Game on!

Have you seen the latest Coca Cola cans? It bears the Olympic rings, and printed on one side are the Chinese characters for the world’s favourite soft drink. Another example of how the world has become drunk with the Beijing Olympics.

But have you read the latest reports of crackdowns on Free Tibet supporters just moments after Mr. Bush called upon China to reform, or the wave of bombings and deaths in the Uighur province of Western China? And do you know about the ‘unexplained’ disappearances of Chinese democracy activists, or the clean-up operation to rid the streets of Beijing of beggars, prostitutes and other ‘unwanteds’? Amid the pictures and broadcasts of the and glitz of the Opening Ceremony in Beijing is the sad overshadowing of China’s continuing violation of fundamental human rights. Sad states of affairs, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or leaders like Mr. Sarkozy would sooner want to forget.

Sports should not be mixed with politics, as the IOC has repeated told the rest of the world. But wait… how could the IOC take a very political decision to ban (then) Apartheid South Africa from the Olympic Games, yet fail so miserably to voice its opinion on the human rights situation in one of the biggest violator of human rights in the world today? Sure, sports has nothing to do with politics. Hitler would today scoff at this, for he had successfully shown off the new prowess of Nazi Germany during the 1936 Olympics, while openly hiding the effects of anti-Semitic laws, and discrimination against homosexuals and other races. And why is Taiwan not allowed to compete under its own name, but must be repeatedly degraded and humiliated under the title of “Chinese Taipei”? And if sports had nothing to do with politics, then why did 61 States boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan?

The Olympic Games is being openly used by the Chinese Communist Party to justify and legalise its oppressive regime in China. It is being used to trump the Party’s successes, and sideline the internal pressures of an increasingly unequal society, and the rampant practices of corrupt officials. The Games are openly being promoted as China’s “coming out party”, after which China can join the world as a responsible and equal power. Yet, no State in the world deserves any respect or recognition as a world power, however virulent its economic might is, when it does not respect the fundamental freedoms and basic human rights of its own people.

“From the outset, Chinese leaders saw the games as a chance to boost China's image, to redefine it as a worthy, humane global partner - and not a menacing behemoth. Ordinary Chinese thought it a ripe opportunity to mark the tremendous strides made in casting off poverty and totalitarianism and building the fourth-largest economy in the space of a generation.

In their bid for the Olympics seven years ago, Beijing officials said the games would increase interaction with the international community and spur improvements in human rights and media freedom. The Chinese government called on party image-makers to devise ways to appeal to foreigners and on officials to stoke popular enthusiasm at home. "Integrate with the world" became a catch-phrase.”

Yet, various independent human rights and press monitoring organisations have observed a noticeable decline in freedoms in the run-up to the Games.

Reporters Without Borders writes:

“When the International Olympic Committee assigned the 2008 summer Olympic Games to Beijing on 13 July 2001, the Chinese police were intensifying a crackdown on subversive elements, including Internet users and journalists. Seven years later, nothing has changed. But despite the absence of any significant progress in free speech and human rights in China, the IOC’s members continue to turn a deaf ear to repeated appeals from international organisations that condemn the scale of the repression.

[…]The repression of journalists and cyber-dissidents has not let up in the past seven years. Everything suggests that it is going to continue. The IOC has given the Chinese government a job that it is going to carry out with zeal - the job of “organising secure Olympic Games.” For the government, this means more arrests of dissidents, more censorship and no social protest movements.”

And Human Rights Watch comments:

“The Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee have had seven years to deliver on their pledges that these games would further human rights. Instead, the Beijing Games have prompted a rollback in some of the most basic rights enshrined in China’s constitution and international law”

I was strongly opposed to the awarding of the Olympics to China back in 2001. I have repeatedly expressed disbelief in the fact that the IOC can overlook the bids of world-class cities like Paris, Osaka and Toronto in favour of China’s severely polluted capital Beijing. It was simply self-delusion then to believe that the Olympics would improve, or change in any shape or form to say the least, the human rights situation in China. In fact, the Olympics were awarded based on the promise that China would commit to improving the fundamental freedoms of its people, yet seven years on, the country is just as, if not in some ways even more repressive, as ever.

And so Amnesty International reports solemnly a few days earlier that:

“In fact, the crackdown on human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers has intensified because Beijing is hosting the Olympics. The authorities have stepped up repression of dissident voices in their efforts to present an image of “stability” and “harmony” to the outside world. This has resulted in the detention and imprisonment of those who wish to draw attention to the other side of the picture, which includes human rights violations perpetrated in preparation for the Games.

[…] However, the IOC has shown a reluctance to follow up on such statements and speak out on human rights in the context of the preparations for the Games in a more specific, consistent and forceful way. Amnesty International believes it is not appropriate to publicly refer to progress in certain areas, while ignoring a marked deterioration in others. […]

The IOC’s diplomatic, non-public approach on human rights cases and issues does not appear to have yielded significant results. International pressure from other governments for human rights reform has also been insufficient, sending a message that it is acceptable for a government to host the Olympic Games in an atmosphere characterised by repression and persecution. The danger now becomes that after the Olympic Games these patterns of serious human rights violations may continue or intensify with even less attention paid by the international community than has been the case so far.”

In the light of the glorious and wonderful Games in Beijing, here is the “Top Ten List of Possible New Events the Chinese Might Want to Include in the XXIX Olympiad”:

10. Synchronized Waterboarding.

9. The Barbed-Wire High Hurdles.

8. The Tibetan Monk Toss.

7. Starving Doberman Obstacle Relay.

6. Speed Wheezing.

5. The Re-Education Spiky Bamboo Pit Leap.

4. The Beach Border Minefield Crawl.

3. The Twelve-Year-Old Factory Worker Pee Hold Marathon.

2. Rhythmic Baton.

1. The Baby-Girl Bayonet Stack.

Game on.

Oppression, crackdown, arrests and silencing media: 1
Openness, basic liberties and press freedom: 0