Should we boycott the Beijing Olympics ....

NoH8

for human rights abuses...

The USA and other countries considered blocking the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, concerned about some of Hilter's practices, but decided against it which some say legitimized Hilter's practices. There's a great documentary on HBO about a Jewish athlete who was used to show that he wasn't discriminating (and much worse) against the jews called Hitler's Pawn that really opened my eyes to some of these issues. Of course, some say that Carter's boycott of the 1980 Moscow olympics in part was responsible for his not being reelected later that year.

I think that many would say that USA shouldn't host olympics until we improve our human rights (the invasion of Iraq against UN agreement, gitmo etc).

As much as I love sports and think the Olympics are great for international relations for all countries, but I do think that a boycott is a way making a huge statement about what we will and will not stand for. The only issue with doing this is that it's a bit hypocritical, since we're not clean when it comes to human right issues.

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http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/activists-propose-olympic-boycott/2007/07/11/1183833599499.html

Home » National » Article
Activists propose Olympic boycott
Email Print Normal font Large font Dan Silkstone
July 12, 2007

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AdvertisementAUSTRALIAN human rights advocates are poised to campaign for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, citing China's record of repression.

A coalition of community leaders and rights advocates has set a deadline of August — one year from the beginning of the Games. If Beijing does not stop reported persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, they will press the Australian Government and sporting authorities to stay away from the Games.

Coalition members include former Australian Democrats leader, Senator Andrew Bartlett, former human rights commissioner Dr Sev Ozdowski, the Christian group, the National Civic Council and Dr Noel Preston, founder of the Uniting Church's UnitingCare Centre for Social Justice. The group calls itself the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Calls have previously been issued internationally to boycott the Games, most famously by French presidential candidate Segolene Royal, as well as by the press-freedom group Reporters Without Borders.

"I think it's something people should at least start talking about," Senator Bartlett told The Age. "It's a huge thing to do and I don't necessarily, at this stage, advocate it, but there needs to be a debate.

"China's human rights record is appalling and I don't see a lot of evidence that it has improved significantly since the Olympics were awarded."

Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown, not a coalition member, said he did not support a boycott but called on the Government to pressure China about human rights. He said it was a "breathtaking double standard" that cricketers were prevented from touring Zimbabwe while more than 500 athletes will travel to Beijing.

Neither the Government nor the Opposition supports a boycott and it would be unlikely to occur. But the calls could bring negative publicity to the Games and confront athletes with a moral quandary.

A spokesman for the Falun Dafa Association, John Deller, said it was important to keep China's human rights record under scrutiny in the lead-up to the Games. "I think the athletes have to be informed," he said. "That is the key. If they know what's happening to Falun Gong prisoners and others in labour camps, the torture that goes on there. Then they can make an informed decision."

Senator Bartlett compared the moral question facing athletes with the one faced before the 1936 Berlin Olympics. While he stressed that he did not regard the Chinese Government as equivalent to the Nazi regime, he said in both cases athletes' participation could deliver a propaganda victory for their host. "This is a regime with major human rights problems and people should at least make themselves aware of that and make their own decisions," he said.

Australian Olympic Committee secretary-general Craig Phillips said that boycotts were not successful, punished athletes unfairly and could result in subsequent reverse boycotts. "The Olympics do bring greater scrutiny of the host nation," he said. "But it's not a matter for us, it's a matter for governments and other organisations to press if they wish to."

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http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/2007...e_Drug_Official

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China Quick to Execute Drug Official

JOSEPH KAHN

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Zheng Xiaoyu, who had admitted to taking bribes over medicines, was put to death Tuesday.
Eye Press, via Associated Press
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BEIJING, July 10 — China executed its former top food and drug regulator on Tuesday for taking bribes to approve untested medicine, as the Beijing leadership scrambled to show that it was serious about improving the safety of Chinese products.

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court carried out the death sentence against Zheng Xiaoyu, 62, the former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, shortly after the country’s Supreme Court rejected his final appeal.

