President Bush has issued a blunt condemnation of Beijing’s repression of its people on the eve of the Olympics, just as three American Christians were arrested for protesting for religious freedom in Tiananmen Square.
With the eyes of the world on China and heads of state from around the globe flying in for the opening ceremony tomorrow, Mr Bush used some of his toughest language yet to press China to improve its record on human rights.
Speaking in Bangkok, he said: “America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists. We press for openness and justice ”“ not to impose our beliefs but to allow the Chinese people to express theirs.”
So why did the Olympics even go to China it the first place?
Who knows? Mr Bush could not control the selection process; but he COULD have chosen to not attend. Obviously, his (and his father’s) longtime ties to the enormous corporations moving jobs from the US to sweatshops in China means more than his personal integrity. No surprise there!
There is the idea that exposing China more to the world may sublty put more pressuer on it to reform than would a boycot. Look at how much attention they are getting in their attempts to crack down on demonstrators and their pathetic environmental standards. How much of this did we here before the Olympics?