I'm surprised to see no real mention of this issue on here...

 

In short, I don't see why no countries are threatening to boycott the games this summer, surely the only reason they dare not do it is that China has become such an economic powerhouse that its basicially "untouchable".

 

Although the British and American humanitarian records are hardly great... surely the world could do something against the Chinese government? Even if it had little effect, it would still give them something to think about. Even most European states want "nothing" to do with China and Tibet, some claiming "it's none of their business of Chinese internal affairs". Which in my opinion is just a political smokescreen as they realise the importance of China. No-one seems to be stood against it, for example the Greek police where the torch was first lit treated protestors awfully, beating them in front of the worlds media. Did we condemn them? No.

 

The treatment of the Dalai Lama and the blaming of him for the unrest seems somewhat strange too.

 

Would you be fully supportive of a boycott of the Olympic games in Beijing due to China's handling of unrest and general treatment of the Tibetan people?

Boycotting the games has been tried in the past most notably by the USA missing the Moscow games in 1980, didnt really achieve anything.The UK and others entered under the Olympic flag if I remember. The Russians just boycotted the Los Angeles games in 1984 in revenge.

 

Not sure it will achieve anything to be honest.

 

Better if the opening ceromony was boycotted or disrupted I think.

No

 

Boycotts only punish the athletes, some have worked their bollocks off for years in training to get to the games so to have them not be able to realise their dream is well harsh and only punishes athletes not the Chinese regime

 

A country pulls out of the games it would get a few soundbites in the papers and be forgotten about in 5 mins whereas the athletes of the country that pull out suffer for a lifetime

 

The sporting boycott of South Africa in protest of apartheid had all the usefulness of a chocolate teapot but denied cricket fans globally the chance to see possibly the best batsman ever (Barry Richards) in action

 

China's regime is vile but they are very old now so over time the old guard will die out and be replaced by younger reformers, that happened in South Africa (De Klerk) and happened in Russia (Gorbachev) and will happen in China but there is no quick fix

The UK is in a very delicate place where this is concerned. As 2012 hosts we can't just simply boycott it, otherwise there will probably end up being countries boycotting us due to our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The UK is in a very delicate place where this is concerned. As 2012 hosts we can't just simply boycott it, otherwise there will probably end up being countries boycotting us due to our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Spot on. Unfortunately the UK is in no position to get high and mighty over the China-Tibet situation due to the above, as we have no high moral ground to stand on and more importantly we are hosting the next Olympic Games after Beijing.

The UK is in a very delicate place where this is concerned. As 2012 hosts we can't just simply boycott it, otherwise there will probably end up being countries boycotting us due to our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

absolutely.

 

im in 2 minds though on boycotts in general. isnt it obscene to play games in a country that is abusing basic human rights? but i agree that it aint the athletes fault..

definitely not!

 

many athletes dream of representing their country at the olympics and to have what may be their only chance destroyed over a political struggle that has jack sh!t to do with sports is crushing.

 

The olympic trails for Swimming is currently underway in Sheffield, so i think that GB will be in attendance.

It's been hell today it seems. :o Protests, people trying to put out the flame, I'm surprised The Torch even made it to Wembly. :lol:

In all honesty, what can be done?

 

As said previously, boycotting will punish only our athletes, and protesting seems to do nothing, although I agree something must be done, the way in which Tibetan's are treated is thoroughly disgusting and the Chinese government is nothing more than a repressive regime. Though it is understandable why nobody is willing to speak out or act too harshly.. would you like be on the wrong side of China?

 

The only thing I can think of that would work would be ban on Chinese imports.. though that would cripple us just as much as them.

I dont even understand why china got the games in the first place :S. I mean how can a country with those policies even be considered?

I disagree with everything China stands for, not just Tibet but general human rights issues. Im completley against the whole concept of the games being there and i say we all boycott. They dont deserve anything.

I dont even understand why china got the games in the first place :S. I mean how can a country with those policies even be considered?

I disagree with everything China stands for, not just Tibet but general human rights issues. Im completley against the whole concept of the games being there and i say we all boycott. They dont deserve anything.

 

China's regime is repugnant but is America's any better ?

 

Fixed elections (2000), Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghirab, illegal invasion of Iraq, genocide on a grand scale in Shock And Awe

 

China have an appalling human rights record but lets not kid ourselves in thinking they are any worse than America

 

China's regime is repugnant but is America's any better ?

 

Fixed elections (2000), Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghirab, illegal invasion of Iraq, genocide on a grand scale in Shock And Awe

 

China have an appalling human rights record but lets not kid ourselves in thinking they are any worse than America

 

:mellow:

 

Lets begin with the following things:

 

- Not allowing contraception, but if you have more than one child it is murdered, which tbph is just SICK.

- Telling citizens what they are allowed to do, earn and think. No freedom of speech and anyone who breaks the policies is severly punished.

- i reitterate, no freedom of speech

- Lets not forget Tibet

- They dont allow journalists into the country, yet as soon as the Olympics is in town everyones flocking in

 

I severly disagree with your statement. Yes, American are bad, but i dont think China is on a par with them :S

China's regime is repugnant but is America's any better ?