Mr. Zheng, who had appealed his May 29 sentence on the grounds that it was too severe and that he had confessed to the bribery charges against him, became the first ministerial-level official put to death since 2000 and the fourth since China opened its doors to the outside world nearly 30 years ago.

The official Xinhua news agency announced the execution, but did not say how Mr. Zheng was killed. In most cases, the court police execute prisoners by shooting them in the back of the head, though recently the police have also used lethal injections.

China carries out more court-ordered executions than the rest of the world combined, according to human rights groups. But the sentence against Mr. Zheng was unusually harsh and its execution uncommonly swift.

The country’s Supreme Court has recently made a highly publicized effort to show that it carefully reviews all death sentences and that it has restricted the power of local courts to impose them.

But Mr. Zheng’s case appears to have served a political purpose, allowing senior leaders to show that they have begun confronting the country’s poor product-safety record. Shoddy or dangerous goods, including drugs, pet food and car tires, have damaged its reputation abroad, especially in the United States.

China is the world’s largest exporter of consumer products, and tainted goods represent a small fraction of the country’s more than $1 trillion in annual exports. But officials clearly worry that protectionist forces in the United States could use the spate of quality problems to restrict trade.

On the same day that Mr. Zheng was executed, representatives of the country’s leading food and drug regulatory bodies held a joint news conference to emphasize their determination to crack down on fake and counterfeit food and medicine.

After weeks of denying serious problems or blaming foreign forces for exaggerating the issue, officials have recently begun to strike a less defensive tone. One senior official acknowledged that the food and drug safety network still allowed too many unsafe goods to slip through, and said that at the moment the trend was “not promising.”

“As a developing country, China’s current food and drug safety situation is not very satisfactory because supervision of food and drug safety started late,” said that official, Yan Jiangying, deputy policy director of the State Food and Drug Administration, the agency Mr. Zheng headed. “Its foundation is weak, so the supervision of food and drug safety is not easy.”

Asked about the death sentence, Ms. Yan said: “Corruption in the food and drug authority has brought shame to the nation. What we will have to learn from the experience is to improve our work and emphasize public safety.”

Regulators said their ability to monitor food and drug purity would greatly increase by 2010, when they expect to have enhanced their ability to respond to accidents and to have established a national product recall system.

The authorities said that inspectors would start shifting posts more often to prevent corruption, and that they would check a wide range of goods more frequently to ferret out fakes.

But they acknowledged that they faced challenges in eliminating unsafe products. China has 200 million farms, many of them less than an acre in size. It has nearly 450,000 food processing companies, nearly 80 percent with 10 employees or fewer, said Lin Wei, a senior official at the National Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

“This is our national condition,” Mr. Lin said. “It is our hope that by 2010 we can reduce the number of small food workshops by 50 percent and effectively curb law breaking and counterfeiting.”

Officials acknowledge that responsibility for food and drug safety involves as many as 17 government agencies, ranging from the Health Ministry, which sets hygienic standards, to the Public Security Bureau, which has the power to investigate criminal cases.

This fragmented authority has led to a proliferation of licensing fees and fines. But it has also allowed local officials to protect factories in their domain and has created overlapping jurisdictions in which no single agency exercises ultimate responsibility, Chinese regulatory experts say.

On Tuesday, officials said the five agencies with the most direct, front-line responsibility for food and drug safety had stepped up their coordination.

Officials also appeared worried that the safety scare could reduce attendance or otherwise limit the economic development and global prestige it hoped to gain from being the site of next summer’s Olympic Games. On Tuesday, authorities outlined measures they had taken to guarantee clean food and water supplies for athletes and spectators at the Games.

Fears abroad over Chinese-made products were aroused last year by the deaths of dozens of people in Panama who took cough syrup that contained diethylene glycol, a poisonous chemical, that was imported from China. The Chinese manufacturer had labeled the chemical as glycerin, a common and harmless ingredient in drugs.

Chinese-made pet food tainted with the chemical melamine caused the deaths of cats and dogs in the United States this year. American regulators have since turned away drug-tainted seafood products, juice containing unsafe additives and toy trains colored with lead paint.

