links for 2008-03-31

ECFR | One China against one dream
The events shaking the wider Tibetan area should lead both the Chinese government and its international partners to a deep reconsideration of past policies.

(tags: think_tank china tibet)

ECFR | What’s next for Tibet?
The EU needs to act to ensure that China does not use violence to put down protests in [...]

Europe should maybe stop this hypocrisy…

Sabine Verhest writes in Belgian daily La Libre about the problems of Europeans when dealing with China: (via eurotopics)
“While the Tibetans continue demonstrating in Lhassa despite the repression, the Europeans have very courageously taken the step of treating China with kid gloves as much as possible. Meeting in Slovenia [on March 29th] under the presidency [...]

links for 2008-03-30

Global Voices Online » China: Responses to the Dalai Lama’s appeal
As Lhasa has supposedly quieted down, the anti-CNN.com crowd has gone off the deep end, that might be worth exploring more. The death threats they’ve been making towards Western media representatives stationed in China certainly haven’t gone unnoticed.
(tags: tibet china blogs)

Public backs boycott of opening [...]

links for 2008-03-29

BBC NEWS - Call for Olympic boycott rejected
Britain and several other European Union countries have rejected calls for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in August.
(tags: UK EU politics)

Merkel says she will not attend opening of Beijing Olympics | World news | The Guardian
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, yesterday became the [...]

EU and China: The threat of a boycott

John Fox, a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations calls for a more efficient EU foreign policy that does not rule out any olympic boycott:

EU leaders need to make clear to the Chinese Government that they are prepared to boycott Olympic ceremonies and to consider a broader boycott of the games [...]

I Won’t Watch The Olympics

The blogosphere is full of surprises. The idea of organising some sort of grassroot boycott of the Olympics in Beijing is getting more and more popular. Actually it is quite amazing how many initiatives and opinions are being developed right now. Especially the idea of a private ‘TV boycott’ is spreading rapidly.
“I won’t watch the [...]

Polish PM to boycott Beijing Olympics opening ceremony!

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has said he would boycott the opening ceremony of the summer Olympics in Beijing. This makes him the first European Head of Government to announce a political boycott!
According to Bloomberg he also wants to convince other European politicians to follow his example! Deputy Foreign Minister Ryszard Schnepf explained this decision [...]

AI: China is getting ready

Amnesty International Campaign:
“In the name of ensuring stability and harmony in the country during the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese Government continues to detain and harass political activists, journalists, lawyers and human rights workers. Get involved: www.amnesty.sk”

The debate in the European Parliament

MEPs debated the situation in Tibet with some MEPs calling for a possible boycott of at least the opening ceremony of the forthcoming Olympic Games to be held in China this summer while others said that a boycott would be futile. Many MEPs called for freedom for Tibet and underlined the human rights abuses in [...]

How to crank up the pressure on China?

A very handy European press round-up about the current debate on how to deal with China can be found here.
Are the Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing at risk? The debate about how the world should act towards China in view of the events in Tibet continues. Who is in the best position to crank up [...]