 

Fixed elections (2000), Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghirab, illegal invasion of Iraq, genocide on a grand scale in Shock And Awe

 

China have an appalling human rights record but lets not kid ourselves in thinking they are any worse than America

 

I agree with what you say about America in relation to Iraq and WoT, BUT...

 

...One fundamental difference - US/UK will eventually pull out of Iraq (possibly before the 2012 Olympics, one would hope anyway....), China have no intentions of ever doing so with Tibet, China sees Tibet as being part of China, they have completely assimilated and destroyed Tibetan culture to a degree that we could never imagine, persecuting and murdering tens of thousands of Bhuddist Monks...

 

We've done some very bad things in Iraq and Guantanamo which I will never, ever defend, but what China has done in Tibet totally crosses the line into the category of true evil, true genocide....

 

A Govt as guilty of obvious genocide as the Chinese Govt is simply DOES NOT DESERVE to be part of any civilised world, and they definitely DO NOT DESERVE the Olympic Games....

 

I say, Boycott and be damned.... And good on French Prez Nicholas Sarkozy for having a hell of a lot more guts than the craven, foolish, arse-kissing goit we have in No 10....

 

And I say, well done to all my fellow Protestors on Sunday (especially the bloke with the fire extinguisher LOL).... Direct Action at its very best, well timed and co-ordinated.... It's not the Olympics that people are objecting to, it's the way in which the Chinese Govt has completely hijacked the ethos and meaning of the games for its own agenda that we have a BIG problem with.... And please don't give me this c**p about "oh, we should leave politics out of sport". 100% BOLLOCKS!!!! China's WHOLE REASONS for staging the games is 100% about pushing THEIR Political Agenda......

 

...As far as I'm concerned, this is a GLOVES OFF situation.... Sod the Marquis of Queensberry rules and get a pro-active.....

I agree with what you say about America in relation to Iraq and WoT, BUT...

 

...One fundamental difference - US/UK will eventually pull out of Iraq (possibly before the 2012 Olympics, one would hope anyway....), China have no intentions of ever doing so with Tibet, China sees Tibet as being part of China, they have completely assimilated and destroyed Tibetan culture to a degree that we could never imagine, persecuting and murdering tens of thousands of Bhuddist Monks...

 

We've done some very bad things in Iraq and Guantanamo which I will never, ever defend, but what China has done in Tibet totally crosses the line into the category of true evil, true genocide....

 

A Govt as guilty of obvious genocide as the Chinese Govt is simply DOES NOT DESERVE to be part of any civilised world, and they definitely DO NOT DESERVE the Olympic Games....

 

I say, Boycott and be damned.... And good on French Prez Nicholas Sarkozy for having a hell of a lot more guts than the craven, foolish, arse-kissing goit we have in No 10....

 

And I say, well done to all my fellow Protestors on Sunday (especially the bloke with the fire extinguisher LOL).... Direct Action at its very best, well timed and co-ordinated.... It's not the Olympics that people are objecting to, it's the way in which the Chinese Govt has completely hijacked the ethos and meaning of the games for its own agenda that we have a BIG problem with.... And please don't give me this c**p about "oh, we should leave politics out of sport". 100% BOLLOCKS!!!! China's WHOLE REASONS for staging the games is 100% about pushing THEIR Political Agenda......

 

...As far as I'm concerned, this is a GLOVES OFF situation.... Sod the Marquis of Queensberry rules and get a pro-active.....

 

 

F***ing fantastic summing up, i agree with every bit

I agree with what you say about America in relation to Iraq and WoT, BUT...

 

...One fundamental difference - US/UK will eventually pull out of Iraq (possibly before the 2012 Olympics, one would hope anyway....), China have no intentions of ever doing so with Tibet, China sees Tibet as being part of China, they have completely assimilated and destroyed Tibetan culture to a degree that we could never imagine, persecuting and murdering tens of thousands of Bhuddist Monks...

 

We've done some very bad things in Iraq and Guantanamo which I will never, ever defend, but what China has done in Tibet totally crosses the line into the category of true evil, true genocide....

 

A Govt as guilty of obvious genocide as the Chinese Govt is simply DOES NOT DESERVE to be part of any civilised world, and they definitely DO NOT DESERVE the Olympic Games....

 

I say, Boycott and be damned.... And good on French Prez Nicholas Sarkozy for having a hell of a lot more guts than the craven, foolish, arse-kissing goit we have in No 10....

 

And I say, well done to all my fellow Protestors on Sunday (especially the bloke with the fire extinguisher LOL).... Direct Action at its very best, well timed and co-ordinated.... It's not the Olympics that people are objecting to, it's the way in which the Chinese Govt has completely hijacked the ethos and meaning of the games for its own agenda that we have a BIG problem with.... And please don't give me this c**p about "oh, we should leave politics out of sport". 100% BOLLOCKS!!!! China's WHOLE REASONS for staging the games is 100% about pushing THEIR Political Agenda......

 

...As far as I'm concerned, this is a GLOVES OFF situation.... Sod the Marquis of Queensberry rules and get a pro-active.....

