It seems to have developed into a staring contest: Tibet and China at opposite ends and protesters of assorted stripes in the middle. As China continues to aggressively repress demonstrators in Tibet, the European Union has strongly criticized the suppression, and Germany has urged China to hold talks with the Dalai Lama. There has been sporadic talk of an Olympic boycott in some areas, but that option does not have a lot of support.
There are good reasons for not boycotting the Olympics. For one thing, many athletes have given years of training to this event, and to stop them now would be grossly unfair. More importantly, as a March 28th editorial in the “Edmonton Journal” stated, a boycott would politicize the athletes, something that the Olympics was designed to avoid. Also, it wouldn’t be practical, because as soon as everyone went home, China would turn the page and continue its abuse of human rights.
There is the economic question, as well. Trade between China and the West has been growing for several years and we have studiously refrained from linking trade to human rights. After all, who is going to supply all those shoes, and clothes, and toys if we refuse to trade with China because of its human rights record?
Neither does the Dalai Lama want to link the Olympics to human rights issues. In an April 10th interview with reporters in Japan, while travelling to the United States, he was very emphatic about the subject: “I support Chinese host of famous world [Games] because China is the most populated nation, an ancient nation, therefore, it is really deserved for the Chinese people to make host of Olympic Games. Until today, in spite of recent unfortunate events in Tibet, my position [is] not changed.” What the Dalai Lama does want, is for China to stop saying that he is behind the riots in Tibet and neighbouring states, and to allow freedom of speech in Tibet.
That, of course, is the nub of the problem, and one that China will not address. Unrest is spreading within the empire. Hotan, an ancient city on the Silk Road in the western region of the country, has a large Muslim population, one that has never been easy with Chinese rule. The Uighurs, as the Muslims are known, held protests in Hotan on March 23rd against Chinese occupancy, but they did not last long. There is a great deal of mutual suspicion between the Chinese and the Uighurs, neither of which speaks the other’s language. China blamed the March 23rd unrest on Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, a group that wants to build a world-wide Islamic state. Though it disavows violence, the group has been prohibited in Russian and Central Asia, where it has many followers.
The spread of disquiet in the Chinese empire and world-wide protest is, arguably, the most effective weapon that can be brought against China’s human rights record. The agitation in Greece, Paris, London, and San Francisco when the Olympic Torch was trotted through, has to be embarrassing for China. One proof of this opinion is that the official newspaper, “China Daily” reported that the torch run began in Greece with “a perfect start on the road to gold.” CCTV, the government broadcaster, has not mentioned anything to the Chinese people about protesters or the hanging of Tibetan banners in many world-class cities. When asked for his comment about world reaction at a recent news briefing, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang’s, only reply was: “Any act to disrupt the Olympic torch relays is shameful and unpopular.” In addition, the “China Daily” claims that “Chinese netizens, including those studying overseas, are fighting back to discredit often distorted and sometimes dishonest reports by western media about the recent events in Tibet.” The paper also claims that a Video was put on YouTube entitled “Tibet Was, Is and Always Will Be a part of China.” The producer, apparently, was a 21-year-old Chinese-born Canadian student. The strange thing is that YouTube is not available to Chinese viewers.
China is also keeping up its force on Tibetan monks, the focus of Tibet’s struggle for freedom of speech. In an article by Tini Tran of the Associated Press entitled “China Vows to Strengthen ‘Patriotic Education’ Campaign as Protests Turn Violent,” China promised to increase pressure on Tibetan monks to denounce the Dalai Lama and to give their loyalty to Beijing. The program misfired, however, when government officials attempted to enforce “patriotic education” on Tongkor monastery in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The Free Tibet Campaign and International Campaign for Tibet, both located in London, England, stated that the monks refused to criticize the Dalai Lama and thousands of troops searched the monastery for pictures of the Tibetan leader. Two monks were detained for hiding pictures. Several hundred Buddhist monks and local citizens marched on the local government in Donggu town demanding that the monks be released. Troops responded by opening fire on the crowd, killing eight.
So, it seems that the Olympics are going to go ahead, and China will continue to suppress dissent and freedom of speech. There is hope in all the chaos, however. In focusing its attention on China, the world is also focusing its attention on what goes on in China, human rights violations as well as Olympic hoop-la. This is the reason that the Dalai Lama wants the Olympics to be held in China; he knows that they are the best way to pry the doors of the country open.
