China and the Olympics

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ALittleMoreToTheLeft		#41	[-]
Posts: 19695 (05/10/08 8:40 PM) Delightfully Diabolical Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Interesting question. I would have to include NBC in that complicity statement though. Look at the concessions they (and others) have made to televise the Olympic games. Isn't silence a form of complicity? Couldn't it be said that in this ever global environment trade and human rights must go hand in hand? Don't corporations such as Coca-Cola have an obligation to uphold Human Rights? It looks to me after the boycott over Coca-Cola's business ventures in S America during apartheid they would have thought twice about remaining silent. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." (MLK, Jr.)
Magistra1		#42	[-]
Posts: 2553 (06/14/08 8:58 AM) Anglophile Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Did anyone else catch the NPR report, last week drawing parallels between the US decision to compete in the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany and today's question regarding our attendance at the Bejing ones? Fascinating...the careful couching of language justifying our participation, and the apparent vindication of the decision by the multiple victories of black Americans. But essentially the decision in both was/is the same-does our participation lend legitimacy (and by extension approval) to a regime that is the antithesis of our own? And manga, the exact same issue that you raised-athletics being above politics-was also raised in 1936.
ALittleMoreToTheLeft		#43	[-]
Posts: 21108 (06/22/08 10:23 PM) Delightfully Diabolical Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Independent.co.uk Resistance snuffed out as Olympic torch tours Tibet By Clifford Coonan in Beijing Monday, 23 June 2008 China paraded the Olympic torch through the streets of Lhasa at the weekend in a blaze of red flags, eager to present a picture of national unity and domestic harmony just three months after the Tibetan provincial capital was rocked by anti-Chinese riots. With the Olympic Games to begin in Beijing on 8 August, senior Chinese Communist Party officials in charge of the restive province used the opportunity of the torch relay to denounce the Dalai Lama and underline China's tight grip on the Himalayan region. "Tibet's sky will never change and the red flag with five stars will forever flutter high above it," said Zhang Qingli, the hardliner who heads Tibet's Communist Party. "It is certain we will be able to totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai Lama's clique." Mr Zhang was speaking at a ceremony to mark the end of the two-hour torch procession through Lhasa, which ended under tight security just below the Potala Palace, the Dalai Lama's former home and a key symbol of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's religious influence in Tibet. A handpicked crowd of onlookers watched the Olympic flame pass through the streets of Lhasa, and groups of Tibetan and ethnic Han Chinese students waved Olympic banners, the Chinese national flag, and the hammer and sickle banner of the Communist Party. A tightly controlled group of foreign media representatives was allowed watch the relay, which was dogged by protests during its route through London, Paris and other Western cities. Lhasa was locked down and shops were closed as the authorities sought to avoid any repetition. Police and soldiers kept a close watch on the groups of residents chosen to cheer the torch. Chinese media said the torch passed through Lhasa "in a joyful and peaceful atmosphere". It now heads to the neighbouring province of Qinghai, home to many ethnic Tibetans. There has been a huge outpouring of sympathy for China in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake, which left 80,000 dead or missing, and the relatively open way in which China responded to the tragedy. But the torch relay, particularly the way it has been run through Tibet, is a reminder of some of the knotty international issues that arose from China's crackdown on monks and other anti-Chinese demonstrators during the March protests. The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and is based in Dharamsala in northern India, fled Lhasa in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, nine years after Communist troops entered the remote, mountainous region. Beijing accuses the exiled leader of inciting the Lhasa protests and riots that spread to other Tibetan areas in Sichuan and Gansu provinces. The government says the Dalai Lama wants to undermine the Beijing Olympics, a charge he denies. Since the protests, his envoys have held talks with Beijing's representatives about finding a solution. Following the flame 24 March, Olympia Torch is lit in Greece, but event disrupted by protesters. 6 April, London First major disruption as 37 are arrested and demonstrator tries to grab torch from the TV presenter Konnie Huq. 7 April, Paris Many demonstrators turn up to planned protests and route has to be cut short. 17 April, Delhi Route scaled back amid security concerns. More than 100 demonstrators held by thousands of police and soldiers who line the route. 24 April, Canberra Protesters attend the event, although tight security prevents any major incidents. Part of the route is sealed off with steel fences. 26 April, Nagano Two protesters try to grab the torch and a third throws eggs at the flame. 27 April, Seoul Pro and anti-China demonstrators clash in South Korea despite 8,000 security officers being posted along the torch route. 29 April, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam The relay through the last city before China is peaceful and only a handful of activists are arrested. There is heavy security. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." (MLK, Jr.)
