Don't Boycott the Olympics (or Ceremony)

[ActionBuddy]

Do not boycott them... expose the Chinese to the freedoms we enjoy and they will want and demand what we have and eventually things will change there. IMHO.

 

[ActionBuddy]

The Olypmics bring in too much money for me to care about Tibet.

Aside from poor spelling, your post is sickening, but I will give you the benefit of doubt, hoping you meant it in jest.

 

[frizzle]

Nope.

 

[dong20]

Aside from poor spelling, your post is sickening, but I will give you the benefit of doubt, hoping you meant it in jest.

I doubt it.

Regardless of the fact that the 2012 games will end up costing about £10bn - latest budget is £9.35bn - which started at about £3.4bn. Over half of which is taxpayer funded.

This is against (hard to find) estimated revenues of:

• Tourism £2bn
• TV rights £2bn
• Merchandising ...£?

Very little of which will filter down to those actually footing the bill. But it will trigger regeneration and improvements in public transport and infrastructure, but wait - we're paying for those too.

It would be cheaper for the UK to 'free' Tibet. I'm not advocating it, merely comparing value for money.

 

[kalipygian]

I doubt it.

Regardless of the fact that the 2012 games will end up costing about £10bn - latest budget is £9.35bn - which started at about £3.4bn. Over half of which is taxpayer funded.

This is against (hard to find) estimated revenues of:

• Tourism £2bn
• TV rights £2bn
• Merchandising ...£?

Very little of which will filter down to those actually footing the bill. But it will trigger regeneration and improvements in public transport and infrastructure, but wait - we're paying for those too.

It would be cheaper for the UK to 'free' Tibet. I'm not advocating it, merely comparing value for money.

Britain passed up on a request for a protectorate for Tibet. When the XIII Dalai Lama was in India in 1910 he asked for a treaty identical to that which had just been negotiated with Bhutan: help in defense against external aggression, management of foreign affairs, non interference in internal affairs.(Bhutan is Tibetan in language, culture, religion and architecture) China has also had claims of feudal overlordship of Nepal, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Baltistan, areas historically all or part Tibetan.

The Chinese have been as cruel toward peoples they consider inferior, not just the Tibetans, but also the Turkestani's and Mongols, as the Japanese were in WWII. This was the case under the Manchu and the ROC as well as the PRC.

 

[titan1968]

When have the Olympics ever been apolitical? What should the New China be proud of exactly?

Having read many articles from various sources (national and international press, Amnesty International) and watched many reports on the ''People's Republic'' of China, there is very little evidence to point to any progress on the Human Rights front. What has really changed since the Tinnamen massacre of 1989?

In my opinion, it was folly to award the Olympics to China-- the international community understands this, but not the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or the PR of China.

The Olympic Torch is a symbol of freedom, friendship and unity. In what way did the actions of the government of the PR of China in Tibet reflect those values?

People around the globe feel that China exercised poor judgement when it lashed out at protestors in Tibet and feel compelled to act, hence the violent protests. I applaud the protestors who disrupted the Torch relay in London and in Paris; I hope they do the same in San Francisco and elsewhere. This situation is a big embarrassment for China and the IOC.

I vote for a total boycott of the games.

P.S.: Like President Sarkozy and other European leaders, our prime minister has said that he won't attend the opening ceremony. Who else won't attend?

Everyone uses the Olympics as a showcase. Why should China be different, but now you want to call it political. Why shouldn't China be proud of what she has achieved in the last twenty years in many areas?

Buddhists in violent protest against unconnected people carrying a symbol of unity and hope is in very poor taste and judgement IMO.

human Rights in China. The truth is that Human Rights have improved considerably in China. This is not the way to help that process. It may be a slow process, but that is the conservative Chinese way. There are many mmany more countries where change will never happen under current regimes that no one is campaigning against, whilst in our own countries our rights are actually being eroded.

Yes the Chinese are showcasing themselves to the world and their own people, but in my opinion this will actually help development and freedom.

 

[Drifterwood]

The Chinese have been as cruel toward peoples they consider inferior, not just the Tibetans, but also the Turkestani's and Mongols, as the Japanese were in WWII. This was the case under the Manchu and the ROC as well as the PRC.

Can I call you to support this Kali? It seems quite an escalation to compare with the Japanese. I am sure a lot of people would get rather upset if I likened the treatment of Native Americans to that of the Jews by the Nazis.

 

[Drifterwood]

Having read many articles from various sources (national and international press, Amnesty International) and watched many reports on the ''People's Republic'' of China, there is very little evidence to point to any progress on the Human Rights front. What has really changed since the Tinnamen massacre of 1989?

I have friends who were protesters in Tiananmen Square, they would disagree with you. I have been a member of Amnesty for 25 years and I disagree with you, and I will be reading a Chinese newspaper in a couple of days that I can guarantee you will contain articles critical of the Government.

If you want a concrete example, all Chinese workers must now have a contract of employment that gives them very real rights and minimum wages. Watch your local Dollar Store for the effects of this.

I am meeting a Tiananmen Square protester at the weekend - I will put your view to him and report back.

