SO FEARFUL are the Chinese communists that visiting athletes and
reporters will exchange complaints about the fake sense of order and
Potemkin Village aura surrounding the polluted Olympic Village that
the Chinks plan to post two plain clothes police officers at every
door in the housing, recreation, and restaurant areas of the complex.
Moreover, each dormitory and eating place will be bugged for voice
reception and amplification to capture any discussions of Chinese
government, culture, politics, trade, "news," Internet, and military
issues.
"Violators" will be ushered away from the place of "misunderstanding"
and taken to the Olympic Administraton Office for "debriefing."
Anything to make visitors feel relaxed and comfy.
------------------------------
"Olympic Gag Order"
"Why should China's repression of free speech be imposed on athletes
from the rest of the world?"
Editorial
Sunday, May 11, 2008; B06
WHEN BEIJING was bidding to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, part of its
pitch was that the games would help promote human rights in China, and
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) bought it. But with the Aug.
8 opening ceremonies less than three months away, it looks as if the
reverse is the case -- that China's repressive norms are affecting the
rest of the world.
Consider a letter the IOC recently sent to individual countries'
Olympic committees, clarifying its policy on political expression --
even nonverbal expression -- by athletes anywhere within Olympic
venues. Rule 51.3 of the Olympic charter, the letter noted, provides
that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial
propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."
And, according to the letter, the text of which was first reported by
the Associated Press, that ban applies very broadly indeed,
encompassing "conduct of participants at all sites, areas and venues,"
which includes "all actions, reactions, attitudes or manifestations of
any kind by a person or group of persons, including but not limited to
their look, external appearance, clothing, gestures, and written or
oral statements."
The IOC's list of thought crimes discourages campaigns such as the
Color Orange, which is urging athletes to wear orange as a protest of
Chinese repression. It appears to rule out a move among French
athletes to wear a badge marked with the mild slogan "For a Better
World." It could even be construed to permit the political scrutiny of
hand signals and "attitudes." Cowardly as it is, this Orwellian edict
is depressingly consistent with previous British and New Zealander gag
orders -- from which those Olympic committees later retreated under
pressure. The United States must stick to its position that athletes,
no less than other citizens, are free to express themselves peacefully
in Beijing or anywhere else.
The IOC claims that it is merely upholding the nonpolitical tradition
of the Olympics. To be sure, not every international gathering has to
be a summit. There is a role for meetings devoted to goals such as the
one declared in the Olympic Charter: "to place sport at the service of
the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful
society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." But even
that gauzy objective is, actually, political -- it takes negotiation
to establish peace, and it takes justice, freedom and human rights to
secure human dignity.
No worthy public goal can be pursued without a measure of controversy,
debate and, yes, conflict. Let the struggles among and within nations
be peaceful. But don't pretend they don't exist -- much less try to
stamp them out for the sake of a commercialized extravaganza. In
helping China do just that, the Olympic "movement" risks sacrificing
values far more important than athletic competition.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002265.html
|
