Free Advice for a Bloody Nosed "Olympic Host" -- The Olympic torch,
China and freedom / IHT
The Olympic torch, China and freedom
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
After facing major protests in London and Paris as the Olympic torch
made stops on its journey to Beijing, the Chinese government is said to
be looking for a public relations firm to patch up China's image before
the 2008 Games in August. In the spirit of the Olympic ideals, we are
prepared to help China - free of charge.
Here's what you do: Stop arresting dissidents. Stop spreading lies about
the Dalai Lama, and start talking to him about greater religious and
cultural freedoms for Tibet. Stop being an enabler to Sudan in its
genocide in Darfur. In other words, start delivering on the pledge you
made to the International Olympic Committee to respect human rights -
which, by the way, include the freedom of expression and the freedom of
assembly.
It is sadly typical of authoritarian regimes to presume that huge
protests of the sort that have accompanied the Olympic torch are
provocations instigated by devious foreign foes. It was the same when
the United States and several other Western countries boycotted the 1980
Moscow Games over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Since the Kremlin
suppressed all dissent, it was beyond the ken of Soviet leaders to
imagine that their actions could actually infuriate people and that they
would then act on their outrage.
Just so, the Communist authorities in China have been fanning
nationalist resentments among their citizens with claims that protests
against their repressive policies are staged by hostile foreign forces
bent on ruining China's grand Olympic party. The popular anger then
makes it easier for the regime to arrest dissidents, stifle the news
media and blame a "Dalai Lama clique" abroad for the troubles in Tibet.
Since the Chinese government does not hesitate to whip up "spontaneous
demonstrations" in favor of its policies, it's not a stretch for it to
presume that foreign "enemies" are doing the same along the route of the
torch. Thus, the pathetic presumption that a public relations firm can
make the protesters go away. It can't and won't.
Nobody expected China to democratize overnight, and, given the country's
mighty economic power, nobody really wants to antagonize Beijing. But a
nation that applies to act as host to the Olympic Games also must
demonstrate that it is worthy of the honor. China has only itself to
blame for messing up its coming-out party.
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