ALittleMoreToTheLeft		#44	[-]
Posts: 21542 (07/11/08 9:23 AM) Delightfully Diabolical Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Activists Targeted Ahead Of China Olympics by The Associated Press Posted: July 11, 2008 - 8:00 am ET (Beijing) Lu Jun, a campaigner for the rights of millions of Chinese with hepatitis B, seems an unlikely threat to the Beijing Olympics. But the popular Web site he runs was blocked in May. This month, police detained him for four hours when he returned to China from a hepatitis conference in Los Angeles. They wanted to know what he intended to do with a large red banner he was carrying that urged the government to provide support to people with hepatitis B. "Everyone believes it's because of the Olympics," Lu said. As Beijing enters the final stretch before the August 8-24 Olympics, the government is trying to shut out anyone it believes might mar an event meant to showcase China as a modern nation. AIDS activists have been followed by police and beggars rounded up. This week, petitioners in from the provinces to request the government's intervention in local squabbles were being rounded up by police, plainclothes officers or hired thugs, who sometimes packed them into waiting vans to be sent back home. "Now I can't stay in hotels. I have to live on the streets because if I ever register my name the police will kick me out," said Wang Lijun, 37, nervously clutching copies of his complaint letters amid 40 or so petitioners Wednesday. Wang has traveled countless times to Beijing, trying to recoup unpaid pension benefits for his father, a World War II and Korean War veteran later labeled a political criminal. But in recent months, Wang said, officials in his home in barren Shanxi province and in Beijing have twice told him not to travel to the capital because of the Olympics. Beijing began tightening its already strong squeeze on political activists more than a year ago, and since then has targeted others regarded as potential troublemakers. In January, Beijing Communist Party Secretary Liu Qi, who also heads the Olympic organizing committee, was quoted in state media as saying beggars and vagrants would be cleared away for the games. Sporadic violence involving Muslim separatists in China's far west and a widespread uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule in early March have heightened Beijing's fears of disruptions. But targeting Chinese who have never openly challenged the party underscores the lengths the government is going to make sure no protests disrupt an Olympics it hopes will boost its domestic and international legitimacy. Lu, the hepatitis B activist, has campaigned for awareness about the disease, which infects the liver and is endemic in China, with an estimated 120 million sufferers. They often face discrimination and are sometimes denied jobs, even though it cannot be transmitted by casual contact. His Web site has become a lively forum attracting 300,000 members and often airing critical statements. "This Web site deals with lots of discrimination and people criticize the government. These are negative things and they don't want to lose face during the Olympics," said Lu. The growing police pressure on some activists is driving some to leave Beijing during the games, while others have been explicitly told to do so. "Many people are keeping their heads down," said Sara Davis, executive director of Asia Catalyst, a New York-based group that works with activists in Asia on human rights, the environment and social justice. Wan Yanhai, an outspoken, pioneering AIDS activist, plans to leave Beijing in August. He said authorities have put dozens of AIDS activists under house arrest or surveillance. Since late May, he has been repeatedly followed by police cars, sometimes 24 hours a day. "This year people have already become very careful and not many people are organizing large activities," he said. Two Web sites for people with AIDS were temporarily shut down in March and electronic bulletin boards for sites dealing with HIV and AIDS have also been closed down, activists said. This past week, Dechen Pemba, an ethnic Tibetan who holds a British passport, said she was detained by police as she was leaving her Beijing apartment. They searched her apartment, then took her to the airport in a convoy of three black cars and put her on a flight to London. Pemba had a valid Chinese work visa, but she said police told her she had broken the laws of the country, though they did not specify which ones. Pemba is a friend of many Tibetans in Beijing, including Woeser, an author who like many Tibetans goes by one name. She has written critically of China's rule in Tibet and was recently under police surveillance. Pemba once worked for the lobbying group International Campaign for Tibet in Berlin, but said she had stayed away from political activities in China. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday that Pemba was involved in separatist activities and was a part of the Tibetan Youth Congress, an exile group Beijing accuses of being a terrorist organization. Pemba denied the allegations, calling them "completely baseless and fabricated." "I think they're very nervous on anything to do with Tibet," she said. Official worries are also making life difficult for Tibetans, Muslims from the far West and other minority ethnic groups, who are finding it difficult to get hotel rooms. Zhang Shihe, a blogger who has written extensively about the lives of migrant workers in Beijing, said that since March, local police have told neighborhood residents' committees near the Olympic venues not to provide accommodation to people from Tibet, Inner Mongolia and the Central Asian border province of Xinjiang. "The whole thing shows that the government is very immature," he said. "It is not people-oriented, and it's harming the public." "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." (MLK, Jr.)