The United States and several other countries have banned Chinese-made toothpaste that contains diethylene glycol. No reports of health problems stemming from the product have emerged, however, and China allows the use of diethylene glycol in toothpaste in small quantities.

Mr. Zheng became China’s top drug regulator in 1994, when he was named to head what was then called the State Pharmaceutical Administration. In 2003, the agency became the State Food and Drug Administration, and acquired responsibility for overseeing the nation’s food supply as well.

He was removed in June 2005, for reasons that were not specified at the time. His ouster came after a period of bureaucratic infighting over the powers of the food and drug regulator, whose expanded responsibilities encroached on the purview and revenue sources of rival departments.

Late last year he was charged with accepting $850,000 in bribes to grant approval for hundreds of medicines. State media said his agency had approved 137 drugs that had not submitted proper applications, and that six of those turned out to be entirely fake.

Continuing the crackdown, a Beijing court on Friday meted out a capital sentence to Mr. Zheng’s deputy, Cao Wenzhuang. Mr. Cao was given a two-year stay of execution, however, which often results in commutation to life in prison.

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KariLynn

No.

Anonymous

A former coach of mine was the world leader in his event in 1980. He won the US Olympic Trials and sat home and watched them on TV...

As an athlete who worked half a lifetime preparing for an Olympiad myself, I say there is absolutely no way we should boycott Bejing next year. Sports should not be used for political statements IMHO.

LisaAlissa

No.

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As much as I love sports and think the Olympics are great for international relations for all countries, but I do think that a boycott is a way making a huge statement about what we will and will not stand for. The only issue with doing this is that it's a bit hypocritical, since we're not clean when it comes to human right issues.

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From my point of view, there's another issue as well. I saw what happened with the '80 boycott. There were many, many athletes who had been trying to get to the Olympics (often since they were children). There is frequently only a brief period in the lifetime of an athlete when they can compete at the top level and their school/future professional life allows them to invest the training time needed for that level of competition.

Yes, there was a political point to be made in 1980 (and may be again), but I don't think we should ask those athletes to "pay" for it. (Instead of those who were trying to "make the point.")

It was a bad thing to do then, and we shouldn't do it again. It's one thing if the athletes were to individually decide they didn't want to go, quite another to tell them that "yes, you made the team", but we're not going.

If we want to "make a point" about human rights abuse, we should do something that spreads the pain of making that point. For instance, if we want to say "we won't buy Chinese textiles" (and I have no idea if trade treaties would allow us to do so), we would be spreading the pain broadly among the Chinese workers/factories that produce & then export those textiles, and then among the US consumers who would not have the benefit of those textiles. If other sources were "higher cost" (as I suspect) we could all pay more for our clothing.

Another possibility would be to restrict american travel to China during the period of the games except for athletes and their immediate families/trainers (impose the pain on the tourist class who would otherwise like to travel to China for the games). Or perhaps restrict the ability of broadcasters to broadcast the Olympics inside the US (impose the pain on the broadcasters who have paid for rights to broadcast the games).

So I am against a boycott of the Olympics, unless it is on a person-by-person basis. That is, select the teams, including standbys, then allow those athletes individually to choose not to go, and simply don't replace team members who don't opt to go past the usual back-ups. However I'm not even sure I'm in favor of that!

There are certainly human rights abuses, but I don't think a boycott of the Olympics which is imposed on the entire US delegation is the way to address them.

LisaAlissa

LisaAlissa

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As an athlete who worked half a lifetime preparing for an Olympiad myself, I say there is absolutely no way we should boycott Bejing next year. Sports should not be used for political statements IMHO.

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Hi Felicia!

That is so cool! What event? Did you get to go to the Olympics?

curiously (since it's exciting to talk w/ accomplished athletes )...

LisaAlissa

Emelee26

Yay..Felicia's back!!
I missed you

Toronto

No. Think about how Jesse Owen's success was a metaphorical spit in Hitler's eye.

