Germany Warns China Olympics at Risk (Update: France Considering Boycott)

Sorry, but I see the point as moot.

The Olympics won't be canceled and everyone will go. Why? Moolah. The Chinese are simply too big in the global economy. USA doesn't come to our Olympics? Okay, then we'll start seller our dollars...

Originally posted by rizla
Sorry, but I see the point as moot.

The Olympics won't be canceled and everyone will go. Why? Moolah. The Chinese are simply too big in the global economy. USA doesn't come to our Olympics? Okay, then we'll start seller our dollars...

Then we stop buying your crap (which that is all it is), then when that happens the Chinese economy will simply collapse, as it is totally reliant on the EU and American economy. That doesnt exactly sound like a "major" player in the global economy to me...

I thought this was relevant khunmoon, if not you can take it out:

Protests at Olympic Torch Ceremony

Two protesters ran onto the field at Ancient Olympia while Liu Qi, president of the Games' organising committee, was giving a speech. Both were detained.

Lhadon Tethong, director of Students for a Free Tibet, said both men were taken to the local police station.

"One of our colleagues saw them being dragged by about 20 police through town," he said.

When the incident took place, China state TV cut away to a pre-recorded scene, preventing Chinese viewers from seeing what was taking place.

Commentators on Chinese TV never mentioned the incident.

So much for a "fair and balanced" (and free) Chinese media...

Here's a video from the torch lighting event. Not CCTV, but BBC.
www.bbc.co.uk...

The unrest continues in Western Sichuan.
news.bbc.co.uk...

Originally posted by yanchek
Using boycott for political purposes is IMO completely against Olympic spirit. Athletes are not politicians. They are ambassadors of goodwill, friendship and fair play and denying them the opportunity to bring that to Chinese is the lowest of the low.

hear hear.

Isn't it better to take your political beef with China to the political front? Instead of sabotaging one of the few events where the world can come together for a common interest?

If you ask me, boycotting the Olympics because you don't like China doesn't make any sense. Stop buying Chinese crap and leave the olympics alone...

Originally posted by West Coast
Then we stop buying your crap (which that is all it is), then when that happens the Chinese economy will simply collapse, as it is totally reliant on the EU and American economy.

Refer to the above.

[edit on 24-3-2008 by NewWorldOver]

Here's a detailed report on what happened at the torch lighting ceremoni.

Also has details about the route of the torch.

The journey to Beijing is the longest ever planned, lasting 130 days and covering 137,000 kilometres (85,000 miles) worldwide. Most of it will be on Chinese soil however.

Aside from Athens, the flame will only stop in London and Paris among European capitals. It will only stop in San Francisco and Buenos Aires in the Americas and just Dar es Salaam in Africa.

Upon arrival in Beijing, one flame will be separated from the torch and kept in a special lantern to be taken to the peak of Mount Everest during early May and then return to Tibet.

I guess the leg on Chinese soil will be the running part and until it arrives in China it is brought around by plane.

I think they are heading for a hot summer, but will we hear anything about it?

And I bet none of 25000 accredited press will get access to any areas where trouble now arise.

[edit on 25/3/2008 by khunmoon]

French leader considers Olympic boycott
news.yahoo.com...

We have begun sending off letters to "official" Olympic sponsors
like NBC informing them that we will NOT be watching ANY of thier programing Olympic or otherwise during the games as a protest. Others as well.

This movement is begiing to gather steam at least here where i live.


[edit on 3/25/08 by FredT]

Let's not forget...

UK attack's China's record in Tibet

A European boycott of the games? No, but it is very likely many EU countries leaders may not attend the opening event or send junior ministers instead.

Wierd. I just heard on the news a Chinese ambassador. He said that "the Dalai Lama has been telling lies for" and he was going to say centuries, but he quickly corrected himself and said decades. Knowing that the Dalai Lama is supposed to be a reincarnation, I find that statement, I don't know, revealing?

reply to post by khunmoon


Here's a little update on the Chinese Olympics.

Plea to China to keep Olympics TV live

The International Olympic Committee has asked China to promise not to delay transmissions of the Beijing games, after France raised concerns about Chinese television’s censoring of Tibet protests at the torch-lighting ceremony in Greece this week.