chyster62		#45	[-]
Posts: 4979 (07/13/08 1:59 PM) Chicken pecked Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Broadcast access to Tiananmen still issue By STEPHEN WADE, AP Sports Writer Sun Jul 13, 10:45 AM ET BEIJING (AP) - Broadcasters and the IOC are pushing China to keep its promises and open up Tiananmen Square to more hours of live coverage for the Beijing Olympics. Unfettered access to Tiananmen, site of a bloody crackdown on the 1989 democracy movement, is being used to gauge how far China's communist government will go in granting press freedom, which it promised seven years ago to help win the Olympic bid. In an emergency meeting last week in Beijing with the International Olympic Committee and broadcasters, Chinese officials - after months of hedging and leaving the critical question unanswered - decided live broadcasting from Tiananmen would be limited to two time slots - 6-10 a.m. and 9-11 p.m. Chinese officials also finally agreed to give hundreds of satellite trucks freedom to roam around the city and report, but a list of restricted areas is expected this week. And there are reports broadcasters will have to get permission 24 hours before filming from a location. This comes after promises of open coverage, which was followed months ago by a reported ban on any live coverage. "We have the words, it's in writing as well. We will just have to wait and see," said Tomoyo Igaya, senior program director for Japan's NHK Sports and head of the Japan consortium, an Olympic pool that represents NHK and five Japanese commercial broadcasters. "People say yes, yes, yes, but will people on site be saying no, no, no?" With 3 1/2 weeks go before the games open Aug. 8, China's authoritarian government wants the Olympics to showcase the country's three decades to speedy economic progress. But the government fears the games could be a stage for activists set on embarrassing China over policies in Tibet and Darfur, religious and political freedom or the jailing of dissidents. To avoid that scenario, China has cracked down on visas and security and thrown countless roadblocks in broadcasters' way. "Chinese officials are aware that for a lot of the world, Tiananmen Square brings back memories of June 4 (1989) and what in the West is sometimes known as the Tiananmen Massacre - or the Tiananmen incident," said Susan Brownell, a visiting China expert from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. "Plus, you have Chairman Mao's (Zedong) portrait in Tiananmen, and I think that's a past they don't want in the foreground." But that iconic square is exactly what every broadcaster, rights holder or not, wants to beam around the world - no matter what time of day. "Why can't we broadcast freely during the day?" asked Fernando Pardo, head of sports for the European Broadcasting Union, who attended the meeting. "Why don't we have a normal timetable as was promised in the beginning? The Chinese didn't give a clear answer, only excuses." Last week's decision leaves European broadcasters without a time slot for delivering live coverage from Tiananmen to the all-important evening news audience. China is six hours ahead of most of Europe, and seven hours ahead of Britain. "Both slots are totally useless for us," Pardo said in an interview with the Associated Press. Not so for rights-holder NBC, which has paid millions to air the games. The early morning time slot on Tiananmen suits the American network, which will be able to go live to its prime-time evening audience. Beijing organizers and the IOC also moved swimming and gymnastics finals to the morning, giving NBC live evening coverage back home. Even so, NBC, like the other broadcasters, wants more. A broadcast official who attended last Wednesday's meeting, who declined to speak publicly, said Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, warned the Chinese that limiting time from Tiananmen could set a bad precedent in regard to press freedom. The Associated Press obtained the minutes to the July 9 meeting in Beijing, attended by Beijing Vice Mayor Cai Fuchao, senior IOC member Hein Verbruggen and dozens of rights-holding broadcast officials, including Zenkel. Several broadcasters attending confirmed senior IOC member Alex Gilady aggressively pushed Cai over the scant live air time from Tiananmen. Gilady, a senior vice president of NBC Sports, confirmed in a telephone interview that he was pressing the Chinese for more time. "I think as a representative of the IOC TV commission, I have to try and follow what the broadcasters want - and they want more time," Gilady said. "So we have asked for more. We will to see what the Chinese come up with." Last week's agreement also prohibits broadcasters from bringing guests to Tiananmen Square for live interviews, allowing only "standup talent" to speak from the iconic venue. Taped interviews will be allowed, but only when security officials give permission. "Why is Tiananmen limited to certain hours?" asked Sandy MacIntyre, director of news for AP Television News. APTN is the television arm of The Associated Press and a non-rights holder. "This is not acceptable and is against