An olympic boycott makes a bunch of kids pay for a bunch of old people's convictions. Me, I'm trying to boycott "made in China" and let me tell you it is difficult. Try it for a while.

NoH8

I would have agreed with you Lisa, before I saw "Hitler's Pawn." Some of my favorite athletes had to sit home and watch the 80s olympics because of the boycott and I thought it was wrong at the time. Now I'm not so sure. While I agree that athletes shouldn't be used to make a political point, I'm not so sure now. Boycotting certain products might work-- but international threats (that would have to be followed through on) of a boycott might provide the necessary leverage to enact quick changes-- or as in the case of Hilter, they might just "force" the chinese government to be more sneaky. I don't know. I would hate to see a boycott, but I also hate to see barbaric human rights abuses too.

Beesie

I think the real problem is the politics of the Olympic committee in choosing which country will host the Olympics. They were making a political statement when they selected Beijing - they were in effect saying that they believed that China had made sufficient progress and therefore the decision was to reward them. Many of the countries who participate in the Olympics might not agree with the committee's assessment that China deserves the games, but unfortunately it's the athletes who are the pawns and the athletes who will be hurt if there are any boycotts.

LisaAlissa

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international threats (that would have to be followed through on) of a boycott might provide the necessary leverage to enact quick changes-- or as in the case of Hilter, they might just "force" the chinese government to be more sneaky. I don't know.

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My impression is that such threats almost never "work." The target is usually unwilling to "cede the high ground" and admit that there is anything wrong w/ their current practices. The usual first response is to say how can you be worrying about us when you ___________________ (whatever it is). And as you pointed out earlier, the US is hardly in a position to claim the high ground on human rights just now.

Wasn't this the way we got into the '80's boycott?

LisaAlissa

iodine

NO! If a statement is to be made, do it with something that will work: MONEY.

Change the tarriffs, don't allow US companies to trade with China and don't allow China to send their products to the US.

Boycotting the Games is no way to make a point with the China political mind set.

marshakb

NO, what a stupid idea that would be.

Anonymous

NO!!!!!! It wouldn't work anyway and lifelong dreams of hardworking deserving athletes would be ruined .. what a terrible shame that would be.

Anonymous

Add me the strong ABSOLUTELY NOT vote!

Anonymous

LisaAlissa,

My event was the women's high jump (track and field). I finished 7th in the 1988 US Trials and did not compete in 92 trials as my mom had recently passed. Tried again in 96, 00 and 04, but never got that close again. Retired from the sport in July 04, diagnosed with bc three months later. Now I just punch and kick the hell out of stuff in karate

So, no, I don't think there shouldn't be any Olympic boycott.

NoH8

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NO! If a statement is to be made, do it with something that will work: MONEY.

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That's part of my thinking in questioning this-- any I haven't yet made up my mind where I fall on the issues. Countries have to spend a lot of money preparing for the olympics and reap the financial gains(or hope to break even) during the olympics. This would be a big hit financially all at once.
But I do agree, it's the olympic committee who holds the blame for this one for being too optimistic about china's human rights issues-- not the athletes.

marshakb

Amy that is absolutely right. WHY did they choose China to begin with????

NoH8

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Amy that is absolutely right. WHY did they choose China to begin with????

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Maybe Iran and North Korea didn't want it .

Jaybird627

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Amy that is absolutely right. WHY did they choose China to begin with????

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Okay, the PC person within me says "Yes" to a boycott!

As always, JMO...............

Jaybird

NoH8

Here we go again--back in the news.

I'm really glad people are protesting the torch runs, as long as none of the innocent participants are hurt. This is one way that the plight of those in Tibet and Darfur can get some publicity. On one hand, I would like to see the USA be a leader and take a stand against the Chinese government-- but that didn't go over well in 1980 when Carter did it. The least Bush could do is refuse to go himself, but he has said he is going both to the opening ceremonies and the games.

shokk

If our athletes are there then Bush should be there for THEM............this is not our athletes battle and they have no control where the Olympics are being held.........if they are walking in the opening day ceremonies then Bush should be there as well period...........if he boycotts the opening ceremonies that will be a slap in the face for young people that have trained for most of their lives to represent our country that will probably be one of the most exciting times in their lives...........Shokk

Anonymous

No, we should not boycott the Olympics .... athletes would lose way too much for the sake of politics!

