Okay, so what’s the real count during these 08 Olympics? I’m not talking about the medal race between China & the US, or how many golds Michael Phelps has rack up. I’m talking about the count of human rights violations. As many people had suspected, the whole “officially sanctioned protest area” thing was a total sham. To date, not a single protest has taken place. The Chinese government has put up so many bureaucratic barriers, most Chinese citizens are deterred from even filing an application. Those who went ahead and persisted with their applications? Well, they were either sentenced to 1 year hard labor (like these two septuagenarian, nearly blind women) or pretty much just up and disappeared like Gao Chuancai. And for these lucky foreign protesters? They only get detained for 10 days with no trial or court hearing.
The 2008 Olympics official slogan should be redubbed from “One World, One Dream” to “One World, Countless Nightmares.” The world should have known it was in for a doozy of a human rights violation fest when the government began rounding up and imprisoning well known human rights advocates and dissidents prior the start of the games.
Shame on the IOC for complicitly sitting by while China makes a mockery of human rights, free speech, and free expression. So unwilling to admit they made a mistake when they selected China as the official host country 6 years ago, they are now turning a blind eye to the repeated offenses made by the Chinese government. Dude, you’re the f*cking International Olympics Committee – do or say something! I love how the IOC admitted just weeks prior to the start of the game that they knew China would not allow full internet access to the journalists and media traveling to Beijing. Who is going to hold the IOC accountable for sanctioning the Chinese governments human rights violations through their inaction?
The thing that is most incensing is that except for a few media outlets, everyone seems to be pandering to the PR machine created by the Chinese government. NBC’s coverage of the Olympics presents a shiny happy image of China that makes it look like the next eden. China is being portrayed as some sort of responsible global citizen. Does no one remember that just weeks prior to the start of the Olympics, China voted against UN sanctions against Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe. And they continue to invest and sell small arms to the Sudanese government.
I realize I am now probably barred from ever entering China.
What next?
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12 Comments to “The 2008 Olympics: One World, Countless Nightmares”
anon wrote:
Stop Hating
Posted on 24-Aug-08 at 8:19 pm | Permalink
Daniel wrote:
Don’t worry. You are not ban. There’s a lot going on in China and most likely media can’t cover it all. Of course, there are problems but for one give it patience the other is change has to happen inside, outside pressure can only reach so much. (I hope no one misunderstands me because I still think people aroung the world should make some noise).
Posted on 24-Aug-08 at 8:49 pm | Permalink
Juno wrote:
It’s easy to sit on a high horse and knock down another country without being aware that you’re sitting in a glass house. Yes, China and its government has its flaws, many of them. The country’s leaders need some human rights awareness- I don’t disagree with you here. And yet, slamming on China seems like such a convenient thing to do nowadays…
…Now if the United States were to host the Olympics, would you take the same amount of time to rant about the inhumane injustices detainees have suffered and are suffering in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib? How about the ongoing violations of the First Amendment directed towards Americans who don’t agree with the invasion of Iraq and Americans of Muslim/Arabic descent? Would you challenge the IOC to do something about it? Or would you, too, also turn “a blind eye?”
Posted on 24-Aug-08 at 9:39 pm | Permalink
BorninChina wrote:
stop taking yourself so seriously – you do not even worth the Chinese police to take the time to blacklist you.
Through Olympics, China successful exploited the capital capitalist rules (money rules, media totally buyable and everybody is impressionable by something shiny, bright, and bigger than life – be it fireworks or gold), yet, it declared that its system is superior to the capitalism system touted by the nagging brits, jealous frenchies and clueless americans.
Using sensationalistic graphics (such as the cartoon you showed here) or pointless slogan, yet remaining on the sideline without true action (be it Dalai Lama choosing luxury getaway rather his homeland, or you babbling on a corner of the internet rather than go out and do something or anything), the noisy bunch prove themselves to be just a noise bunch, on which history’s giant feet will avoid stepping, since they are so close to turd.
Posted on 24-Aug-08 at 11:33 pm | Permalink
Lana wrote:
China paid for the olympics. That’s why the IOC went deaf, blind and dumb about the whole thing.
Posted on 25-Aug-08 at 3:55 am | Permalink
Rob wrote:
This is retarded.
Do you know why the IAC has to listen to China and the rest of the world just sits there drooling? It’s like everything in life; China now has extensive leverage. The only country they’re even inclined to care about is the United States and even then, the US is very careful about how they act towards China.
Whoever has leverage dictates the shots.
Common.
Fuckin.
Sense.
Posted on 25-Aug-08 at 2:16 pm | Permalink
Jeff C. wrote:
The problem here is that you’re holding China to the Western definition of “human rights.”
Don’t.
China has existed long before the concept of “free speech” or “free expression.” In fact, I doubt that most of the citizens would care about that. In the West, individualism is sacred; not so in China, where homogeny. You could see that throughout the entire ceremony, where 2008 performers on stage were perfectly synced, or during the syncronized diving events. There’s a popular idion in Japan that works well for all of East Asia: “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.”
Once you understand that, you’ll also understand why the core of the Chinese culture is “tian xia”: “All Under One Heaven”. The greatest pride of the Chinese citizens is to support their country. It’s a hive mentality, where the worker bees live and die for the Queen Bee. I felt that this was also expressed during the Olympic ceremonies, when the 2008 performers held up a platform for a single dancer. Note: I believe this is the same performance where star dancer Liu Yan was paralyzed during the rehearsals. She is now seen as a national hero, and is not at all bitter about the incident: “I’m not going to feel sorry for myself. I fell at the Olympics, but I will be back to create beauty for the world in one way or another.”