the spirit of the Olympics, and the spirit of free expression that China signed up to in accepting to be hosts for the games," MacIntyre said. Sun Weijia, the head of media operations for the organizing committee, attended the July 9 meeting, along with organizing committee executive vice president Wang Wei. It was Wang who promised the following while leading Beijing's bid in 2001: "We will give the media complete freedom to report when they come to China." Sun declined to explain the reasoning for the six-hour limit at Tiananmen, referring the matter to another Beijing spokesman who did not attend the meeting. "You know this was an internal meeting," Sun said. "I think if you would like to have more information, please contact a spokesperson from BOCOG. I was in the meeting, but I am not able to comment." Verbruggen, who has worked closely with Chinese officials to prepare for the games, acknowledged the country's communist government had presented special problems. "It (China) is a totally different culture that we in the Western world are not fully able to understand," Verbruggen said, according to the minutes. "It is another world, another process. We have known that it won't be easy. ... We have spoken about problems that might occur and bureaucracy was one. Another was freedom of the press." In the four months since deadly rioting broke out in Tibet - triggering protests on the Olympic torch relay - China's government has used a divide-and-conquer-strategy among hundreds of broadcasters who'll attempt to cover the games. It seems to be giving preference to rights-holders such as NBC. Rights-holders pay millions to broadcast from the venue, although non-rights holders also cover the games and focus on action away from the venues. Several non-rights holders, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, told of months of changing rules, police interference, repeated requests for licenses and permits and telephone calls going unanswered at a so-called "One-Stop Service Center" set up by Beijing organizers. Others told of calls being answered, but only in Chinese - or calls being referred to another number, only to be referred back to the original number. Several said the endless bureaucratic run-around, a crackdown on visas and rising hotel costs, were discouraging many foreign journalists and sponsors from attending, which seems to be the government's intention. Many reporters have already dubbed these the "All-China Games" due to the expected slump in foreign visitors, or the "Killjoy Games." And if broadcasters don't get what they expect, some rights-holders have hinted at seeking monetary compensation. Pardo of the EBU cited the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, where he said broadcasters received refunds for inadequate lodging. "We got money back in Torino because the services provided were no existent," Pardo said. "But here so far we don't have any proof the services are not going to be given. ... If we don't get the services, the reaction of the broadcasters can be unpredictable." Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. - Arnold Bennett (Enoch Arnold Bennett)
chyster62		#46	[-]
Posts: 4980 (07/13/08 2:07 PM) Chicken pecked Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	It (China) is a totally different culture that we in the Western world are not fully able to understand, Left, here is my unscientific prediction. I think, just as the Western world are not fully able to understand (a croc, btw), I believe the Chinese government has underestimated the power of a free press. I'm not talking about the boot-licks at NBC and other "rights-holders." They will toe the line and suck up to China at every opportunity. We will be inundated with 'feel-good' stories of the Chinese peoples. Oh, there might be a passing reference to the 'troubles', but NBC has invested far too much money in this to bite the hand that feeds it. No, my hope is with those non-right journalists. I don't care how carefully China tries to dissuade, change rules, limit and ban, sooner or later, there will be an incident. Something unpleasant is going to happen. I hope it is something on such a scale that NBC can't ignore it. Anyway, I just think it is inevitable that something unpleasant is going to occur that will show China in it's true light. Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. - Arnold Bennett (Enoch Arnold Bennett)
ALittleMoreToTheLeft		#47	[-]
Posts: 21565 (07/13/08 5:01 PM) Delightfully Diabolical Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	If something happens, Chy, we will find out via text messages - the only truly free method of communication in China. The world press has agreed to tons and tons of covenants in order to obtain the rights to telecast for the Games. See my prediction - this will be as much a progaganda event as Hitler's Olympics were. The press will be so controlled that they will tell no story and at the rate the activists are being locked up or deported (those holding dual passports) - there will be few left willing to speak out. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." (MLK, Jr.)
