Would you boycott the Bejing Olympics ?

bmulligan

bmulligan

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I'm not talking about forcing an American team, or any country's team, to not attend the Olympic games this summer if you happen to be the leader of a sovereign nation. I'm curious to know whether or not you, as an individual athlete, would choose not to attend the games because of China's political atmosphere, or any other reason.

I have a friend who lives in Europe who may be kicked off his Olympic team for the country he represents if he does not sign an agreement to not criticize the Chineese government's politics. This may be his only chance to go to an Olympics as a competitor but he doesn't want to be complicit in China's campaign to eliminate dissent.

Please state why you would or would not attend the games.
 
I would attend, since the Olympics, or any other sporting event, should not be politicized. Oooooh, the Kenyan's can beat us in marathons. Big deal, we have food and water.
 
I would not attend because:
a. Beijing is too polluted
b. The Chinese government is too corrupt
c. I'd rather not have my 1st Amendments rights taken away
 
I don't know what the big surprise is. Everyone knows that China has human rights issues when they decided to hold the event there.

And its not like the United States is the standard-bearer of morality either...
 
[quote name='Xevious']I don't know what the big surprise is. Everyone knows that China has human rights issues when they decided to hold the event there.

And its not like the United States is the standard-bearer of morality either...[/quote]

Ditto on that. And everything's negotiable. He could've negotiated for an agreement that limits his speech only on Chinese soil. Afterwards, he can be free to criticize however he'd would like. It wouldn't be hypocritical since he's already made his intent known by virtue of bmulligan telling CAG. I assume bmulligan's not the only person he knows so all his other friends/family that know his discomfort will spread the news via word of mouth.
 
How can you criticize the Chinese government's politics? They help set up a nation that's like "US' Little Helper" more than it is "The Red Menace."

C'mon, man: what did you buy in the last week that was made in China?

Moreover, when our government outdoes 8 years of Reagan-style deficit spending in 5 years, and as we approach $8 Trillion in debt, who do we call? Aaron Spelling? Warren Buffett? George Soros? NOOOO! We call up "US' Little Helper" and the bourgeoisie investors that nation has helped create and ask for an increase on our credit card cap.

China's awesome: they give us our action figures, General Tso's Chicken, and money. What can we criticize about them?

Oh, free speech and human rights abuses? Sure, I can see that. Let me step over these cables on my kitchen floor installed by the Verizon wireless network (they tell me it's to stop a would-be terrorist attack in my sunroom - and I'm thankful for that, since my lillies are in full bloom right now), throw out this newspaper (March 2004, huh? Oh, I knew it was old because the front page had photos of dead soldiers in coffins returning from Iraq - good thing nobody has died in Iraq since then, at least as far as the pictures say), look under the mail (Always with the junk mail from these hippie groups! But tell me, what's extraordinary rendition and why should I be concerned about it, let alone give money to MoveOn because of it?)...THERE it is! I was just looking for a piece of paper so I could write Senator Dolittle a letter demanding the US pull out of the Olympics until China reverses their stance on free speech and human rights. I want them to model themselves after the beacon of civilization 'round the world, US.
 
I would not boycott the Olympics. You work for years and sometimes in case almost your whole life to practice and train for the Olympics and to not participate because of China would make me feel like I spent all that time for nothing.
 
Is it a requirement to criticize them while you're there or something? You're in the olympics, you run in a circle, and you're done, the end. Then you can criticize the Chinese government afterward. It's not like you can only criticize China when you happen to be there. So I wouldn't really care about it.

The olympics are supposed to be kind of a worldwide unifying thing, not a platform for arguing politics. If a country can participate you should be able to hold the olympics in that country too, no bitching.

And besides, if you want to boycott China because of their politics, then don't buy anything made in China. That's the free market solution right?
 
The Olympics should be a time that people of all nations can momentarily forget world conflicts and cheer their nation in competitive sports events.

So personally I would not boycott the Olympics in China.
 
Beijing is one of the greatest places in the world. China fought many years to have the olympics there, its people like you in this thread that proves whats wrong with the world today.

Boycotting is the past, get into the future and buy them out.
 
I wonder how much China bribed the Olympic Committee to have the Oympics held there....

C'mon... what was runner up? Sudan?
 
So far I like the rational, in depth replies from both sides (except gobz, common, we know every bidding city had to bribe to get voted, including Sydney, Salt Lake City, London, and Atlanta), unlike digg that just criticizes the Chinese government for no specific reasons.

