Thoughts on China & the Olympics

[AGDee]

Protesting the torch being passed around the world doesn't hurt China in the least. Why would they even care what happens to the torch when it's not in their country? Being one of the participants in the torch's journey has traditionally been quite an honor and the people hurt are those who don't get to participate when they were looking forward to it. Same with boycotting the opening ceremonies. These athletes have devoted most of their lives to their sport to reach this pinnacle of being in the Olympics. They are the ones who miss out if the US were to boycott. Just as it hurt the athletes who missed the 1980 Olympics in the Soviet Union.

If you want to protest China, then don't buy anything made there. I'd wager a guess that most of these protesters were wearing something made in China while they were protesting.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Protesting the torch being passed around the world doesn't hurt China in the least. Why would they even care what happens to the torch when it's not in their country? Being one of the participants in the torch's journey has traditionally been quite an honor and the people hurt are those who don't get to participate when they were looking forward to it. Same with boycotting the opening ceremonies. These athletes have devoted most of their lives to their sport to reach this pinnacle of being in the Olympics. They are the ones who miss out if the US were to boycott. Just as it hurt the athletes who missed the 1980 Olympics in the Soviet Union.

If you want to protest China, then don't buy anything made there. I'd wager a guess that most of these protesters were wearing something made in China while they were protesting.

I generally agree with you, but did you see the coverage of the group who accompanied the torch in England? They were described by torch runners as "Chinese thugs" who didn't even cooperate with local police on the run.

[RACooper]

My thoughts... personally I'd have liked to have seen the bid go to Toronto but I'm not disappointed that the Olympics went to China.

The international media and public focus on a "closed" society will continue to raise the pressure on the Chinese government for reforms as well as highlight all of it's failings - all in all a good thing.

As for the Torch Relay - well Vancouver has just announced that it won't be doing an international relay, instead focusing on a cross-country national relay showing off the torch. They cited the security issues of course, as well as a distaste for the torch relay being used as a political tool... but really that shouldn't be a surprise since the whole modern torch relay was concocted by the Nazis for the Berlin Olympics.