Fuzzer3		#48	[-]
Posts: 1311 (07/13/08 9:33 PM) Uniquely Innocent Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I voted to not Boycott the Olympics. The only people that suffer are the Athletes. I have read here about the 1980 Olympics by the US, but not about the 1984 boycott of the Los Angles Olympics by the old Soviet Union and 14 of its block countries, Iran, and Libya. Who has hurt by that? Only the athletes from those countries who were in metal contention and were not allowed to compete. I always thought the Olympic creed states it is about bringing people together and seeing that our differences are not that great. It is to be above politics. The next question is should GW be at the opening cemonies. Of course not, but I've never understood why the politicans need to be present anyway. It is not about them, its supposed to be about the competetors. Should there be protests? Peaceful ones, why not? The violence does not hurt the government, only the citizens of the country. Who doesn't remember the Jesse Owens in 1936 or Rafer Johnson in the 60s. That is what will ultimately hurt the governments. "A day without laughter is a day wasted.", Charlie Chaplin
ALittleMoreToTheLeft		#49	[-]
Posts: 21586 (07/15/08 11:27 PM) Delightfully Diabolical Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	But Fuzzer what if I flip the question and ask: Who is hurt by us countries not boycotting the Olympics? The victims in the Sudan who are killed by the arms that the Chinese provide the government? The activists in China who are being locked up, placed under house arrest, and/or deported so that they will not speak out? The people of China who fight for the right to have a voice but who will be denied that voice by the international media and who will be told - you are alone when the press signs waivers that do not allow filming except at designated spots (which is why the reference to the 1939 Olympics)? The Tibetan monks who have died, who are imprisoned, or who have been killed at the hands of the Chinese government. Are the athletes hurt - yes, they would be emotionally hurt if there were no Olympics. But sometimes people are hurt by choices - and the pain they feel or experience would not be life-threatening. Personally, I think of it this way. I stand and watch someone load a gun. I know that person is going to use the gun. There are several options I could take. I could call for help. I could try and stop the individual using peaceful methods. I could use physical force to stop the individual from acting. I could stand by and do nothing. Or I could walk beside the person, saying and doing nothing, as the individual opens fire. The Chinese government can hide many things from the Chinese people and they may attempt to hide numerous things from the international communtity but the one thing that could not be hidden - countries staying away. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." (MLK, Jr.)
