Ways That Are Dark

Why exactly did Beijing get the Olympics? The International Olympic Committee is unwavering in its public support of Beijing. In light of all the shortcomings and unfulfilled promises, the IOC continues to proclaim that the games are good for China. They still would have you believe that the human rights situation in China is improving.

Follow the news, and it is clear that the Olympics are being used as an excuse to suppress human rights in China more than ever before. The IOC, like the Chinese government, is guilty of practicing double-speak; they know what they say is all lies but they still claim it’s true.

The now famous Chinese dissident, Hu Jia, describes for the world what they can expect to see during the summer games. In an open letter translated by Human Rights Watch, he writes: “You may not know that the flowers, smiles, harmony and prosperity are built on a base of grievances, tears, imprisonment, torture and blood.”

He warns:

Please be aware that the Olympic Games will be held in a country where there are no elections, no freedom of religion, no independent courts, no independent trade unions; where demonstrations and strikes are prohibited; where torture and discrimination are supported by a sophisticated system of secret police; where the government encourages the violation of human rights and dignity, and is not willing to undertake any of its international obligations.

Clearly, this is turning out to be the worst choice of host city in the history of the Olympic games. Not only are there many promises the Chinese are having trouble keeping, such as pollution, traffic, and a real openness; but even the IOC is not standing up for humanity. The IOC is now unequivocally complicit in human rights violations. It’s not the 2008 Olympics people should be boycotting, but all future games until the IOC gets their head on straight.

Read the complete translation of Hu Jia’s letter.

The BBC reports on the arrest of three women and a man for allegedly smuggling newborn babies from Viet Nam to China. This is also the first time Vietnamese police have uncovered the smuggling of unborn babies.

All the babies were sold for eight million dong ($500) each.

The police said they would be offered for adoption to couples in China for around $2,000 each, because they were boys.

Girls would be sold for half the amount, according to investigators.

Read the complete article: Vietnam ‘baby-smugglers’ arrested

Nick Cohen of The Guardian writes: “Pick any dictatorship at random and chances are you’ll find China lurking in the background.”

The only justification for the Beijing games is that they will allow connoisseurs of the grotesque to inspect this ghoulish hybrid of the worst of capitalism and the worst of socialism close up. … The International Olympic Committee and all the national sports bureaucracies will follow up by instructing athletes not to say a word out of place.

I wonder if, as an accredited journalist,  Nick will be on hand to cover the games in Beijing.

Read the complete article The only winner in Beijing will be tyranny

From The Guardian’s editorial Europe should put a brake on Beijing’s excesses

The Chinese government is not immune to pressure. It respects economic power. It does not heed its internal critics because they are commercially irrelevant.

Also very quotable, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry recently said:

Chinese people know best about China’s human rights situation.

Recent reports of several countries choosing to train their athletes outside of Beijing because of pollution suggests that China’s promise of a “Green Olympics” won’t be kept. The mounting media interest in the arrest of Hu Jia, and the house arrest of his two month old infant also suggests the human rights situation is worsening too. (How to ruin your Olympic image: suppress your critics is a good primer on that topic.)

Now here is another Olympic promise that is not being kept.  The Financial Times writes about a lawsuit being brought against the organizers of the Beijing Olympics. The slogan for the 2008 Olympic games - “One World, One Dream” -  was chosen after a contest that allowed people from all over the world to suggest a new slogan. According to the article, the organizing committee “originally promised to issue a certificate of recognition to the participant.”

“There was no single winner,” Liu Qi, Beijing Communist party chief and Bocog president, said in 2005. “The slogan embodies the wisdom of hundreds of thousands of people.”

It turns out that may not be exactly true.

Fang Shouwei, a Beijing resident said he came up with the slogan. He is taking the Beijing Organizing Committee to court, claiming he has  evidence that he proposed the English-language phrase chosen. He is suing for the certificate and to have his legal bills paid.

If this turns out to be true, it would be a fairly stupid move. After all, delivering clean air and human rights are gigantic tasks. Recognition comes much easier.
Here is the complete Financial Times article: China Olympics sued for copyright abuse