French TV executives have asked the European Broadcasting Union to extract guarantees from Beijing that transmissions will be live and uninterrupted even if protests take place.

Neither the IOC nor the EBU said they had any grounds to believe Beijing would renege on pledges for live transmission made two years ago and reaffirmed in January.

Broadcasts of the torch ceremony were suspended after a disruption by media rights protesters based in France. That led to calls for a French boycott of coverage of the games if transmissions were censored.

International rights-holders will receive radio and TV feeds from Beijing Olympic Broadcasting, a joint venture between the Beijing organising committee and Olympic Broadcasting Services, a subsidiary of the IOC.

A few posts above, the source khunmoon and myself mentioned says the Chinese media cut to a different scene when the protesters were shown on western media.

Censorship on tv, wow...

And here's another one from the tibet/china thread:

China Might Bar Tiananmen Broadcasts

China might bar live television broadcasts from Tiananmen Square during the Beijing Olympics, apparently unnerved by the recent outburst of unrest among Tibetans and fearful of protests in the heart of the Chinese capital.
A ban on live broadcasts would wreck the plans of NBC and other major international networks, who have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to broadcast the Aug. 8-24 games and are counting on eye-pleasing live shots from the iconic square.

The rethinking of Beijing's earlier promise to broadcasters comes as the government has poured troops into Tibetan areas wracked by anti- government protests this month and stepped up security in cities, airports and entertainment venues far from the unrest.

The Chinese seem to be panicking about allowing free media access. They do not want the west or anyone else for that matter to know what they're doing.

I don't know if its a fear of their "national secrets" leaking out or their "bad behavior."
I suspect its both.

[edit on 3/27/2008 by biggie smalls]

reply to post by biggie smalls


Is broadcasting on a delay really that unfamiliar to US networks? IIRC, everything on US TV these days is broadcast on a delay, so that it can be filtered out if there`s something that might offend the sensibilities of the nation - like a wardrobe malfunction, or someone saying something that some people don`t like to hear.

As far as the protesting goes - perhaps China will give the USA a nod and designate "free speech zones", where people can be easily corralled away from the media and away from the event itself.

The US networks have accepted both of these things without batting an eye - and with the latter, rarely (if ever) even bother to cover what`s going on where protesters are corralled. They`re on very shaky ground with this one.

China Might Bar Tiananmen Broadcasts


The Chinese seem to be panicking about allowing free media access. They do not want the west or anyone else for that matter to know what they're doing.

I don't know if its a fear of their "national secrets" leaking out or their "bad behavior."
I suspect its both.

[edit on 3/27/2008 by biggie smalls]

Well, it doesn't hold water with what they promised the IOC.

Inflamed by the Olympic torch

WHEN senior members of the International Olympic Committee sat down with the Beijing Olympics organisers in 2003 to discuss issues that might arise in the months ahead of this year's Games, Tibet was one of a long list of potential controversies.

[..]

"There is a false impression in the public at large that a sporting organisation like the IOC has a decree over the political and social agendas of a country. But that is simply not a fact."

That said, once Games' time approaches and the Olympic family comes to town, the situation changes. Beijing organisers, for example, have given their word that the international media will be able to go about their business, reporting the Games with the same freedoms as they would in any other country. This will make life interesting if any groups decide to stage protests in Beijing during the Games.

The assurance by the Chinese allegedly includes free access to the internet, which Chinese authorities regularly monitor and block using sophisticated firewalls.

Now they are backing down from what they promised to get the games.

Will it be IOC's games (Olympic) or will it be CPC's games?

I'm afraid what we get will be 100% Chinese games with all the manupulations of delayed transmissions.



BTW, found this too.

AUSTRALIA: Calls to Boycott Beijing Olympics

The European Parliament is debating Tibet and inviting Dalai Lama to speak the case.

A NY Times article.

European Leaders Press China Over Tibet

Under pressure from the news media and human rights groups, more leaders are now considering defying China and meeting the Dalai Lama, and while none have supported an outright boycott of the Olympic Games in August, the possibility of not attending the opening ceremony is no longer ruled out.