ALittleMoreToTheLeft		#50	[-]
Posts: 21612 (07/16/08 11:36 AM) Delightfully Diabolical Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I am so proud to be going to the Olympic Games in Beijing next month as an Olympic Ambassador for Amnesty International. As a former pro athlete, I'm eager to see awe-inspiring world-class athletes competing for gold at the Summer Games. Yet I can't help but find the luster of those five rings tarnished and feel conflicted about my upcoming trip to China. There is no doubt that the Beijing Olympics have been sullied by worldwide protests regarding Tibet and other human rights abuses across China. Even in these difficult times, it is worth taking a moment to encourage those with power and influence to extend the hand of friendship to the good people of China and speak on behalf of those who cannot. While I extend my deepest sympathy to the thousands who are suffering as a result of the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province, it is no reason to hold back on scrutiny of the Chinese government's human rights record. Indeed, as we open our hearts to the Chinese people, we should not limit our empathy to the natural disaster alone. The Chinese government invited scrutiny of its human rights record by explicitly stating in their winning bid in 2001 that human rights would improve after being awarded the Games. Amnesty International has reached the sad conclusion that respect for human rights in China is getting worse - not in spite of, but because of the Olympic Games. Click here to read Amnesty's full report. We have seen only a sliver of the abuses on TV, which include locking down cities to prevent public protests, denying journalists access to Tibet, the beating and torture of peaceful protesters who ask for the most basic human rights, and so on. These activities betray the fundamental Olympic spirit of respect for human dignity, and should be strongly condemned. You and I have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to speak on behalf of China's citizens who have been silenced against their will. Even if only for a moment, the sound of our voices ringing out in defense of human rights for all is a message worth hearing - and a legacy worth its weight in gold. Sincerely, John Amaechi Olympic Ambassador for Amnesty International "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." (MLK, Jr.) Last Edited By: ALittleMoreToTheLeft 07/18/08 7:06 PM. Edited 1 times.
Fuzzer3		#51	[-]
Posts: 1326 (07/18/08 6:26 PM) Uniquely Innocent Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Wonderful, then of course let's keep our atheletes home if all the world's suffering will end! Good lord why didn't you say our Olympic team held so much power! "A day without laughter is a day wasted.", Charlie Chaplin
ALittleMoreToTheLeft		#52	[-]
Posts: 21642 (07/18/08 7:05 PM) Delightfully Diabolical Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Fuzzer, I don't believe that is what I said. What I was simply saying is there are two sides to every argument. In analyzing my feelings regarding this issue, I considered the athlete's points of view. I even went back and read the reactions of the athletes from 1980, both immediately after the boycott and the ones that voiced their opinions several years later. I then went and read the arguments for the call for a boycott - for some sign of the recognition of China's violations and the fact they have broken the promise that they made in order to obtain the Olympics - the promise regarding progress in human rights. I can see and understand both sides of the issue. That is all I was attempting to say. I was presenting the arguments used by those who believe there should be a boycott and asking is there not suffering on both sides? No decision such as this is ever easy - and no matter the decision there will always be a price. that is all I was saying. As to the power - I think it more of a message to the citizens who are struggling for their rights in China. I personally believe it could say to the gentleman who is serving a four year prison sentence for asking permission to hold a protest over his and other people's evictions to erect buildings to house the Olympics, that we do not side with the government's actions - that you are not forgotten - that you are not alone. The message that China's violations need to stop - at home, in Tibet, and in the Sudan - would come from the absence of a major country from the Games. It tells the people of China that we support their struggle and it says to China - you have not lived up to your promise. I believe in economic boycotts. I also believe in social boycotts. Does it hurt an individual who works for BB&T if I organize or participate in a boycott of them for their abysmal HRC score? Possibly. I understand that my actions might cause someone a job. I weigh that decision, just as I weigh this one. Just as I am and will continue to weigh my one regarding voting. I do not take actions lightly. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." (MLK, Jr.) Last Edited By: ALittleMoreToTheLeft 07/18/08 7:08 PM. Edited 1 times.
