Like Andrew Bartlett, I agree entirely with Andrew Bolt regarding the shameful weaseling by the International Olympic Committee regarding the whole idea of granting the 2008 Olympic games to the authoritarian dictatorship of China in the first place.
This blatant show of media censorship is just one more broken promise, that undermines the China’s claim that the Olympics would help improve the country’s human rights.
Wang Wei, the Beijing organising commitee’s vice president, said in July 2001: “We will give the media complete freedom to report when they come to China.”
That’s not looking likely either.
I talked about this at mine, too. I suspect your site, and any other one that discusses it, will be banned shortly.
When a bunch of us living in China turned our blogs black for a month, and Slashdot reported on it, all the blogs and Slashdot were on the ban list.
Annas last blog post..Well, I know I’m shocked. Really. This is my shocked font.
I hadn’t thought of that ahead of posting, but yes, you’re probably right.
Oh well, badge of honour I guess.
Me too.
Jeremy, the several heads exploding over at your place because lefties are criticising the commies in China are amusing in a depressing way.
I liked this comment in response from DeanL particularly:
Although I’m a fan of democracy as at least superior to the other alternatives we see, I think transparency is the absolutely crucial part.
(I can actually hypothesise a benevolent despot who ruled with absolute transparency as to hir procedures also producing a fair and just society, it’s simply that history has never shown us such a paragon (and there’s still the problem of where do we find the next benevolent despot when the old one carks it).)
There are Falun Gong people all over Edinburgh, doing Tai Chi in the Meadows, handing out leaflets in Princes Street. I’ve got one leaflet to hand claiming the Chinese Govt has been killing them in order to harvest their organs.
The last time I heard that story was in an episode of the X-Files. Unfortunately, it’s true. What were the IOC smoking when they gave China the games? It must be bloody good stuff! I have a bad feeling we’re in for another Berlin 1936 or Moscow 1980, where a vile totalitarian state gets to do adverts for itself.
And yes, this is bigger that left/right politics. I’ve always thought that any leftie that supports Cuba or any rightie that supports Pinochet is on the lunatic fringe, and completely unrepresentative of mainstream left or right opinion.
Truly horrible.
skepticlawyers last blog post..A weird obsession
[...] About Town will still discuss certain aspects of the Olympics from a social commentary/criticism POV. We just won’t be discussing [...]
You’ll find that the olympics in China won’t make any difference in regards to their human rights violations. Nothing will change, and this is brought home to me by the fact that so many democratic nations are so quick to participate in these games and keep their mouths shut about human rights crimes.