There's too much at stakes for IOC and all governments to boycott such event as there're commercial interests involved and remember London is hosting 2012 so they're thinking of the consequences of such action. If you read the reports, Tibetans started the riot (it's by no mean peaceful demonstration) against Han Chinese. Most of the countries in the world have conflicts between different ethnic groups and it's not unique to China. So the situation is much more profound than it sounds, much like the current gas prices and it's by no mean one sided or by one single cause (popular, retarded opinion is 'it's all Bush's fault').

If you really want to boycott, how about Chinese made goods? These include all 3 current consoles and can be almost anything you buy at stores, obviously it's not realistic, after it's a sporting event. BTW, I'm speaking as a native of Taiwan (we're threatened by China and I'm by no mean supporter of the government), despite the current tensions, having the event hosted in China will give the world a more balanced perspective of the event (even the culture), rather than having it hosted in N.A/Europe repeatedly.
 
I have mixed opinions on the subject. The person who inspired this topic is actually the son of an old close friend. The father is vehemently against his son's participation as his "liberal" views conflict with the totalitarian control China's Government likes to exert over it's people. His son, a "liberal" himself, is conflicted. He feels the pull of personal glory more than young idealism and has chosen to join his teammates in Bejing.

In the spirit of the ancient Olympics, idealism was set aside for the festival. Yes, there were all kinds of political conflicts surrounding, during, and within the Olympic events in classical history, but for the most part the Olympics represented a truce, or, coming together of differing opinions for a brief moment, where common ground and fair competition ruled instead of the sword.

Unbeknownst to "Dad", I advised him to leave politics to the polititians and the games to the athletes. Hopefully this will not result in a boycott of my hospitality the next time they visit us in America.
 
The problem with leaving the politics out of it, is that hosting the olympic games is a great boon to a city. You think that Beijing won't profit economically from having the games there? Thats the problem i have, people whom i see as some of the most evil on earth, profiting at all.

Granted i know we aren't the heralds of morality ourselves, but we aren't China.
 
[quote name='bmulligan']I'm curious to know whether or not you, as an individual athlete, would choose not to attend the games because of China's political atmosphere, or any other reason.[/quote]

If I were an athlete who aspired to compete at the Olympic level, presumably I will have dedicated enormous amounts of time in training for this event, and no, I would not allow my political views to trump my desire to compete.

As a decidedly un-athletic slob in real life, I also will not boycott the Olympics in Beijing (in terms of watching the events or even dismissing it in conversation) because I prefer opening channels of dialog rather than waving The Stick around from my soap box.

Yes, the Olympics have been marred by corruption at the level of the coordinators (taking bribes) and the contestants (doping up.) Yes, the entire event is less focused on pure athletic competition and more about a boom to the local economy. That's all quite sad.

However, I think it's better that we try to address the shortcomings of the event, than to discard it altogether, as an imperfect/flawed product.
 
[quote name='vincewy']If you really want to boycott, how about Chinese made goods? These include all 3 current consoles and can be almost anything you buy at stores, obviously it's not realistic, after it's a sporting event. BTW, I'm speaking as a native of Taiwan (we're threatened by China and I'm by no mean supporter of the government), despite the current tensions, having the event hosted in China will give the world a more balanced perspective of the event (even the culture), rather than having it hosted in N.A/Europe repeatedly.[/quote]

[quote name='JolietJake']The problem with leaving the politics out of it, is that hosting the olympic games is a great boon to a city. You think that Beijing won't profit economically from having the games there? Thats the problem i have, people whom i see as some of the most evil on earth, profiting at all.

Granted i know we aren't the heralds of morality ourselves, but we aren't China.[/quote]

JJ, I think Vince made a great point. Personally organizing boycotts of chinese products would have more impact (even though it would be next-to-impossible)

IMO on the world stage, Olympics are more symbolic of diplomacy then a financial boon - therefore I don't think it's the issue to use to make a stand on politics.
 
I would not boycott them because I don't live in China and at this point in time I see China as more of a friend than a foe despite their backwards government.
 
I personally think the only reason we aren't harder on China is because we get so many of our products from them. If that weren't the case, we'd probably take a harder stance on their policies, more than the "bark is worse than the bite" approach we have now. I'm not saying we'd be invading China instead of Iraq, but we'd probably lobby a lot harder for sanctions etc.

