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Protest China with TV PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Lorrie Goldstein   
Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Protest China with TV Remote Controls

China has been repressing Tibet for almost 60 years and the rest of the world has not really cared that much.

That's what makes calls for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics this summer so bizarre.

First, it won't do any good.
Second, a boycott avoids the more significant question of whether economic sanctions should be imposed on China, as they were on South Africa during its apartheid regime.



Of course, unlike South Africa, cutting off trade with China would have a huge downside for western economies -- which is why no one talks about it.

Third, boycotting the Olympics, assuming you're not a world-class athlete, is a classic case of throwing someone else under a bus just so you can feel good.

Why should our Olympic athletes have to suffer for China's actions?

They didn't choose Beijing. The International Olympic Committee did (instead of Toronto, the second-place finisher for the Games) and when it did it was certainly aware of China's dismal record on human rights -- from Taiwan, to Tibet, to Tiananmen Square, to the repression of the Falun Gong.

Even the Dalai Lama, spiritual father of the Tibetan people, rejects a boycott of the Games.

Rather than futile gestures that would further isolate China's 1.3 billion people from the world, we should continue to trade with China and continue to denounce its policies of repression.

The media can do their part by not getting hysterical every time our prime minister meets with the Dalai Lama, or criticizes China over its lack of respect for human rights.

Similarly, if the Canadian government decides to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Games, let the punditariat remain calm.

Finally, as one Sun Media reader has cleverly noted, if people want to boycott the Beijing Olympics, they can refuse to watch them on television.

Think of the impact on China's rulers if the global television audience for "their" Olympics suddenly collapsed.

Of course, this would require individuals taking personal action to protest China's repression, instead of asking athletes and politicians to do it for them.

Lorrie Goldstein, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.





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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 April 2008 )
 
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