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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > August > 01 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USIOC can’t run away from responsibility, blame
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On a recent trip to Beijing, a U.S. Olympic Committee official was laying on the bed in his hotel room watching CNN. It seemed like a normal newscast until a story began, “In Paris today …” — and the audio died and the screen went black.
We’ll never know what the story was about. But let’s assume it had more to do with protests over human rights violations than the secrets to making a lovely béarnaise sauce.
On Monday, I leave for the Beijing to cover the Olympics. The global news octopus notwithstanding, if I feel the need to catch up with past developments three blocks from my hotel when I return, there’s a reason.
Less than a week before Opening Ceremonies, Chinese officials continue to limit access to certain Internet sites carrying stories or blogs about Tibetan protests, personal independence or spiritual freedoms.
Fortunately, Big Brother will be hands off regarding any pre-season news about the SEC, unless Phil Fulmer suddenly takes a position on Tibet.
“There’s probably not much likelihood of that,” said Suzanne Wright, a China country specialist with Amnesty International, and Tennessee resident.
The IOC should have known better. For Jacques Rogge to say as recently as two weeks ago, “There will be no censorship of the Internet,” was at best blind and presumptuous and at worst a lie.
China should get only limited blame for this ugly feud. It is not going to change its government just because the Olympics are there for 17 days. And if the IOC really felt strongly about censorship and human rights, it never would have awarded the Games to China in the first place.
What we’re seeing now is massive global spin by one of the world’s most disingenuous and corrupt outfits. The reality is, as long as IOC officials still have a Ritz to sleep in, a Rolex waiting for them at check-in and an envelope back home with cruise tickets for Crete, all is well in their world.
Amnesty International considers it a small accomplish that China decided only Thursday night to unblock access to its Web site, as well as the BBC (Chinese language) and Radio Free Asia. But a question: Shouldn’t celebrating human rights be considered a part of the Olympic message?
“It is true that while the IOC has made some statements regarding human rights and is trying to influence China, overall they have really chosen not to speak out on the issue,” Wright said. “When they have talked about improvements they’ve made, they’ve been cherry-picking. They don’t talk about the overall situation, some of which are related to the Olympics.”
The three pillars of the Olympics are: sport, environment, culture. Amnesty International believes human rights should be a fourth pillar, and Wright said there are plans to approach the IOC following these Games.
Attempting to keep politics out of the Olympics is a noble but futile endeavor. Further, there are human rights violations directly related to these Olympics. China has been practicing “administrative detention,” in which protesters and otherwise perceived troublemakers are rounded up and taken to labor camps for a “re-education,” about the concepts of socialism and the like. This practice has been stepped up in the past year to clear the streets before the Games.
Many specifically protesting the Olympics coming to Beijing also have been arrested. One famous case involves Ye Guozhu. His home and restaurant were razed in 2004 to make way for new venues. Ye applied for a permit to protest. When he did so, he was charged with “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” Wright said.
Ye was jailed for four years. His sentence was to be completed last Saturday. But police took him from prison to another location. His family was told he will be “detained” until Oct. 1 for the benefit of the country.
IOC officials can do nothing about this. But it created the problem by awarding the Olympics to China. They can’t turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to the situation whether the screen goes black or not.
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment | Categories: Beijing Olympics
Comments
By Hugh Bailey
August 1, 2008 7:00 PM | Link to this
That the olympics will be held in China is a direct slap in the face to anyone who has ever stood up for the freedom of another and proves, once again, that the IOC is nothing but a collection of elite horses asses whose sole aim in life is to line their own pockets at the expense of others and, inspite of their own regurgitations to the contrary, corrupt and politicize any and all amature competition. You can also count me in with those who beleive that J. A. Samaranch should have been drawn and quartered for the remarks he made after the Atlanta games. The hypocrite insulted our city after we held the most profitable games EVER! I’m sure “His Excellency” wasn’t thinking about the victims while he was stuffing his own pockets. The hell with him!
By Kent
August 1, 2008 8:04 PM | Link to this
There are not enough reporters with the guts to say what so many of us are thinking. Thanks.
Think of all the human suffering that has been caused - and the IOC simply turns a blind eye. The Chinese have walled in, torn down, and eradicated so many homes and citizens it is difficult to grasp just how many people this has hurt. It makes me wonder if I can ever really feel a connection to the event again - this is not what the result of holding the Olympics should be.
By jobin
August 1, 2008 8:34 PM | Link to this
Kent, and others. Please don’t confuse the Chinese govt. with the Chinese people. They are truly separate classes. I am in china now, near beijing, and the local people here have no greater wish than to see the OLY games over and gone so they can resume productive lives and get from under the oppressive govt rules which have spread across this land in order for the govt to create the appearances of ‘harmony, order, civilization and progress’; it is all about ‘face’.
By dick cohen
August 1, 2008 9:10 PM | Link to this
The best thing is to have all the world come to china. this is a great opportunity to show just what is happening in the world, including china, which is no different in its treatment than our staunch allies; egypt,pakistan,arabia, etc. what should the chinese think? “that’s life,they ARE NOT picking on us”?
By ag
August 1, 2008 9:27 PM | Link to this
lying on the bed
By Hillbilly Deluxe
August 1, 2008 11:19 PM | Link to this
The IOC deserves whatever they get. But is this really any different than companies doing business with China in the interest of short term profits and cheap consumer goods. We’re building them up and some day we’ll pay the price. The Chinese gov’t has shown repeatedly over the years that it isn’t going to change.
