to do would to stop outsourcing so many jobs (esp. manufacturing) to a country that has poor human rights and environmental performance records. If sanctions are placed on China by other countries, then that would have more impact than their own people protesting (and within that thread, look what they do to their own protesters - see Tiananmen and internet/press censoring)
That’ll have to be done collectively by the consumers on not buy “Made in China” products. The outsourcing won’t stop unless we get to the point of going to war with China. Economic sanctions will not work since everybody wants to do business with China. Meanwhile, know what you are buying and look for that label.
I agree….problem is that nearly everything is now made in China…but now with all the buzz going on with lead in toys, etc, its brought a bit more awareness to the public. Unfortunately, a large number of Americans are ignorant Wal-Mart shoppers…
Florida City Tries to Ban Chinese Products.
“Palm Bay, Fla., is considering voting on whether to ban the purchase of products made in China. If it passes, this central Florida town of 107,000 would be the first in the nation to enforce a ban on goods from one particular country, according to industry watchers.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Business.....amp;page=1
It can be done.
At a local Walmart store about few miles from my place, I observed what kind of American shoppers are they when they’re shopping there, the majority consists of:
African-Americans.
Somalian and Ethopian refugees (Muslim and non-Muslim).
Hispanic-speaking legal and illegal immigrants.
College-age kids (mostly white).
Asian and Indian immigrants.
The smallest minority of shoppers? Mostly white, middle class to lower-class range. I don’t shop that Walmart as often as I used to.
So, Ehh…. you’re professing ignorance about American shoppers? You don’t have a clue. Most of the products from Walmart are made in either Central America or southeast Asia, some are from China but you would have to look at certain labels in the products you’re picking out.
Did you know that Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, pushed hard for expanding Walmart stores in China before his death? His successor, Lee Scott, have made that a reality already and now there are 184 Walmarts in China and more to come as well. Now, there are ignorant Chinese shoppers. ;)
That may be one GOOD thing since communism and capitalism cannot co-exist together for very long. More and more people will want things, including greater freedom.
When American athletes participate and compete in the Olympics events, they do not represent the United States government, they represent the American people in general. In the last Summer Olympics, American athletes let others know of that fact. It would be a mistake not to show support for the American athletes in the Olympics for representing the American people, not the government. Some other countries are much more controlling of their athletes politically when representing their countries in the Olympics at their governments’ discretions.
Which is worse? American people in general or the U.S. government run by American people?
I would rather have American people running the US government than have foreign people running the toothless, gutless, totally corrupted United Nations governing the world.
Aye! I agree. We don’t need a world body running our show.
What about the 1980 Olympics??? That turned to be a farce because so many countries pulled out in protest of the Soviets’ invasion of Afghanistan. Would be nice if that happened in the 2008 Olympics, but with the commercialization of the Games, that is likely not to happen again.
The Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing kinda resembles the Nazi Germany’s Summer Olympics 1932 to re-finesse their own country’s image.
In the end, the Chinese government will be totally exposed for who and what they are all about. How sad for the Chinese government apply the emminent domain tactics to demolish the century-old family homes in name of modern progress to impress the visitors for the Summer Olympics 2008!
Hell with China! The Chinese Communist Party refused to acknowledge their own responsiblity for not regulating the manfacturated products effectively. They resorted to the use of fear tactics bashing the West and accused us trying to downsize their economic power.
I personally never trust China at all. Nothing to do with the xenophobia or prejudices toward the Chinese people.
Robert L. Mason (RLM)