The president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, on Wednesday invited the Dalai Lama to speak to European Union legislators and questioned whether European leaders should attend the opening.

Boycotting Olympics is a bad thing. Yugoslav sportsman were sanctioned and were not allowed to attend Olympics in '90 (something).
Basketball has lost its beauty because defending champions were forbidden to attend, water polo suffered, shooting...
To summon up, you are punishing honest sportsman and figures of very high moral standards.
The background and real story was to stop any information coming through especially by honest and well known sportsman in the world who could say something to upset same People who imposed sanctions on food, goods, oil, medicine and basically everything else.
Don't punish good honest sport figures but discus this events through dipolmatic means.
It will get you nowhere to put down Chine or any other country for human rights violations while your own country is running 170 countries in the world by muscles and wars.
Lets get some perspective and even hand justice. Germany started the boycot?!
Why no western country boycotted Hitler's Olympic games in 1936 yet everyone knew what is going on in the country and what will happen?
I see some very bias opinions here. If we decide to punish one Person for rape or murder, lets make a sure he pays regardless of position of power he/she occupies like bush, cheney or being a janitor.

reply to post by khunmoon


An update on the Olympic boycott. It seems Pelosi bowed to Bush's wishes to stay out of it:

Pelosi: Olympic Boycott would be a mistake

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime critic of China's human rights policies, said Friday it would be wrong to boycott the Beijing Olympics.

If that isn't a joke, I don't know what is. Up until recently she was supporting the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people, now she flip-flopped. Sounds like the Clinton family.

She said in a statement that while the Chinese government has failed to live up to its commitments to improve human rights conditions in China and Tibet, "I believe a boycott of the Beijing Olympics would unfairly harm our athletes who have worked so hard to prepare for the competition."

Aka...She doesn't care about the Chinese or Tibetans, let alone Americans (troops?).

She said the Olympics should provide an opportunity for free expression and that she supported the rights of individuals and groups to make their views on China known when the Olympic torch passes through San Francisco next month.

Huh? The Chinese media is going to edit the coverage to suit their own agenda. That's not free speech. Sorry, I don't know where you've been living.

"As I said in India last week where I met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, if freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in Tibet, we have lost our moral authority to speak out on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world," she said.

...I'm at a loss for words...

I doubt the CIA is instigating this. The CIA after the Clintonista regime has been a fairly leftist organization. I think they approve of China and her form of government. As I recall the former head of the CIA, Bush senior, stood by and did nothing during the Tianamen square massacre. I've heard that he found the democracy protesters appalling. The powers that be hate democracy and hate protests that might disrupt the slave farms.

Just curious, didn't John Titor say the Olympics in 08 would not happen. Correct me if I am wrong.

Not that I believe Titor, I just find it curious!

From an EU meeting this Friday in Slovenia.

Call for Olympic boycott rejected

Britain and several other European Union countries have rejected calls for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in August.

The decision comes despite appeals from human rights organisations that leaders send a strong signal to China over its suppression of protests in Tibet.

Well, they should have asked the question: Do China need us, or do we need China.

Obviously in the interest of trade relations, we need China.

Britain won't boycott because we fear being boycotted in 2012. As the French said, Britain should not take part in a boycott but there is nothing stopping other nations throughout the world.

reply to post by khunmoon


Merkel will not attend opening ceremony (German Chancellor)

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, yesterday became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics in Beijing.

As pressure built for concerted western protests to China over the crackdown in Tibet, EU leaders prepared to discuss the crisis for the first time today, amid a rift over whether to boycott the Olympics.

The disclosure that Germany is to stay away from the games' opening ceremonies in August could encourage President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to join in a gesture of defiance and complicate Gordon Brown's determination to attend the Olympics.

Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott on Thursday and he was promptly joined by President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, who had previously promised to travel to Beijing.

"The presence of politicians at the inauguration of the Olympics seems inappropriate," Tusk said. "I do not intend to take part."

More and more people are boycotting the opening ceremony, but not necessarily the entire games.

These politicians are trying to save face to look like they care about the Chinese travesties, and at the same time, tell the Chinese they pose no serious threat.

Hypocrite much?