By D-Cider
August 2, 2008 7:41 AM | Link to this
Jerk Schultz, thanks for pointing out the obvious. wow. u guys spend a lot of time researching these blogs, don’t you? Also, I suppose you meant “accomplishment” instead of “accomplish”. Hire a proof-reader..enjoy your trip…stay forever..get a happy ending..btw..wasn’t the Olympics held in the USSR after that country invaded Afghanistan? Plus, the IOC has been corrupt for years
By Cats
August 2, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this
Schultz is right: Wait’ll China gets a load of us.
By Left to Right
August 2, 2008 11:57 AM | Link to this
“The reality is, as long as IOC officials still have a Ritz to sleep in, a Rolex waiting for them at check-in and an envelope back home with cruise tickets for Crete, all is well in their world.”
Exactly right. Those of us who lived in Atlanta during the ‘96 games got to see what a bunch of feckless jerks the IOC memebers really are. I have lost most of my interest in the Olympics because of that.
By KIR
August 3, 2008 8:06 AM | Link to this
I agree with you Hugh, China should never have been allowed to hold the games. However, maybe they’ll throw Jeff in a hole and keep him there. How about taking Mark Bradley and Terrence Moore with you and maybe they can keep you company in the same hole.
By The Grinch
August 3, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this
Agreed with Hillbilly; we’re going to reap what we sow with China in about 10 years. Propping their economy up at the expense of ours was/is a terrible move.
By Carlton Powell
August 3, 2008 5:51 PM | Link to this
ANYTIME the IOC takes it on the chops is fine with me. What a horrible bunch of human beings—if one can truly call them that—they are. No amount of grief or diffuculty is too good for them. I feel so sorry for the athletes that HAVE to compete in the games. For athletes participating in swimming, track, field, etc. this is their big venue. Basketball players, tennis players, etc. don’t HAVE to participate to gain exposure and competition. The fact that this despotic bunch of fools is even allowed to hold sway in the Olympic experience is pathetic. I realize they will never return to ATL, and that’s good. Keep them the hell away. As for China, we have/are sowing the wind, and will definitely reap the whirlwind. Beijing is a dirty nasty place, filled with, again, despotic Chineese leaders.
By Terrible Truth
August 3, 2008 5:52 PM | Link to this
You think Jeffy’s wife might slip a little contraband in his luggage to keep him there for, oh, three to five years?
By JSS
August 4, 2008 4:42 AM | Link to this
Man, you know the AJC has struck rock bottom when they assign the least prepared, the utterly clueless, and the “most detestable human being” on their staff (I use that word loosely) to cover the Games.
Thanks Mr. Caray, goodnight everybody…
By Bob
August 4, 2008 1:25 PM | Link to this
Was that reporter “laying” eggs in his hotl room?
By bill
August 5, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this
I will watch these games long enough to find out which sponsors I will NOT patrnize
By The Fight Realtor
August 6, 2008 6:25 AM | Link to this
We are all looking forward to two weeks of Shultz’s meritless and sarcastic opinion pieces from Beijing.
By Gene
August 6, 2008 1:55 PM | Link to this
Every time I see a pompous IOC jackass on television, I think about Dick Pounds’ drunken wife jaywalking, then going after the police officer like Bobby Cox after an unpire. Unladylike to say the least.
By Whopper Dawg
August 6, 2008 11:35 PM | Link to this
I have been to China approximately 20 times over the last five years on business. In this business, I have seen and visited the amazing cities and the areas that are still in third world status. What we have to realize is that China is in a different state of evolution as a country and society than we are here in the US. Not wrong, but different. The educated Chinese realize exactly where they are in terms of that evolution, and believe one day they will have a democratic form of government, but the country is not ready for that now. I believe they are correct. They are a wondrous and fantastic people and China will emerge as the leading country in the world in this century, perhaps even in the first half. That is going to happen, you can’t stop it. My firm advice to my children and my nephews and nieces is to learn Chinese, as that will give them a huge advantage in business now and in the future. Are there some human right issues by American standards, you bet. Is the Chinese gov’t leading that country in the right direction, you bet. They have got 1.2 billion poeple for goodness sakes, and many of those are much more concerned about eating three squares rather than going with cable or satellite. So, if you can’t get all the TV channels you are used to, or if the editorial in the paper (China Daily is in english), maybe you could overlook it and marvel at what is an incredible country at an incredilble time of development at an incredible time of world history.
The Whopper
By Oz
August 7, 2008 9:39 AM | Link to this
China cant be trusted. They are our enemy. They are building up a vast navy while we pour our defense $ down a hole in the sand in the desert.
Cheney and Bush are as corrupt and evil as the Chinese Communist Party leaders who avail themselves of total tyrannical power over 1.3 billion people.
Thanx to Bush, and their sole reliance on our military progress in terms of the surge, we are in grave danger from the Chinese Navy.
Bush is a fool. The Chinese sure are smiling wide lately.
By One Man's View
August 7, 2008 9:43 AM | Link to this
And we don’t have censorship in this country? Don’t we cordon protestors? Carry a sign into a Presidential public outing. Just hold it, say nothing. You are out of there. Try free speech after going through the workplace door in the mornings. True, you don’t get locked up or shot, just fired and blacklisted. Basically shopping has replaced democracy in the US.