• Europe against leaders’ presence at Olympics
  More Europeans do not want their leaders to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games than do, with the strongest opposition coming from France and Germany, according to an opinion poll carried out for the Financial Times.
  (tags: boycott politics europe)

• China won’t guarantee Web freedom over Olympics | Technology | Reuters
  China will not guarantee it won’t censor the Internet over this summer’s Beijing Olympics, nor can it guarantee to stamp out piracy of Olympic-branded goods, officials said on Thursday.
  (tags: China censorship internet freedom)

• Tashi Delek :: Tibet Shirts
  Game’s Over - Free Tibet : An online shop for your protest T-Shirts, Flags, Signs & Symbols…
  (tags: tibet fashion protest)

• Peking 2008: Deutsche Olympiasiegerin boykottiert Eröffnungsfeier
  Aus Protest gegen Chinas Tibetpolitik wird Judo-Kämpferin Yvonne Bönisch nicht an der Eröffnungsfeier der Olympischen Spiele in Peking teilnehmen.
  (tags: athletes boycott)
• ISN Security Watch - China: Putting the PR into the PRC
  Beijing is the target of world criticism over its Olympic preparations and its Tibet and Xinjiang policies. It needs a better public-relations response, says James A Millward for openDemocracy.
  (tags: PR china)
• BBC NEWS | China urges ‘rational’ protests
  China has urged its citizens to be calm amid further anti-Western protests in the country, focused on French supermarket chain Carrefour.
  (tags: protest France)
• The European Council on Foreign Relations | Tibet - avoiding the tie-break
  It is time to pause and reflect on the issue of China and Tibet. The past month has made two things clear: China cannot hope to see its case understood with the rigid stance it has taken on the Dalai Lama. Its current strategy of expressing only grudging
  (tags: china tibet think_tank)
• Beijing Olympics: Tell the president to do the right thing
  AJWS: “The attendance of President Bush at the opening ceremony would implicitly endorse the actions of the government of China.”
  (tags: USA boycott opening_ceremony Bush)
• Skin Flicks: How to boycott the genocide olympics
  Do let firms know that you’re boycotting them and why. How can corporate scumbags be expected to learn if we don’t tell them why we’re withholding our custom?
  Happy boycotting!
  (tags: boycott corporate_donors)
• Morning Donut: aaah…
  So… remember… Boycott: the sound of one hand not opening a wallet.
  (tags: boycott olympics)

The Economist blog “Certain ideas of Europe” describes the China argumentation of IOC boss Jacques Rogge. His defensive approach can be summarised with the following statements: “be reasonable, old chap, what can we do?” and “we don’t do politics but things are much better than you think” combined with some claims about the successes of “quiet diplomacy”…

Apologists for the Beijing Olympics usually use one or a combination of these lines of argumentation. Interestingly, the argument that the IOC is involved in some quiet diplomacy (which would slowly improve things in China) contradicts the claim that the Olympic games do not have anything to do with politics and that the IOC is an unpolitical actor …

The post ends with Mr Rogge’s opinion about the “protest badges”:

Mr Rogge was asked his personal opinion of badges that some athletes, notably from France, want to wear during the Olympics, which the IOC looks set to ban as being too “political” to permit in the Olympic village. The badge is very unlikely to be permitted, said Mr Rogge, noting that athletes have said that the badge “signifies that they are not indifferent to what goes on in China.” Was that not clearly political, asked the Olympic boss. And the motto on these outrageously political and provocative badges? Since you ask, the proposed badges carry the words: “For a better world.”

Breaking news:

Chinese officials will meet representatives of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism whom China blames for a wave of unrest, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday, citing official sources.

The move marks a change in tactics on the part of Beijing, which has stepped up its vilification of the Dalai Lama since anti-government protests hit Tibet and rippled across ethnic Tibetan parts of China in the past weeks.

“In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai’s private representative in the coming days,” Xinhua quoted an official as saying.