After all, if we cut off trade with China, Wal Mart would be screwed.
 
I think I'm in agreement with the general consensus: I wouldn't boycott. I think the Olympics are a symbol of unity, and they work better as such. Politics for the politicians, as was stated.

It's been a while since I really had to mull something like this over. Good thread, OP.

[quote name='mykevermin']China's awesome: they give us our ... General Tso's Chicken[/QUOTE]

Nuh-uh, man. Stay away from that hellmeat. Shit's made out of grade-Z, federally unapproved, candied chicken asshole.
 
Re: Olympics as a financial boon? One word: Montreal.[quote name='bmulligan']

In the spirit of the ancient Olympics, idealism was set aside for the festival. Yes, there were all kinds of political conflicts surrounding, during, and within the Olympic events in classical history, but for the most part the Olympics represented a truce, or, coming together of differing opinions for a brief moment, where common ground and fair competition ruled instead of the sword.
[/quote]That's a different ancient Olympics than the one I'm familiar with. I was always under the impression that cheating was rampant, anything less than victory resulted in a competitor being hated and shunned, and all that business.
 
[quote name='trq']I think I'm in agreement with the general consensus: I wouldn't boycott. I think the Olympics are a symbol of unity, and they work better as such. Politics for the politicians, as was stated.

It's been a while since I really had to mull something like this over. Good thread, OP.



Nuh-uh, man. Stay away from that hellmeat. Shit's made out of grade-Z, federally unapproved, candied chicken asshole.[/quote]

And it tastes awesome!
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Re: Olympics as a financial boon? One word: Montreal.That's a different ancient Olympics than the one I'm familiar with. I was always under the impression that cheating was rampant, anything less than victory resulted in a competitor being hated and shunned, and all that business.[/QUOTE]

Well, of course, nothing has changed in human nature or human history. However, minor conflicts and wars were often postponed for the festival of Zeus, and competitors were granted "protected" status for their travel to the games. Granted, there wasn't any peace, love, and harmony, but compared to the rest of Greek history, it was probably the closest they came.
 
[quote name='bmulligan']Well, of course, nothing has changed in human nature or human history. However, minor conflicts and wars were often postponed for the festival of Zeus, and competitors were granted "protected" status for their travel to the games. Granted, there wasn't any peace, love, and harmony, but compared to the rest of Greek history, it was probably the closest they came.[/quote]

Yeah, I was watching the history channel the other day and they mentioned how at one point the Greek states actually postponed a battle they were having to attend the Olympics.

Back on topic, the more I thought about it boycotting is def not the answer. Jesse Owens didn't boycott the 1936 games held in Nazi Germany (Berlin), and his wins served to take some of the wind out of Hitler's sails that day.

Sports is a language we all speak - they effectively demonstrate that on an even playing field no one people will dominate and therefore counteracts xenophobic myths perpetrated by isolationist and power-hungry world leaders.
 
The new toilet facilities built in the Beijing stadiums can no longer be used by regular Chinese citizens living or working in the area. Concerns have been raised by Communist party officials that the hygiene issues of local citizens would affect the Beijing Olympic image.[97] There is now a penalty of 100 to 500 yuan imposed on any Chinese locals caught using the bathrooms.[97]
Click to expand...
According to currency converters, a US dollar equals 0.14 yuan.

That's one sad fact among the others. IMO these Summer Olympics are going to leave one huge skidmark on China's wonderful reputation.
Officials say that 300,000 city residents have been moved, some illegally, to make way for the £42 billion project to prepare Beijing for the Olympics. Those who complain encounter persecution, or even jail.
Click to expand...
Article HERE
 
Am I the only one who finds it funny that we think it's ok yet we boycotted the Russian Olympics at one time? Wasn't it in the 80's?
Ruined China's not our friend, at least the government isn't, they're just more insidious then Russia was. I mean it was one of THEIR people who wrote "The Art Of War".
 
meh what the chinese are doing now is no different than the Americans with Indians or Europeans with Africans.
 
[quote name='62t']meh what the chinese are doing now is no different than the Americans with Indians or Europeans with Africans.[/QUOTE]

Or the Africans to the Africans, or the English to the colonists, or the English to the Indians, and the Americans to the Native Americans, or the Albanians to the Serbs, or the Germans to the Jews, The Turks to the Kurdish, The Taliban to the Pashtun, The Russians to the Afghans, the Czecks, the Poles, the Chechnyans, or the Romans to everyone, or what's going on in Rwanda, Congo, Algeria, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, and too many others to try to remember. Sorry if I misspelled any. Maybe it would just be easier to forget about all of it and just simplify it down to 1 or 2 countries and/or ethnic groups/political parties. Whew.
 