The fact is that China is fast becoming the superpower of the 21st Century. Europe and Russia are already past their prime, and the US is quickly losing its international influence. In a few decades, it wouldn’t surprise me if the rest of the world is criticizing the United States for lettings its citizens cause so much dissent in the government.
Also, remember that the 2012 Olympics are being held in London, where there are CCTVs monitoring your every step, where guns are heavily restricted even from the typical police officer (causing a 73% surge in knife violence since the handgun ban came into effect), where the general public sees nothing wrong with the murder of a young teenager just because she was goth, where even the government questions whether members from another religion (read: Muslim) because they think “integration cannot be achieved”…
See? I can nitpick a culture over my slanted biases too.
And while we’re on the topic, it was very interesting to see the contrast between Beijing’s opening ceremony that promoted the rich culture and history of China versus London’s preview that used current icons such as a pop singer, an aging rock star, and an overpaid athlete. Saying that I was disappointed is an understatement.
Posted on 26-Aug-08 at 10:34 am | Permalink
JJ wrote:
lol….u gota b more positive and see the other end of the story.
and really too many fucking rights makes a country messed up…
eg south africa… robbery victims cant even hit the robber that robbed them to try stop him..and whys that?…thats thanks to human rights…cos according to right number blah blah robbers r human too…wta joke…
China has to govern its country the way she does because thats how it works best. China has its flaws..so does every other country! just stop picking on China because its growing and developing, give her a chance…I’m sure for all the developed countries, before they got to the state they are in now, they had to go though lots of bad ass stuff.
and choosing China was not a mistake!!!you can’t say you did not enjoy a bit of the Olympics..
you only talk about the people who protest about the games in China…but you didnt mention all the other people who actually looked forward to having the games held in their China, their own land, the land that has gone though soo much. China struggled in the past, and the people suffer with her, having the Olympics held in their land means so much to these people, its like a symbol to tell them that their hard work to improving their country has paid off and motivate them to work harder to improve China.
You hear one or two or more stories of protesters and crap happening in China, damn now your addicted to trash China just because of a few mistakes, well I don’t see you praising China when you see the good it has done.
Why don’t you start to trash on America? I mean you saw or must of at least heard of the Iraq athletes at this years Games?..They didn’t even have a proper uniform, why? well lets see…someone has been invading and declaring war on their country…so where the fuck do they have the finances to buy uniforms…the one athlete even said that shes not even sure if she will be alive in 2012….
So you see EVERY COUNTRY (or rather her government) has made mistakes….no country is perfect!!
Posted on 26-Aug-08 at 11:46 pm | Permalink
Ernie wrote:
I have removed some comments from this post, and like to remind everyone of 8A’s comment policy, my emphasis in bold:
Posted on 27-Aug-08 at 9:41 am | Permalink
Yan wrote:
Um…we’re friends with Saudi Arabia.
I think they’re a bit worse than China…and by a bit I mean a lot.
We’re also THE country in the modern world that promoted imperialism, hegemony, and capitalism so heavily…and then wanted everyone to be just like us. Not to say, our culture is extremely materialistic and superficial and has influenced the pop culture of many nations. If you’re going off about China’s human rights issues, note America’s hand in the status quo in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea, etc.
Impressive America! Land of the free, home of the gun-tottin’ brave. We’re so rich, developed, and powerful! I know our government loves our ghettos, blacks, Native Americans, and children. Our health care is also impressive too! That’s smart population-control USA! Eugenics in 21st century, democratic form!
Posted on 28-Aug-08 at 10:43 am | Permalink
Confuse-Us wrote:
Bo,
I’ve no doubt that China must be a shitty place to live but I can’t help but wonder why the 34 million plus Chinese that have taken vacations outside of China have not tried to gain their freedom in the idyllic west? If media representations of Chinese society are even only half true, then surely we would have seen most of these Chinese vacationers resist returning to their own country.
This is an interesting article written by Tony Blair, where he describes Chinese society as confident, hopeful and optimistic, and urges patience with the rate of change within China.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121970878870671131.html
As you can see (I hope you read the article) Blair urges that we refrain from the kind of hysterical,emotional and accusatory condemnation that is typical of western criticism and utilize “sensitivity to the way that the Chinese sees (the issues)”. A politically unstable China is more of a threat to human rights and world peace.
Posted on 29-Aug-08 at 1:13 am | Permalink
Rob wrote:
Indeed.
Saudi Arabia is far worse but the western media machine but the author harps on China so much because she’s been drinking too much of the white liberal’s kool-aid regarding what’s wrong with the world. Make no mistake; white liberals are just as racist as white conservatives and do not want America to be challenged. On top of that, the author’s history rails on the inequities women face and last I checked, the issues women in Saudi Arabia and in the Middle East are horrific.
The reason why the US turns a blind eye to this? Again, it’s all about leverage. If the US didn’t have a huge dependency on oil and Saudi Arabia needed something from us, we’d be able to press our issues onto them. Ergo, the US has to cater to Saudi Arabia.
Posted on 29-Aug-08 at 5:27 am | Permalink
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