More infos:

BBC: Beijing ‘to talk to Dalai aides’
AFP: Dalai Lama welcomes Chinese offer for talks: spokesman

The question of course is why and why now? Is it part of a PR campaign or really a politically motivated move?

However, the protests seem to work and even the Chinese government recognizes the necessity to address the issue.  It remains to be seen whether the proposed talks bring any real improvement of the situation, but for the time being it should be seen as a step forward!

Watch this instead

Office Olympics

For office sports lovers:

>> visit officeolympics.net

Watch this instead:

BBC News - June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre

• MEPs urge Olympic boycott over Tibet
  MEPs have urged EU leaders to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing, unless Chinese authorities talk to the Dalai Lama about the situation in Tibet.
  (tags: European_Parliament)
• Olympics triggering human rights violations in China
  “The current wave of repression occurring in China is not in spite of the Olympic Games, but because of the Olympics,” claims an April report from Amnesty International.
  (tags: human_rights)
• Obama Exclusive Olympics Boycott/Dalai Lama - Brightcove
  TamCam exclusive Obama tells Sally Quinn and Tammy Haddad he supports a US boycott of the Olympics ceremony and the Dalai Lama’s request today that the US push China on human rights broadly.
  (tags: Obama USA)
• The a-politicization of the Olympics « Only a Northern Song
  …but we would all do better to recognize that it is also fully a tool of propaganda, and use that propaganda tool against nations that fail to live up to the standards of freedom and equality which we believe ought be universally implemented.
  (tags: blogs)
• Beijing Olympics boycott
  Gordon Brown has announced he will not attend the controversial opening ceremony of the Olympics.
  (tags: Brown UK opening_ceremony)
• Who is going to the Olympics opening ceremony?
  There is no tradition of world leaders attending these ceremonies. In the case of Beijing, however, there was an initial rush to curry favour with an emerging superpower. Now, to China’s dismay, the herd mentality seems to be going in the other direction.
  (tags: opening_ceremony)
• Unmasked: Chinese guardians of Olympic torch - Times Online
  The guards protecting the Olympic flame had paramilitary training and were chosen by Beijing for their toughness and fitness
  (tags: security)
• Diego Maradona refuses to carry Olympic torch - Times Online
  The footballing great Diego Maradona pulled out of the Olympic torch relay in his native Argentina yesterday as the flame ran the gauntlet of fresh protests in Buenos Aires.
  (tags: maradona olympic_torch)
• Professors assess impact of the Olympics on China
  It is not just the recent suppression of Tibet, he said, but issues ranging from pollution, to human rights to freedom of speech and religion, are all hot buttons triggering events such as the attacks on the torch relay participants, he said.
  (tags: analysis)
• Thousands protest as Olympic flame carried through London
  Police and security staff forced to fend off demonstrators
  (tags: london olympic_torch)
• EU parliament offers platform to Dalai Lama - International Herald Tribune
  The head of the European Parliament invited the Dalai Lama on Wednesday to address the EU legislature on events in Tibet and questioned whether European leaders should attend the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games.
  (tags: European_Parliament)
• Trainieren für Olympia Chinas ”Great Wall of Fire”
  China überwacht mit mehr als 30.000 Internetpolizisten das Web. Die Zensur funktioniert erstaunlich gut. Der Glaube, das Internet bringe auch in Diktaturen automatisch Freiheit, ist falsch - wie das Beispiel des Dissidenten Hu Jia zeigt.
  (tags: internet)
• Olympische Spiele 2008 Ein Podest für den Protest
  Geht es um Menschenrechte, offenbart sich ein Konflikt der Generationen: Die Athleten wollen Zeichen setzen, die Funktionäre lieber schweigen.
  (tags: athletes)
• Sport for human rights! — netzathleten
  (tags: campaign athletes)

© Clay Jones | The Free Lance-Star 2008