I am sure I speak for everybody reading this when I express disgust at the recent actions of the Chinese government in Tibet; however what to do in response is far from a given. Calls for an outright boycott of the 2008 games, hosted by Beijing, remain relatively few and far between at the present time with more serious consideration being given to a call for a boycott of opening ceremony are more wide-spread and have been given an airing by prominent politicians like Nancy Pelosi, speaker for the US House of Representatives.
Meanwhile European politicians are making noises in favour of boycotting the opening ceremony. The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag that ‘boycott measures’ could be justified. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has hinted he may not attend the opening ceremony and it is a French organisation, Reporters Without Borders, that is at the forefront of the campaign for a ‘political boycott’ of the opening ceremony. It conducted a poll which found a clear majority (53%-42%) in favour of Sarkozy boycotting the opening and a large minority (41%) in favour of a total boycott by French athletes.
Olympic committees have however opposed the boycott; complaining variously that the athletes and Chinese people will be the ones to suffer or that such issues simply should not be allowed to interfere with sport. Russian and Australian ministers have joined the opposition camp; the Russian government said that it would like to;
underscore that efforts to politicize the holding of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China are unacceptable,”
and Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith added:
I very strongly believe that we should not in any way bring the Olympics or call the Olympics into question.”
Politics spilling over into sport is not, of course, without precedent – there are numerous instances of the Olympics themselves being involved in political brinkmanship. China itself put pressure on Canada to not allow the Taiwanese team to compete as the ‘Republic of China’ at the Montreal games in 1976. It is hard to avoid the impression that politicians opposed to the boycott are taking as much a political position as it’s proponents. Russian memories no doubt reach back to the 1980 Moscow games and Australia no doubt seeks to cause the minimum offence to a near-neighbour and trading partner; Beijing itself will no doubt use the games to promote not just China but also bolster the credibility of it’s regime. Therefore we can dismiss out of hand the facile arguments of the Olympic committees whose own athletes are uncomfortable and want the International Olympic Committee to make a stand.
If the IOC wished for a non-political games then it is hard to see why it chose China in the first place with its government that is rightly bitterly disliked by people who hold democratic ideals close to their heart. Given the complete expulsion of foreign media from Tibet it is quite right to question how seriously we can trust Beijing’s assurances on the freedom of foreign media. In reality everything will be choreographed and stage-managed to present not just the games but the government in the most favourable light; the Olympics cannot claim to be totally above politics because of claiming to represent higher ideals.
Harder to dismiss is the argument that such a boycott would be damaging to the Chinese people. However, this is the reason that an outright boycott is wrong and would in effect constitute a collective punishment for the Chinese people. If boycott is a tactic for the concerned to raise awareness of the issues then the signs are that the Chinese people are not a receptive audience It seems that, no doubt misinformed by its own media as always, they view Western concern for human rights in Tibet as a hostile attempt to ‘divide’ China. In that sense the Olympics and a boycott represent an opportunity for the Western world to present it’s view better and argue it’s case. Athletes know that they will continue to enjoy the support of the people of their nation in the Games but politicians should send a clear signal to the Chinese government that it’s policy of repression is not excusable boycott the opening ceremony.
This is an issue that should not be allowed to slip out of the spotlight and is one that our party should be raising – especially something that the newly formed Liberal Youth could take up as it would be a good way to launch the organisation as a campaigning presence.
* Darrell Goodliffe is a party member from Peterborough.
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10 Comments
We should boycott the Olympics because they have turned into a grotesque distortion of the original ideal.
Isn’t it pathetic? Some mealy mouthed hypocrites talk about boycotting the Olympics because of Tibet, whilst buying enough Chinese Goods every Saturday to turn it into the world’s largest creditor and the world’s largest manufacturer. Truly, truly amazing.
No, I dont think its pathetic at all…unless you want to strike out at not just the Chinese government but also the Chinese people too which is surely not the aim of this exercise….
Boycotting which impacts on the regime’s prestige and luxury is far more effective than products.
Regimes like china, burma and zimbabwe don’t care if the populace starve, they will always look after themselves.
The only way to hurt them is to go after that which directly affects them – their commercial and lucrative partnerships (very little if any money from big oil, gas, etc deals ever reach the population of a country), their luxury goods, their arms supply, their prestige events.
Boycotts and sanctions are very much a blunt instrument.
Not sure if a boycott of the ceremonies is actually necessary, just a reminder that they are interminably long and sentimental propaganda rituals that would send you to sleep if not for the prospect of a protest to liven it up – how about a streaker ot two??
So long as all competitors are aware of and engaged in all the diverse variety of political issues surrounding contemporary events whether social, environmental or human (from Tibet and Taiwan to air pollution, heritage and wildlife issues, through to democracy in economics and education, to justice and prison conditions etc) the regime will not be able to escape universal pressure to improve conditions.
Global events provide a platform to raise humanity, giving prizes to prise us away from disruptive distortions – the focus must remain firmly and squarely on the competition and the level of competitivity.
Change will only happen behind the lens, not in front of it – and any improvements will only be able to be felt after the cameras have rolled away again.
Laurence, I challenge you to define what the original ideals of the Olympic games were.
Olympia was the greek pantheon, a form of representative measure of the demos, rather than any prescription from on high – amateurism was an unequal sham from the start.
So don’t complain about an illusion of the grotesque, especially when you provide a likeness open for description.
What I mean is that things have now got a bit out of hand. How much are the London 2012 games going to cost? Something shocking no doubt. How much did the London 1948 games cost? Does anyone even know? Over time, the Olympics does seem to have developed a ridiculously inflated sense of its own importance. I think it’s time that the great drug-taking festival was brought down a peg or two.
I think the decision for the USA athletes to attend the 2008 Olympics should first be left to them. I do believe that the Athletes should not be punished. The IOC should make better selections of host countries.
Perhaps the IOC should build permanent facilities for the games.
The US should boycott traveling to China to attend the Olympics. Then during the Olympics the USA should also boycott China and their products. Don’t the people always suffer while the government prospers? Media attention to the problem is the answer.
Go ahead America continue the protests you started around the torch carrying. The USA government officials also need to make one decision – Stay at home in the US – attending the Olympics only to boycot the opening ceremony defeats the purpose (and it mixes politics with sport).
USA Olympic committee might want to create an armband so Athletes can show their support for change in China – That’d look cool during the opening ceremony – A media event that now will no doubt be viewed by many wondering minds all over the globe.
I don’t think it is a kind of liberal act to boycott the Olympic Games.
One thing I don’t understand is do people real know what happened in Tibet?I’m affraid no!I live in Tibet and I do protest the illegal riots of the criminals there,and,I suggest people who are still in puzzle of the fact to go and see what really happens!
Are you boycotting Chinese products? If so, please go to http://buyhard.net46.net, where you can register details of your ‘non-purchases’ (i.e. things you put back on the shelf when you realised they were made in China).