Fuzzer3		#53	[-]
Posts: 1327 (07/18/08 8:35 PM) Uniquely Innocent Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	saracasm, my dear! "A day without laughter is a day wasted.", Charlie Chaplin
CRH 1		#54	[-]
Posts: 1624 (08/01/08 11:27 AM) Member of the Suburban Matriarchy Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	The New York Times July 31, 2008 Editorial More Pressure on Beijing President Bush is finally beginning to complain - gingerly - about China's disgraceful wave of pre-Olympics repression. With the start of the 2008 Games less than two weeks away, we hope that he keeps speaking out and enlists others to join him, including world and corporate leaders and the International Olympic Committee - if that troubled organization is not already beyond redemption. After playing Beijing's game and declining to condemn China's latest crackdown on critics and journalists, Mr. Bush deserves credit for holding talks on Tuesday with five prominent Chinese dissidents. Although the meeting was private, the White House announced it and said that President Bush spoke of his "concerns" about human rights in China. Mr. Bush also attended a separate meeting between his national security adviser and the Chinese foreign minister and advised how the Olympics present an "opportunity to demonstrate compassion on human rights and freedom." The problem is that Mr. Bush's approach is still too deferential given China's reprehensible and defiant behavior. On Wednesday, authorities confirmed that they will censor the Internet during the Games, violating previous assurances. Foreign journalists have already found that they could not reach sites like Amnesty International and Radio Free Asia. Making matters worse, the I.O.C., which has enabled China at every step, apparently acquiesced in Web sites being blocked. Those responsible for such a disgraceful deal should be forced to resign. The committee must demand that China live up to its pre-Games pledges. To win the coveted right to hold the Olympics, China promised to expand press freedoms for foreign journalists and dangled the prospect that, more broadly, human rights might also be improved. Instead, authorities have harassed and locked up critics, intimidated journalists, selectively denied visas, silenced grieving parents who lost children in the May 12 earthquake and relocated thousands of Chinese whose homes or businesses were seen as marring Beijing's image. President Bush cannot go to the Olympics in silence next week. As the House of Representatives said in a resolution, approved 419 to 1, he must insist that China act immediately to cease rights abuses, allow promised press freedoms and permit peaceful political activities during the Games.
HotonGirl		#55	[-]
Posts: 8080 (08/01/08 8:17 PM) ISO Lesbian Nerd Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	President Bush cannot go to the Olympics in silence next week. As the House of Representatives said in a resolution, approved 419 to 1, he must insist that China act immediately to cease rights abuses, allow promised press freedoms and permit peaceful political activities during the Games. One would think of this as a mandate, but we all know that this President couldn't give a rat's a$$ about anything or anybody... unless of course it can help his oil profits. ******************** "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." - Dr. Martin Luther King**
Fuzzer3		#56	[-]
Posts: 1339 (08/01/08 11:49 PM) Uniquely Innocent Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	One would think of this as a mandate, but we all know that this President couldn't give a rat's a$$ about anything or anybody... unless of course it can help his oil profits. I wonder at times is he really that arrogant or is it that his IQ is lower than his shoe size. My conclustion is both! "A day without laughter is a day wasted.", Charlie Chaplin
KATERS D		#57	[-]
Posts: 2701 (08/02/08 11:52 AM) Don't Tell Mom Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	August 2, 2008 News Analysis China's Leader Meets the Press, but Only on His Country's Very Narrow Terms By JIM YARDLEY BEIJING - President Hu Jintao held a press conference on Friday with foreign reporters, starting the one-week countdown to the opening ceremony of the Olympics here. This, in itself, was news. Mr. Hu has had fleeting interactions with the foreign press when he travels abroad, but has not held a press conference in Beijing in the nearly six years he has served as China's top leader. But in a week when the Chinese government was widely criticized for trying to censor Internet access for journalists at the Olympic Village, Mr. Hu's briefing was less an uninhibited interview than another example of the government's awkward efforts to fulfill Olympic promises of opening up to the news media - but not too much. About 25 foreign media organizations were privately invited to the conference and asked to submit questions in advance, according to one participant. The rest of Beijing's foreign press corps, including The New York Times, was kept in the dark until rumors began to spread Thursday. Then, a Foreign Ministry spokesman politely said the invitation list would not be expanded. Not enough time for so many questions, the spokesman said. Mr. Hu did not commit any news. According to news agency reports, he spoke warmly about the Olympic spirit and denounced anyone who would politicize the Games. He said China's economy would pursue steady, relatively fast development while also controlling excessive price increases. He said that his favorite sports were swimming and table tennis and that he dreamed of playing on the Chinese team. "But