George plans to miss no part of the Olympics
George W. Bush announced in Japan today that he will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Beijing next month:
"I view the Olympics as an opportunity for me to cheer on our athletes,” Mr. Bush said at a news conference after the two leaders met privately. He said not going to the ceremony “would be an affront to the Chinese people” that might make it “more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership.”
Bush Defends Olympics Decision
I seldom agree with George, but I do here. I was in China in July 2001, when the 2008 Summer Olympics were awarded to China, and the Chinese were jubilant. It wasn't about tourism or making money so much, as being recognized as an emerging world power. China was going to be the center of the world's attention; China was standing tall.
April Rabkin addressed this in the NYT July 2, 2008 writing from Beijing: LAST week, amid continuing calls from activists in Europe and the United States to boycott the Olympics to protest China’s record on human rights, came a rare rebuke from the International Olympic Committee. The committee expressed disappointment with a speech in which Tibet’s Communist Party leader used the occasion of an Olympic torch ceremony to denounce the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
"I view the Olympics as an opportunity for me to cheer on our athletes,” Mr. Bush said at a news conference after the two leaders met privately. He said not going to the ceremony “would be an affront to the Chinese people” that might make it “more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership.”
Bush Defends Olympics Decision
I seldom agree with George, but I do here. I was in China in July 2001, when the 2008 Summer Olympics were awarded to China, and the Chinese were jubilant. It wasn't about tourism or making money so much, as being recognized as an emerging world power. China was going to be the center of the world's attention; China was standing tall.
April Rabkin addressed this in the NYT July 2, 2008 writing from Beijing: LAST week, amid continuing calls from activists in Europe and the United States to boycott the Olympics to protest China’s record on human rights, came a rare rebuke from the International Olympic Committee. The committee expressed disappointment with a speech in which Tibet’s Communist Party leader used the occasion of an Olympic torch ceremony to denounce the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
What the committee and the rest of the world don’t realize is how little China cares what they think. Here in Beijing, the Olympic Games are primarily for domestic consumption, justifying the government’s new global power to its own people.
China's Inside Game
While I am glad that human rights advocates are bringing attention to China's brutalities in Tibet and Sudan, I don't believe a boycott of the Games is the correct response.
The athletes should not be punished.
How about boycotting China's products instead? Or would that upset our lives too much?
Dear Reva,
Great questions you asked - "How about boycotting China's products instead? Or would that upset our lives too much?" I loved these!
I do wish that Bush would not show up for the opening ceremonies. That is one of the occasions I believe the Chinese govenment hopes to show off the most. This is different than boycotting the entire Olympics. It is at least making some negative statement about what the Chinese government continues to do regarding human rights.
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Yes, you're right, as I think about it. Avoiding the opening ceremonies is a statement about the country, not the games, not the athletes.
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