US Legislators Propose China Olympics Boycott Over Human Rights
Posted by chinaview on August 8, 2007
AFP Via Yahoo News, August 8, 2007-
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US legislators introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives calling for a boycott of the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing unless China “stops engaging in serious human rights abuses,” Congressional aides said.
Backed initially by eight lawmakers from President George W. Bush’s Republican party, the resolution also calls on Beijing to “stop supporting serious human rights abuses by the governments” of Sudan, Myanmar and North Korea, the aides said Tuesday.
The resolution, a copy of which was made available to AFP, is expected to be debated by the House foreign affairs committee when lawmakers return from recess in early September.
Comparing the 2008 games to the Berlin 1936 Olympics, which occurred at the time of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany, the resolution said “the integrity of the host country is of the utmost importance so as not to stain the participating athletes or the character of the games.”
It said “the Chinese regime regularly denies the right to freedom of conscience, expression, religion, and association,” and that it has held thousands of political prisoners without charge or trial.
The resolution was sponsored by a top China critic in the House, Dana Rohrabacher, and co-sponsored by, among seven others, ranking Republican lawmaker Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
It is expected to receive support from lawmakers from the Democratic party, which has also been pushing for rights reforms in China.
News on the resolution came on the eve of China’s bid to mark on Wednesday the one-year countdown to the Beijing Games, which start on August 8, 2008.
China is planning a huge party on Wednesday on Tiananmen Square, where the military crushed democracy protests in 1989, killing hundreds if not thousands of people.
“The test of whether the Olympics change China will come over human rights and responsible foreign policy, particularly in Africa,” said Victor Cha, a former White House Asia adviser in an opinion piece in the Washington Post on Wednesday.
“The question is: Will the 2008 Games be like the 1936 Games in Berlin, where the goal was to validate a flawed domestic system before the world?
“Or, in the coming year, will we see whether Beijing is ready to mark the Games as a watershed for China’s constructive role in the community of nations?” Cha wrote.
Rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday challenged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to live up to a reported pledge to act against China over human rights concerns. ( …… more details from Yahoo News)
Related:
- Congressman: Ignore the immorality of the China regime put our future at risk, Jul 19, 2007
ibn iblosted said
the us politians best leave the sleeping tiger alone, as it sure as heck shouldnt make em mad, or the usa will not get any more tainted toy,cars, what ever.
with 300 mil men in uniform, and we only have 300 mil total, (plus 200 mil ilegals) they dont fight we best be nice to the coming # 1 world power .
James said
Ibn, coming #1 world power because they have the largest land army? You really have never really studied military affairs before have you nor have you looked at the fact that most of China’s military is still 3rd generation equipment and even their 4th gen stuff is, in reality, 3rd gen with a pretty cover. Look at the J-10 for example, it’s a Eurofighter Typhoon frame pretending to be a… well… a Eurofighter.