Concerted Campaign against China
By Riaz Haq
www.riazhaq.com
CA
With China's resurgence on the world stage and its hour of well-deserved glory approaching at Beijing Olympics this summer, those opposed to China are out in force to spoil it for the Chinese people.
The efforts to recruit athletes to stage protests in front of the news media during the Olympics and the recent troubles in Tibet and Western China do not appear to be spontaneous. The West-based Free Tibet and Team Darfur movements and their media-savvy supporters, including many celebrities, athletes and actors, are attempting to foment trouble in China before, during and after the Olympics.
The pressure is building up on national Olympic committees as well. The US Olympic Committee has come under criticism for its stance on protests. In response, the Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said no US athlete would be reprimanded or censured for expressing a critical opinion about China's human rights record, so long as it is done in an appropriate setting. The code of conduct that 2008 US Olympians will sign asks them only to respect the terms of the Olympic Charter.
A growing number of athletes from all over the world have been signed up by Team Darfur, an organization committed to raising awareness about the crisis in Sudan.
It wants to put pressure on the Sudanese authorities, and also those countries, like China, that do business with Sudan. Team Darfur plans to highlight the issue at the Beijing Olympics. Canada's former Olympic swimmer Nicky Dryden, a Team Darfur campaigner, wants athletes to make a stand during the Beijing Games.
Steven Spielberg, a high-profile Hollywood producer and director, has decided to relinquish his role in producing the Opening and Closing ceremonies for the Beijing Games. Now there are fears that his withdrawal may be followed by that of other Western stars associated with the Games. There was speculation that the music producer Quincy Jones, who is writing the theme tune, might pull out. A spokesman described the reports as "speculation" but added that Jones was "keeping an eye on the situation".
What really worry the Chinese authorities are the growing calls for a boycott of the Games. A poll of nearly 2,500 people for The Sunday Times shows strong support for Spielberg's stand, with 49% saying they would back a boycott by British athletes, against 33% who said such a boycott would be wrong. The poll found that 75% thought Spielberg was right to pull out and just 12% thought he was wrong.
In Lhasa, howling Tibetan mobs turned on ethnic Han Chinese and Hui Muslims last Friday in the worst violence in nearly 20 years. Many businesses owned by the Han Chinese and Hui Muslims were attacked and burned. It should be noted here that most Hui are similar in culture to Han Chinese with the exception that they practice Islam, and have some distinctive cultural characteristics as a result. For example, as Muslims, they follow Islamic dietary laws and reject the consumption of pork, the most common meat consumed in Chinese culture, and have also given rise to their variation of Chinese cuisine, Chinese Islamic cuisine. Their mode of dress also differs only in that adult males wear white caps and females wear headscarves or (occasionally) veils, as is the case in most Islamic cultures.
News agencies report that a homemade bomb was thrown at a paramilitary vehicle last week. Police fired teargas to disperse onlookers and schools were ordered to close early. It was unclear how many people were hurt. Residents said four police were killed or wounded but officials would not comment.
The Chinese premier has accused the Dalai Lama of organized violence by the Tibet government in exile along with its Western supporters.
The scenes of violence in the streets of Tibet and neighboring provinces raise questions about the non-violence preached by the Dalai Lama and his supporters. The Dalai Lama, speaking to the media in India, has denied supporting violence. He has offered to resign if the violence continues.
But the anti-Chinese protests and violence across Tibet and in neighboring provinces where many Tibetans live have continued. According to the news reports from a remote corner of Gansu province, hundreds of Tibetans on horseback galloped through a town shouting "Come back Dalai Lama" and "Free the Panchen Lama", before ripping down a Chinese flag and raising a Tibetan snow lion banner.
Both the Indian and Nepalese governments have taken steps to curb the Tibetans and other international protesters attempting to use their soil for protests and marches against China.
Regardless of one's political views on Darfur, Tibet or China policies, it is not hard to conclude that the efforts to disrupt Beijing Olympics are being orchestrated by a coalition of well-known anti-Chinese individuals and organizations with an ax to grind. It is a shame that sports and politics are being mixed to the detriment of promoting a better understanding through international sporting events.