I would like to let you know that since the lineup of the Chinese table tennis team is already finalized and made public, it seems that my wish could not be granted," he said. Had his comments been conveyed through the usual channels of China's state media, none would have generated much foreign coverage. But the Communist Party regards the Olympics as a stage on which to present itself anew to the international community. How could China's top leader not step out from behind his curtain and speak directly to the outside world? The only headline Beijing's propaganda officials sought was "Hu Speaks to Foreign Media." By Friday afternoon, several hours after the briefing, the English-language Web site of Xinhua, the country's official news agency, carried a banner article about Mr. Hu's remarks. The emphasis was that he had appeared "in a joint interview with journalists from 25 news organizations across the world." Later, a large photograph showed a smiling Mr. Hu shaking hands with foreign journalists, who had been asked to form a receiving line. The Beijing Olympics were supposed to be the moment China opened itself almost fully to the foreign media. Last year, the government changed its policy and allowed foreign journalists to travel much more freely. Many officials have become more receptive to interviews. But if there has been some meaningful progress, the government has also reverted to a familiar defensive crouch in a year that has included violent Tibetan protests and a devastating earthquake. Foreign journalists were vilified during the Tibet crisis and mostly denied access to protest areas. When access was provided, control was emphasized; only invited groups of journalists were taken on organized trips to Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. Several journalists were detained after trying independently to investigate reports of official crackdowns against Tibetans. The May 12 earthquake initially brought an unusual degree of access, but that opening largely closed after critical coverage. The Olympic Village was originally advertised as an island of media openness. The president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, promised unfettered Internet access in a country where many politically contentious Web sites are blocked. China's Olympic organizers said the 20,000 foreign journalists would be granted the same rights and privileges as at Games in other countries. But this week brought the messy revelation inside the Olympic island that China was blocking some sites about Tibet, the banned Falun Gong spiritual sect and Taiwan, as well as Web pages for Amnesty International, Radio Free Asia and other groups. This is common in China, if often skirted by using proxy servers. But journalists arriving from overseas at their Olympic posts were outraged. Finger-pointing ensued between the Olympic committee and Beijing's Olympic organizers. By Friday morning, Beijing had unblocked Internet access to many sites. Mr. Hu was holding forth at roughly the same time. Mr. Hu is arguably one of the half dozen most powerful people on earth, yet he remains an enigma, partly because the Chinese press is banned from writing anything remotely personal about him or investigating anything about him or his family. The foreign media are outsiders usually trying in vain for a view inside. Mao used the party's propaganda machine to build a cult of personality that almost destroyed China, so in that context Mr. Hu could be regarded as exercising restraint. Neither he nor any of China's other leaders wants a return to that dark chapter. Mr. Hu wants the outside world to regard China as a modern nation that meets international norms as it takes its place as a leading world power. But information provided under compromising circumstances seems compromised. Even when it may not be. For the past week, China's environmental officials have held numerous news conferences and answered numerous questions to say pollution controls are working. They have offered reams of statistics and argued strenuously that the gray color of the skies does not mean pollution levels are unsafe. The public and the media have been skeptical. Then late Friday afternoon, after a passing weather front, real clouds and blue skies appeared. Just as those officials had been promising.
KATERS D		#58	[-]
Posts: 2706 (08/04/08 12:02 PM) Don't Tell Mom Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	So we were talking at work about a boycott, and someone pointed out that our boycott in 1980 didn't work-the war in Afghanistan went on until 1989 (and maybe still is)....and then I wondered- if the Olympics were being held here, we could be boycotted because of our occupation of Iraq, and our history of torture-Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and those CIA secret prisons.
HotonGirl		#59	[-]
Posts: 8086 (08/04/08 8:35 PM) ISO Lesbian Nerd Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	That's a legitimate question, Kater. Plus, how many countries wouldn't come because they would view our hosting the Olympics as begging for terrorists to test our security. ******************** "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." - Dr. Martin Luther King**
Fuzzer3		#60	[-]
Posts: 1344 (08/05/08 2:36 PM) Uniquely Innocent Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Just the points I was trying to make in my clumsy remarks above. We were boycotted in 1984 and by the then USSR and several others and does anyone remember why? Has a boycott ever worked out as intended? "A day without laughter is a day wasted.", Charlie Chaplin

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