Every four years in ancient Greece, the warring city-states would drop their swords and shields to engage in a different kind of battle: the Olympic games.
These games were held to honor the Greek gods and so could not be cancelled over matters such as wars between the cities.
The modern Olympics are different.
Today, the games are not held to honor gods but mortals. Every two years, the global community comes together to honor one country.
Western students and the world shouldn’t honor countries guilty of gross human rights abuses as China, host of the upcoming 2008 Summer Games, most certainly has in dealing with dissidents in Tibet.
Of course, the Chinese government’s heavy-handed way of dealing with critics was no secret way back in 2001 when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2008 Olympics to Beijing.
These Olympics were supposed to be China’s “coming out party” where the world honored a new economic superpower.
In giving China the Olympics the IOC hoped they could make the communist government behave more like a decent world power should.
It didn’t work too well.
The Chinese government has responded to protests in Tibet (a former country that China conquered in 1952) with violent oppression.
The protests were against Chinese domination of the country.
The Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India, estimated 140 people have been killed so far.
The Chinese press says only 20 have been killed and 600 injured. In some cases, peacefully-protesting Buddhist monks found themselves at the wrong end of guns held by riot-gear-clad police.
Killing peacefully-protesting Buddhist monks is the kind of behavior the world would expect from a regime like that in Burma, which shocked the world by doing just that last year.
Burma is a backwater ruled by its military, and China is an economic powerhouse about to host the Olympics.
Yet they behave in the same way.
In response, thousands of protesters have followed the Olympic torch on its travel around the world.
Others propose stronger ways to denounce the killing.
Some world leaders are thinking about boycotting the Beijing Olympics
Some suggest just not showing up to the opening ceremonies.
Others suggest boycotting the Olympics altogether.
I hope they make good on these threats. Countries that behave like China has do not deserve the adoration of world.
There is precedent for this.
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, which led to that country being royally screwed up right into the present day.
The year after that, the Soviet capital, Moscow, was due to host the Olympic games.
The international community didn’t stand for it. Led by the United States, numerous Western powers boycotted the 1980 Olympics.
You might argue that boycotting the Olympics isn’t fair to the athletes who have worked so hard to become Olympians.
You would be right: it isn’t. But putting the Olympics in Beijing wasn’t very fair to the athletes in the first place.
Beijing is tied with Mexico City as the world’s most polluted capital and is otherwise one of the world’s most polluted cities.
The air is so bad there, world-record holding marathon runner Haile Gebrselassie of Kenya told reporters in March he will not be running in Beijing.
Several news outlets reported him saying: “It’s purely a personal decision that I have taken to protect my health.
I do not want to endanger my future. I do not want to kill myself in Beijing.”
CNN.com reported experts hired by the IOC determined that although most athletes should be fine, there was risk to those in endurance events such as the marathon due to the conditions.
But there’s more.
In February, The New York Times reported that a chicken breast plucked from a supermarket shelf in China contained enough steroids that if an athlete were to eat it, he or she would test positive in a drug test.
Olympic medalists who test positive for steroids lose their medals.
The Times said the American delegation will be bringing its own food, so our athletes won’t accidentally lose their medals.
But I find it hard to believe that every country will guard their food supply like a dragon guards his treasure.
I believe someone will end up losing their medal this summer because they ate the wrong bucket of KFC.
Be it through a boycott or some other means, the Chinese government should not be honored this coming summer.
It should be shamed.
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