THE CARROLL NEWS: Olympic president criticizes China: Human rights, oppressive government and environment are hot button issues

Olympic president criticizes China: Human rights, oppressive government and
environment are hot button issues
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Meghan Wolf on 17 April, 2008 01:00:00
 
The president of the International Olympics committee, Jacques Rogge, recently
said that the committee was aware of the situation in China and there was an
agreement to clean up their record in respect to human rights in order to get to
host the 2008 Olympics, according to the Associated Press.
This comes in the midst of protests and threats to boycott the 2008 Olympics.
Rogge has remained apolitical about the matter until this point.
“This is a sovereign matter for China to decide,” said Rogge, when
asked if he would pressure China to have dialogue with Tibet to help ameliorate
the current situation of conflict.
“The representatives of the bid have said, and I quote freely because I
do not know it by heart, that awarding the games to China would advance the
social agenda…including human rights,” said Rogge. “This is
what I would call a moral engagement, not a juridical one. I would definitely
ask China to respect its moral intentions.”
The Olympics Committee has received much criticism over awarding China the
hosting rights for the 2008 Olympics. The torch-lighting ceremony in Greece had
been disrupted by a demonstration and now the decision over whether or not to
boycott the games has been a source of contention among many world leaders,
according to the AP.
Furthermore, it has also been hotly debated whether or not boycotting is an
effective means of conveying anger to the Chinese government and pushing them to
change.
Roger Purdy, history professor and East Asian studies coordinator at John
Carroll University, disagrees that boycotting will solve anything.
“The Chinese government is oppressive,” said Purdy. “But you
have 1.3 billion Chinese who are looking forward to hosting the Olympics. If it
does not go well, they are going to blame some other outside source. Not only is
it important to the Chinese government, but to the Chinese people as a
whole,” he said.
Purdy said that controversy is centered on whether engagement or disengagement
is the most effective means of promoting political change in this matter. He
also addressed the issue of whether or not China deserved to host the Olympics.
He thought that they did, despite their history of disrespecting human rights.
“China is the oldest continuing culture on the planet,” said Purdy.
“For a culture that old and influential not to host the Olympics would be
a slight against China.”
The relay that is currently taking the Olympic torch on a route around the
globe has been met with protest in several major cities, including San
Francisco. It was accompanied by tight security last Friday as it went through
Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to the AP.
In Western China, monks and other Tibetans who supported the Dalai Lama
violently protested last month against Chinese rule. The crackdown that they got
from security forces launched a wave of sympathy worldwide, where boycotting is
now the controversial option of protest.
The Dalai Lama has been accused by top Chinese officials of leading a plot, by
means of the Tibetan and worldwide protests, to disrupt the Olympics. The Dalai
Lama, who has been called a terrorist, denied conspiracy against China.
“We are not anti-Chinese,” said the Dalai Lama while in Japan,
advocating against any attack on the demonstrators. “Right from the
beginning, we supported the Olympic Games,” he added.
Arrests, confiscations of terrorist weapons, and attack plot discoveries have
been widely reported and publicized in China, even though there is no sign of a
sustained threat.
Yet some analysts are speculating that the Chinese government is trying to gain
international support for suppressing domestic discord in an effort to stop
terrorism.
Controversy and unrest remain strong, but Rogge has maintained his assurance to
the public that the Olympics would run smoothly for China. “I have no
crystal ball,” he said, “But I’m optimistic the games will be
a great success.”