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Freedom had no sporting chance at Olympics

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Wednesday, Aug 27, 2008 - 12:21:14 am CDT

The Chinese government must be congratulating itself. It dazzled the world with the 2008 Beijing Olympics without following through on its promises to expand political freedom.

Illustrative of the political games played by Chinese was the case of the three areas set aside in Beijing parks as protest zones before the start of Olympics.

Seventy-seven applications from 149 people were received.

No protests were approved.

In fact, four Chinese people were detained just for applying. Two women, aged 77 and 79, were sentenced to a year in labor camp, the New York Times reported.

The Olympic Games as seen on television sets around the world were a glittering spectacle dominated by the Chinese athletes who won 51 gold medals, the most of any country. (Unlike the United States, most countries rank countries solely by gold medals.)

The “Bird’s Nest” stadium for track and field and the “Water Cube” for swimming events were triumphs of imaginative architecture.

Opening and closing ceremonies were colorful, fast-paced pageants that were astounding in the precision of their choreography. Tellingly, the director of the show, Zhan Yimou, said, “I don’t think any other country in the world, apart from North Korea, could get such a quality of performance from its actors.”

In other words, only an even more repressive country could have equaled the achievement.

That’s exactly the sort of sentiment that worries human rights advocates. “Will anyone wonder, after the games are over, why the Chinese government remains intransigent about human rights?” Sophie Richards of Human Rights Watch asked rhetorically.

China’s rulers are intent on proving that political autocracy can be combined with a free-market economy.

The Olympic Games reinforced the global impression that China’s dictatorial leaders are succeeding impressively in the attempt. The Games also were a device for boosting Chinese national pride and strengthening the hand of China’s leaders.

In charge of the Games was Vice President Xi Jinping, viewed by many as a possible successor to President Hu Jintao. His resume was bolstered as the Olympics progressed smoothly and stunningly.

The thousands of athletes that gathered in China for the Olympic Games are now returning to their homes around the globe.

But the hard-liners in the Chinese government who organized the games will remain, their hold on power tighter than ever.


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mikey wrote on August 27, 2008 1:51 am:
" the bush administration has for eight years limited protesters of republican values and of the bush administration to keeping protesters in restricted areas, sometimes caged areas far removed from any public viewing. how is this violation of freedom of speach and public assembly by the bush administration any different from what the china government has done "

 Zoomie wrote on August 27, 2008 7:14 am:
" Just as Hitler got a boost from the Olympics of 1936, so too has China received a boost from the 2008 Olympics. The IOC had promised they would ensure China didn't use the Olympics to crack down on protesters excessively, but once they were underway, they remained silent as China cracked down TOTALLY! When Human Rights Watch asked them to intercede, the IOC just ignored them. HRW then asked the 12 largest corporate sponsors to speak up (all American companies, FYI). Their reply was that they weren't in the business of protecting the rights of people. So let's be clear - corporate interests are NOT the interests of free people anywhere. We should not be elevating corporate rights or interests to the level of people's rights (dispite doing exactly that here in the US), and this Olympics should be remembered not for Phelps' record medals, but for how US corporations made crystal clear their total uninterest in human rights or freedoms (indeed, corporations are generally more supportive of suppressing the rights and freedoms of people, even in the US). "

 Darwin wrote on August 27, 2008 8:13 am:
" I believe that an equally scathing article could be written about the human rights violations of the USA. The selective abandonment of the Bill of Rights. The imprisonment and torture of suspected 'terrorists' without charges or trial. The abuse of prisoners by US forces. The spiriting away of US citizens, by their own government, to other countries where they are tortured for information.

I think maybe we need to worry about cleaning up our own country before we go pointing fingers at another. We have problems here. We also have freedoms. We have good and bad aspects to our society. So does China. So does North Korea.

It is unfair to single out the bad aspects, and ignore the good. Just as it would be unfair to characterize the US based soley on the atrocities our government has committed. Remember, we are still the only country in the world to use nucler weapons in war. And we dropped them on populated cities, not military installations. Our hands are not free of the stain of innocent blood. "

 Zang wrote on August 27, 2008 8:39 am:
" I'm not sure that I'm totally impresssed by a countries gold medal count when they -
a). Have over 1 billion people glean athletes from. Statistically, that should produce about 4 times more athletes than the US

b.) Have an authoritarian government that can spend as much money as it wants on any project that it chooses.

c). Does, in fact, spend those billions of dollars to achieve the specific task of winning medals

d). Allows, coerces or forces children to do their bidding in the quest for medals (i.e. "womens" gymnastics). One of the girls received a house from the government to live in. She has seen it once in two years and her otherwise poor family lives there. No pressure kid.

I would suggest that the US not get too caught up in the medal race. China has a huge inferiority complex on the world stage, and trying to compete on their level makes us the global equivilant of "keeping up the Jonses". I'm jsut not sure it's worth it.

As far as Human rights, their culture doesn't seem to put much value on the rights of the individual, so change will be very slow, if at all. It's not surprising that the sponsor companies and the IOC don't put much into it, most citizens don't either. "

 To Darwin wrote on August 27, 2008 9:31 am:
" Try saying what you just did over in China, about China. Hope you like labor camps. "

 THE OTHER JR wrote on August 27, 2008 11:02 am:
" It's nice to be able to point fingers at another regime -- in this case, China -- to get the focus off of our own regime here in the U.S. Don't get me wrong, I believe the Chinese government has more than earned all the criticism and ridicule heaped upon them. But criticism and ridicule is as far as it goes. Why? Because their money is evidently green enough for us. Especially when it's time for our own regime to fund it's "economic stimulus" hush-money package or to buy oil from the Saudis, it's necessary to look past the repressive Chinese government when asking for a loan. "

 Tzi wrote on August 27, 2008 11:05 am:
" China is a tyrannical Oligarchy at best. There is no freedom over there at all. This is what tyrannical oligarchies do.

And comparing the US (under any administration) to China is insane and intellectually bankrupt. "

 Darwin wrote on August 27, 2008 3:04 pm:
" Pointing fingers and belittling others is a sad and intellectually bankrupt way to make yourself feel better. Our pointing out the flaws and horrors of another country does not make our flaws and horrors any better. Face it, we have flaws. So does China. So does Russia. So does Greenland, and Australia, and France. So would the Moon if anyone were there.

Bashing another country doesnt make ours better. It makes us look like petulant children in a school yard shoving match. Instead of sitting back and basking in the glow of our superiority, we could try helping people. Not forcing our will on others disguised as help, but actual helpful help.
Pointing out a homeless man's flaws wont help him. A sandwitch and a safe place to sleep will. "

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