Why is President Bush going to the Olympics?

Let’s put President Bush’s decision in context: no U.S. President has ever attended Olympic Games held outside of the United States. Ever.

President Bush’s decision to attend the Olympic Games in Beijing has been taken in the face of the opposition of various U.S. Senators and Congresspeople, thousands of pro-human rights groups all over the world, millions of American citizens, as well as both presidential candidates and Senator Clinton, who all declare that if the Chinese regime does not improve the situation of human rights in China the U.S. president should not attend the Olympics, especially not the opening ceremony.

Hillary Clinton: "The president should not attend opening ceremonies because that's giving a seal of approval by our United States government, unless the Chinese take actions to deal more forthrightly with human rights challenges... the violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for presidential leadership."

Barack Obama: "If the Chinese do not take steps to help stop the genocide in Darfur and to respect the dignity, security and human rights of the Tibetan people, then the president should boycott the opening ceremonies."

John McCain: "Unless they change something pretty quickly, I would not go to the opening ceremonies. It does no service to the Chinese government, and certainly no service to the people of China, for the United States and other democracies to pretend that the suppression of rights in China does not concern us. It does, will and must concern us."

Now, it even seems that French President Sarkozy, as he is now assuming the European Union presidency, is now is in the process of changing his stance on this question, after all his declarations about principles and human rights.

Reporters without Borders: "Sarkozy and Bush are now depriving themselves of a means of leverage that might have led to the release of imprisoned journalists and human rights activists. We would like to know on what grounds these two presidents have reached their decision. There is still a month to go before the start of the 2008 Olympics. Now is the time for a massive campaign for an improvement in the situation of free expression in China. We appeal now for demonstrations outside Chinese embassies all over the world during the Olympic Games opening ceremony on 8 August."

Human Rights Watch: "The Chinese government is failing to enforce its explicit commitment to the International Olympic Committee to ease restrictions on the operation of foreign journalists in China ahead of the 2008 Beijing Games…The Chinese government also violates the fundamental rights of its citizens through widespread use of the death penalty, restrictions on freedom of expression and religion and widespread violations of labor rights. Strict internet and media censorship is enforced by government agencies and the largest internet police in the world…Chinese authorities use a vast police and state security apparatus to enforce multiple layers of controls on critics, protesters, and civil society activists. The Public Security Bureau, responsible ostensibly for policing and security, in the name of 'public order' arbitrarily silences critics and members of civil society through an array of measures, including house arrest, which does not require formal legal proceedings to implement and maintain."

The situation of political repression in China has not at all improved, as promised, in this year of preparation for the Olympic Games. Instead, the dictatorial regime has cracked down on its own population. Who could have been naïve enough to believe their promises? Now, the International Olympic Committee has been reduced to practically begging the Beijing organizers of the Games to permit internet access during the Olympics.

And why go so far as to attend the games, after the Chinese regime has so miserably failed to uphold its promises? This is certainly a terrible betrayal for the journalists, cyber-dissidents, bloggers and internet users imprisoned in China, the thousands of nameless peasants imprisoned or killed, the minorities and Falun Gong who are subjected the worst kind of repression and torture, and the millions of workers who live the life of slaves.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Vote2008/Story?id=4639945&page=1 http://china.hrw.org/press/faq/beijing_olympics_basics http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27762 http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/11/nation/na-olympics11
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3659665.ece

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