Besides, we ended up in Iraq because we stuck our nose in where it didn't belong and could have avoided it.  What makes us the world police?  I am so sick of the US trying to force it's politics in other countries.  I want our money to stay right here instead of our country going further and further into debt.  I know a boycott doesn't cost us money but it would cost our athletes.

Amy said: I think that many would say that USA shouldn't host olympics until we improve our human rights (the invasion of Iraq against UN agreement, gitmo etc).

Who do you mean? Many other countries? Because it's not going to be MOST of the people who live here in the USA .... MOST of the people who live in the USA want the Olympics in their state/town, etc due to the generated revenue.   LA was so sorry we lost it!  But if we boycotted the Olympics, other nations would have every right to boycott us the next go-round.

Anonymous

No.

Anonymous

Felicia, WOW, I'm impressed!

Paulette531

No...why punish the athletes who have trained their entire lives for politics?

Poppy

I absolutely think we should boycott the Olympics in China. We should not be importing their toxic toothpaste, drugs and dog food and we should not be pouring millions of tourism dollars into a country that has no regard for human rights.

As for the athletes, while I would feel for them if the games were boycotted, if their governments (ours included) would not even consider a country like China as it is today, then there would be no need for a boycott thus no problem with the athletes competing.

Erica

Anonymous

I do wish we weren't importing their products.

iodine

It did no good under Carter and would carry no weight now.  We are trying to IMPROVE our international standing and a boycott would accomplish the opposite.

Let the GAMES begin!

NoH8

Dotti you are right about improving our international relations- I hadn't thought of that angle. I am just uncomfortable with doing that while not doing anything to help Tibet and those in Darfur.

I do not believe Bush needs to be there for the athletes.--- if anything he is a distraction and with an approval level around 30% it would stand to reason that 70% of the athletes wouldn't want his support.

Um, RM-- the USA isn't the only country that makes the decision about hosting the Olympics and having it here. I would venture to guess that with the disfavor of the USA among European, Central and South American, Middle Eastern and Asian countries-- the USA won't get a look at the Olymics until we change our ethnocentric ways.

Anonymous

I'll pass your post on the Olympic committee    since they must be making a futile attempt for 2016 ...

 

US plans bid to host 2016 Olympics

Washington- The US Olympic Committee wants to host the 2016 Summer Games and later this year plans to nominate either Chicago or Los Angeles as its contender in the competition to host the event, the organization said Tuesday. The organization has been considering a shot to host the games for 18 months and decided a US bid would be competitive internationally, USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth said in a statement.

"Based on our analysis, we believe the time is right for a US city to bid, and we fully intend to proceed with a unified, national effort to bring the Games back to America in 2016," he said.

Five US cities expressed interest in hosting the games and the organization narrowed the field to Chicago and Los Angeles.

Those cities will formally submit their bids later this month and the USOC will announce its choice for the official US bid on April 14.

The International Olympic Committee will decide the host of the 2016 games in October 2009.

The US hosted the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002 and hosted the Summer games in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996.

sccruiser

No, we shouldn't boycott the Olympics. After all, look at all the money our government has borrowed to keep our economy and Bush's War in operation!! How would that look? especially if Bush and his cronies need to ask for more money. I'm sure that's what they will be thinking.



I too would like to buy more products not made in China. So, as a result I am not spending much $$ to support the economy because all I can afford is stuff from the discount and cheaper stores. If my economic power ever returns, not likely, since I was forced out of my job because I was too sick to work, I will be visiting the mom/pop stores with the higher prices. No Target, KMart, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Toys R Us, etc.



At least in this area where I live we have few box stores, and must drive miles to them. Oh yeah, and the price of gas limits my range of motion--of my car! LOL



Let's not punish the athletes. I was disappointed when our country boycotted the 80s Olympics.



grace