http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/14-04-2008/104877-olympics_china-0
14.04.2008
USA uses Summer Olympics 2008 to label China as new empire of evil
Appeals to boycott Olympic Games in Beijing and scandals connected with
attempts to disrupt the traveling of the Olympic flame across continents have
become the best advertising of the Summer Olympics 2008. As a result, even
those who have very little interest in sport and politics, are aware of the
time and place of the Olympic Games.
As for the reasons of boycott appeals, they have alternative versions.
The progressive part of the human race persistently emphasizes humanitarian
values, which the communist leadership of China tries to suppress. Others dwell
upon the new cold war and the pressure, which is being put on China against the
background of its speedy development.
Until recently, the subject of human rights in China and the fate of
Tibet did not raise any interest in the world. However, these two topics have
found themselves in the center of global attention.
Human rights activists and the Dalai Lama followers regularly hold
conferences on Tibet. Amnesty International has always criticized the Chinese
administration for persecution of dissenters, suppression of freedom of speech
and other violations of human rights. All of that was not a secret in 2001,
when the decision was made to hold the Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing. Appeals
to boycott Olympic Games in China are not new either, although no one discussed
them seriously before.
The subject of boycott was officially recognized in august of 2007, when
the US Congress received two resolutions to boycott the Summer Olympics in
China. One of them was addressed to the government and the other one - to the
President of the United States. The two resolutions interpreted boycott as
sanctions against China and its administration, which violates human rights and
supports criminal regimes in Sudan, Burma and North Korea. Tibet was also
mentioned in the text of resolutions, but the authors paid their prime
attention to Sudan. They asked the Chinese administration to publicly
acknowledge and condemn atrocities in Darfur, to cease any arms shipments to
the government of Sudan and suspend all kinds of economic cooperation with the
government of Sudan.
Experts said back then that such a strong emphasis on the problem of
Sudan was a reflection of US concerns over economic, political, and ideological
policies, which China was running on the African continent. It goes without
saying that these problems are based on serious geopolitical interests which
have nothing in common with the struggle for human rights. The subject was
touched upon again in February of the current year, when Steven Spielberg
stated that he was not going to be the artistic adviser for the opening and
closing ceremonies of the Games when China was contributing to monstrous crimes
against mankind in Sudan's Darfur.
Recent events, which took place in Tibet in March, infused a fresh spirit
into the campaign to boycott Olympic Games and mobilized the Tibetans,
Buddhists and supporters of democracy and freedom all over the world. However,
the anti-Chinese campaign has not turned into a large-scale phenomenon, because
it is the USA and Britain, which young rebels of the whole world associate with
evil. The modern world sees the USA as the major source of global threats.
It goes without saying that the US administration is doing its best to
hang the label of "the new empire of evil" on a foreign country. Putin's Russia
was probably one of the first candidates on the list taking into consideration
the recent US-Russian opposition on major international issues. However, Russia
has not committed something that could be referred to as the most vicious act
of evil-making, which the US administration could use to declare Russia the
prime enemy of democracy and progress in the world.
On the other hand, the controversial campaign with the Olympic Games in
China does not touch upon economic and all other forms of US-Chinese relations.
Photo by: 2008.sina.com.cn
Utro
Translated by Dmitry Sudakov
Pravda.ru
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