 

Spot on. I'm don't normally take a radical viewpoint. But on this I do.

 

Any country whose government wages a campaign of terror resulting in the death of 1.2 million is plain evil. According to the Tibetan Government in Exile they break down to 433,000 through military action, 343,000 through famine, 173,000 through imprisonment, 157,000 through execution, 93,000 through torture and 9,000 through suicide. By 1962 only 70 of the original 2,500 monasteries in the Tibet Autonomous Region were left and 93% of the monks were forced out.

 

The Government of Tibet in Exile quotes an issue of People's Daily published in 1959 to claim that the Tibetan population has dropped significantly since 1959. According to the article, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China show that the autonomous region of Tibet was populated by 1,273,969 persons. In the Tibetan sectors of Kham, 3,381,064 Tibetans were counted. In Qinghai and other Tibetan sectors that are incorporated in Gansu, 1,675,534 Tibetans were counted. According to the total of these three numbers, the Tibetan population attained 6,330,567 in 1959.

 

Yet in 2000, the number of Tibetans as a whole of these regions was about 5,400,000 according to National Bureau of Statistics.

 

In conclusion, the analysis of these statistics originating from National Bureau of Statistics shows that between 1959 and 2000 the Tibetan population decreased by about one million, a 15% decline. During the same period, the Chinese population doubled, and the worldwide population increased threefold.

 

And don't get me started on the fact that the PRC are responsible for 90% of the World's executions and are rated 169th out of 176 nations for human rights, freedom of speech, etc. Whilst their behaviour with regards Darfur & their support of the beyond evil Sudanese government (UN officials estimate over 400,000 people have lost their lives and some 2 million more have been driven from their homes, and that is reckoned to be a very conservative calculation by many due to China's influence within the UN) makes the USA's invasion of Iraq look mild by comparison.

 

Not since the Olympic Games were hosted in Berlin by Hitler's Nazi Germany in 1936 have the Olympics been rightly held in such great contempt by around the world.

 

Not since the Olympic Games were hosted in Berlin by Hitler's Nazi Germany in 1936 have the Olympics been rightly held in such great contempt by around the world.

 

Hear Hear!! I was just saying the same thing to a mate of mine the other day.. You could probably put this also on a par with the Soviet Games of 1980 when they'd just invaded Afghanistan as well actually.. Oh, but of course, all the "good, moral Western nations" actually did boycott those games didn't they...? And frankly, nothing the Soviet Union did in Afghanistan really compares to the sheer evil and genocide that PRC is almost certainly guilty of in Tibet, as well as the "small" matter of massive human rights abuses in China itself....

 

So, why not boycott these games...? Yes, Iraq is certainly a factor, but I feel the main one is economic... It was easy to boycott the Soviet games, we didn't have huge trade deals with the Soviet Union did we...? So, we'll just forget about the one million plus murdered Tibetans so long as we can have cheap goods from Chinese Sweatshops..... <_< <_<

 

Yes, all these commentators who banged on about the "violent protestors" on Sunday.... Yeah, right! <_< Cos trying to grab a piece of aluminium, lying in front of the torch procession and setting off a fire extinguisher REALLY compares to the real violence, torture and murder that China has perpetrated on the people of Tibet for almost 60 years doesn't it....? What occured on Sunday in London was NOT violent, it was NOT malicious.. Something which certainly CANNOT be said about the way the Chinese regime treats the people of Tibet, or even the vast majority of its own civilians who have the nerve to demand Freedom, Liberty and true Democracy...

 

The name of this Forum is "Perspectives".. Those who don't favour an all-out boycott of these "games" seriously should read what is written in Comply-or-Die's post and then maybe get some.....

Completley agree with you COD, but you have to remember its not just Tibet, it's China's awful human rights policies in general.

 

Our media teacher today was saying it's all a load of bollocks because we've just been done for our soldiers human right violations in iraq, and it's no different. Im sorry, but i tthink they're in a world of their own.

Do they really not allow contraception? But then the one child rule? At school all the chinese people knew NOTHING about the riots, on the news they saw that everything was fine with the torch. And on the internet, there is a "great firewall of china"

Do they really not allow contraception? But then the one child rule?

 

Disgusting, isnt it. <_<

Our media teacher today was saying it's all a load of bollocks because we've just been done for our soldiers human right violations in iraq, and it's no different. Im sorry, but i tthink they're in a world of their own.

 

This is the whole trouble really. Your Media Teacher is both right and wrong. Yes, it is true that we are possibly guilty of human rights violations with regards to Iraq. But this is our GOVT who is guilty and NOT the general public.. The people of this country marched in their millions to protest war, they should march again in their millions to protest our involvment in the PR stunt for China Plc that is the Olympic Games.... People should be leading the charge for a boycott, NOT Govts, NOT Politicians.. We've given Politicians too many chances to fukk up, they are amoral, corrupt and Post-Iraq, the majority of them really dont have any right to say anything at all to us, they've lost all moral authority as far as I'm concerned... Like I say, time for a bit of 'Direct Action', a bit of 'Civil Disobedience' on the part of the people of this country.....