[quote name='62t']meh what the chinese are doing now is no different than the Americans with Indians or Europeans with Africans.[/quote]
the difference being that that is in the past, this is now.
 
[quote name='JolietJake']the difference being that that is in the past, this is now.[/QUOTE]

Actually still now (in terms of atrocities, violence, and repressions), just look at India (Kashmir), Turkey (Kurdish), Iran (Jews and Kurdish), Iraq (Kurdish and guess who helped Saddam in doing so in the 80s), most Muslim states (against other religions), Malaysia (Indians and Chinese), Indonesia (Chinese and Papuans), South Africa (whites), Slovakia and most Eastern Europe (Romans), Russia (Chechen), US (Iraq...pretty obvious), Romania (ethnic Hungarians), and the list goes on and on and if we try to solve the problem by allowing every single ethnic group/culture in conflict to declare independence, we'll have hundreds of sovereign states and it'd create a lot of instabilities worldwide.

I used to worry about chaos in certain part of the world, but after getting to know more places and the natures of their conflicts, it's not worth bothering with them. So just let the games play, IOC and most Western governments have all rejected boycott (Bush is adamant of going there BTW), and we all know why. $$$$$$$$$$$$$
 
Well i meant mostly the whole raping the native Americans part, but that true too. I'd like to hope that we've learned from that, i don't think we've directly taken over an area for ourselves since. The conspiracy theories don't' count either, no puppet governments etc. I'mt alking clearing out the natives and declaring the area ours.
 
I've considered not watching them so as to boycott China and their civil rights abuses. If I was an athelte competing in them, hell noes I wouldn't boycott them; I'd have too much to lose and too little to gain by boycotting.

OTOH, if one athlete is a clear frontrunner for a popular event, and eveyrone knows that they would win if they competed, and they're super famous, if that type of an athlete woudl boycott, it would get noticed, publicized, and probably invoke some change. IT would at least make China mindful of appearances.
 
Considering recent events in china and it's constant media link to olympic controversy, I'm bumping this to get some more responses.
 
Considering recent events in china and it's constant media link to olympic controversy, I'm bumping this to get some more responses.
 
[quote name='bmulligan']Considering recent events in china and it's constant media link to olympic controversy, I'm bumping this to get some more responses.[/quote]

It's too bad about the violence.

But the good thing is that the protests are shedding more visibility on the Free Tibet moviement.
 
On NPR last week, they had a Steve Inskeep (sp?) interviewing a representative from China (a consulate or something). The representative was almost completley non-responsive to all of his questions and was clearly just there to point out that protestors are disturbing the peace, being inciteful, ruining order: all of which are criminal acts punishable by DEATH!

Okay, I made that last part up but you get the drift. He sure didn't do China any favors in that interview. Their methods of oppresion were so overtly evident.
 
So far nothing about the independent movement in Xinjiang, who are Muslims trying to get independent from China. Gotta love the western media.
 
I would boycott but since I'm not going anyway, I plan on boycotting the recorded events that they will show on late night tv.
 
[quote name='62t']So far nothing about the independent movement in Xinjiang, who are Muslims trying to get independent from China. Gotta love the western media.[/QUOTE]

I THINK NPR might have mentioned it but they totally followed China's excuse that those people are supporting a movement for a Muslim state from East Turkmenistan. shakes head.
I got the news on Xianjiang from mainichi: www.mainichi.co.jp . There's an English choice you can click on.
In that story it's more balanced mentioning that the protest was done in part for a philanthropist who they jailed and are suspected of torturing. He ended up dying in prison. The guy was a Muslim I suspect.
Oh and they're also cracking down on the Gay's as well. They're arresting them and trying to quietly sweep them under the rug for when the Olympics come so no one will see any gay's when they come. Part of this is because they're allowing either all journalists or foreign journalists basically free speech during it. Publish what you want. China thinks they can basically cover up any worthwhile news stories.
I will definitely not be watching the Olympic's because of all this.
 
The Olympic games are not about making political statements. The games are for showcasing the world's best athletes. The thing that should be boycotted is performance-enhancing drug use.
 
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