 

[titan1968]

They are all the same. All of them-- the victors-- believed they had the right to act the way they did and that their actions were justified. They also did their best to vilify their opponents.

Can I call you to support this Kali? It seems quite an escalation to compare with the Japanese. I am sure a lot of people would get rather upset if I likened the treatment of Native Americans to that of the Jews by the Nazis.

 

[ZOS23xy]

Didn't the Chinese discover oil in Tibet?

 

[scottish.47]

Every 4 years, the world comes together to compete based on athleticism, and not on how big one's gun is. Whatever the Chinese government wishes to do is its business. The Olympics organizing committee chose China to host the games, and I intend to watch. And I watch not because I support the Chinese, but because I support the athletes. We all get so caught up in the politics of the games, as if there is any. Why can't we get caught up in the spirit of the games with the same ferocity?

For 2 weeks, lets just be citizens of the world!!

 

[faceking]

I vote for a total boycott of the games.

P.S.: Like President Sarkozy and other European leaders, our prime minister has said that he won't attend the opening ceremony. Who else won't attend?

Lame... take it out on mostly amatuer athletes... after the fact. Where was all this during the bidding process?

 

[B_Nick4444]

If the Olympics had remained the organization it was intended to be, then the athletes should be prioritized (and, in the beginning, it was the individual athlete, as an individual, that garnered support)

Given what the Olympics have become, the athletes may no longer be prioritized.

If the Beijing Olympics allowed for the possibility of an in your face affront to the chinese (as the Berlin Olympics enabled Jesse Owens to shine in front of Hitler) would I support them ... as it is, I cannot

 

[ZOS23xy]

Well, recall the Olympics of the 30's, when it was hosted by Nazi Germany, and Jessie Owens won the Gold Medal and Herr Adolf Hitler refused to shake his hand. The grand white old party had failed to conquer in a contest.

That's what should be done here. For every loss that the Chinese have, the free world can rejoice.

 

[kalipygian]

Can I call you to support this Kali? It seems quite an escalation to compare with the Japanese. I am sure a lot of people would get rather upset if I likened the treatment of Native Americans to that of the Jews by the Nazis.

Some would get upset, it is a valid comparison, there was genocide, there were many occasions of American Indians being hunted down and exterminated, the forced expropriation was quite similar to the historic Chinese policy toward the non-Han people in Mongolia and Tibet.

The Chinese soldiers captured by the Tibetans were usually humanely treated and sent back to China. In the 1912 expulsion, they were returned to China via Calcutta. The then government of China executed the top officers when they arrived. The Tibetans captured by the Chinese were often tortured to death, one method used under the Chinese commander Chao Ehr-Feng, verified by an American missionary doctor who lived in eastern Kham for @25 years, was to place them in a large cauldron and bring it to a boil. There is a picture of a cauldron so used in the September, 1921 National Geographic, 'A cauldron which has been used by the Chinese for cooking Tibetans'.

 

[faceking]

If a particular athlete wants to not attend the Olympics, that's one thing... but these ppl have trained their whole lives in many cases.... and have to plan for this acutely, being it's every 4 years. They have nothing to do with the actions of the Chinese government.

It's selfish to take it out on those ppl...... my guess is the loons ranting about boycotting anything about the Chinese Olympics, buy hundreds of dollars/pounds/euros worth of Chinese goods everything month. Put your own actions into motion, not subject the innocent bystanding athletes.

Have you seen the joy and elation the athletes have during the opening ceremonies.... the pride they have in themselves, their country, and the grandeur of the games. So easy to sit in an armchair in Whereversville and say boycott this , boycott that.

 

[mountedarcher]

I think americans should boycott chinese imports that are made from cheap labor (almost slave labor). American men died so we can be free from that way of life. So lets be patriotic and honor those that dropped for that freedom and strip those clothes off made from china. yea baby yea...... !!

 

[Drifterwood]

In the 1912 expulsion,

I read your previous post as being modern day China.

 

[titan1968]

Well, the said article (recent) on China was published in a newsletter from Amnesty International.

I guess your friends from the Tiananmen Square uprising were lucky. They weren't jailed, reeducated or sent into exile.

It's common knowledge that the Chinese government has control over what is published in printed and unprinted media. The article can't be too critical of the government, otherwise the newspaper will be shut down or the staff will be replaced. How many Chinese newspapers reported the events of Olympia and the protests in London and Paris? If so, was the reporting accurate?

Unfortunately, I don't go to the Dollar Store, so I'll have to take your word for it.

I have friends who were protesters in Tiananmen Square, they would disagree with you. I have been a member of Amnesty for 25 years and I disagree with you, and I will be reading a Chinese newspaper in a couple of days that I can guarantee you will contain articles critical of the Government.

If you want a concrete example, all Chinese workers must now have a contract of employment that gives them very real rights and minimum wages. Watch your local Dollar Store for the effects of this.

I am meeting a Tiananmen Square protester at the weekend - I will put your view to him and report back.

 

[Drifterwood]

The point is not what happened, but whether the PRC has improved and is on a continuing path of improvement. Given my reasonable knowledge of the place, I feel it has and is. You can take that or leave it.

I am extremely suspicious of our clear propaganda against China.