Expressing Opinions

How much is the Chinese government paying IOC President Jacques Rogge? Rogge spoke to reporters at a press conference today in Singapore where he told the reporters,

“The health of the athletes is absolutely not in any danger. It might be that some will have to have a slightly reduced performance, but nothing will harm the health of the athletes. The IOC will take care of that.”

That is easy for him to say because you know Rogge does not give a sh*t about an athletes health. All he cares about is getting his money and having the games played in Beijing. In the meantime the Chinese government continues to insult the world with it’s blatant lies about the air quality and violence.

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Why does the global community continue to support the Olympics and the International Olympic Committee? How much is the Chinese government paying the IOC for the privilege to host the 2008 Beijing Olympics? Here is a report on more violence against the unarmed monks and citizens of Tibet.

The Associated Press is reporting Police Fire on Tibetan Protesters; 8 Die:

BEIJING (AP) — Police fired on hundreds of protesters in a Tibetan area of western China, killing eight people, overseas activist groups said. State media reported one government official was seriously injured in what it called a riot.

“We should strengthen patriotic education so as to guide the masses of monks to continuously display the patriotic tradition and uphold the banner of patriotism,” the paper quoted Hao Peng, Tibet’s deputy Communist Party Chief, as saying.

Thursday’s violence in Sichuan province came when the government attempted to enforce “patriotic education” at the Garze monastery, according to the activist groups.

With no access by outside reporters I am sure this only very small amount of the violence which is being perpetrated by armed government thugs against the people of Tibet.

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Today NPR is reporting about the Olympics and China’s human rights violations and pollution in Beijing.

Oh, there’s no problem with the construction in Beijing, but there is simply no assurance that the twin issues of pollution and human rights will be improved a whit by Aug. 8.

It isn’t, either, that these problems have snuck up on the International Olympic Committee. Pollution and human rights were foremost in the conversation way back in 1993, when the IOC came within a hairsbreadth of awarding the 2000 Olympic Games to Beijing. Sydney got the nod then, but the twin bugaboos were no less front and center in 2001, when, yea, verily, the Olympic voters blessed Beijing with these games.

For more information you can go to China Struggles to Shine in Olympic Spotlight.

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What would you think if the government made a statement like this about your religion. “Every religion should carry out their activities according to the law and should never undermine national solidarity.” This statement was made by the Chinese Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu during a visit to three monasteries.

Chinese government officials are visiting temples and making threats to monks and other citizens about the unrest in the region. The AP (Associated Press) is reporting:

Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu announced that “patriotic education” classes would be expanded at monasteries, the Tibet Daily reported Tuesday.

Monks and nuns who refuse to cooperate can be jailed. The U.S. State Department said in its 2007 report on religious freedom around the world that dozens of Tibetan clergy were serving prison terms for their resistance to “patriotic” or political education.

Apparently the Chinese government leaders think patriotic or political education is the answer. Is “patriotic or political education” the 21st century political correct term for tortured until you agree with us or die?

What was the Olympic committee thinking when they decided to choose Beijing as the sight for the 2008 Olympics? Maybe they are going to add torture to event list. If that is the case, then China and the U.S. Waterboarding team can compete.

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You do not need to tune into the news for long and you will hear of Chinese soldiers killing unarmed civilians, the Chinese government is controlling the news by not allowing outside press to report on the ongoing violent treatment of civilians. In the rest of the worlds press media there has been talk about boycotting the Beijing Olympics because of the China’s repressive treatment of it’s population. But there is more than China’s repressive and murderous treatment of it’s citizens to consider.

The U.S. State Department has issued this warning about traveling to Beijing. On the U.S. State Departments web site they state:

PRIVACY & SAFETY: All visitors should be aware that they have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public or private locations. All hotel rooms and offices are considered to be subject to on-site or remote technical monitoring at all times. Hotel rooms, residences and offices may be accessed at any time without the occupant’s consent or knowledge.

Then there is a recent visit from Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of the United States Pacific Command. He recently visited China and he and his entire staff left ALL of their electronic devices home. Why? Because of security concerns the Navy has over China hacking into the devices, thus being able to spy on the U.S. Navy and our government. If the U.S. Navy and the U.S. State Department have concerns over privacy shouldn’t we? And if the Chinese government is willing to kill it’s own citizens shouldn’t we be concerned for our safety too?

Many Olympic athletes train for years for a one time shot on the world stage of competition. The sacrifices these athletes and many times their families make over the years are nothing short of extraordinary. The athletes already know about the poor air quality and less than prefect conditions to compete. Now they are hearing about more violence of the Chinese government towards it’s people. It puts an athlete in a tough spot to choose over a sport and possibly teammates they have trained and sacrificed for over many years or possibly boycott the games.

Maybe the world should let the athletes decide to attend or boycott the games, after all they are the ones who worked so hard to get the honor and privilege to compete on the world’s stage. And the rest of us can boycott the games by staying home, but still support our athletes by watching their performances on television and cheering them on with emails and web postings.

To the Chinese it is all about the money and we can boycott them financially. Thank you for visiting Expressing Opinions.

I came across this image on another web site and I think it pretty much summarizes the Chinese government’s attitude towards the 2008 Olympics, it’s people, and the rest of the world.

A boycott of visitors to China would be appropriate. China appears to be willing to do almost anything to show their country in a positive light. They are willing to kill it’s unarmed citizens, including monks, and control all press coverage, so they can spin the news the way the government wants it to sound. Someone should inform the Chinese government the global community does not believe their bullsh*t!

Larger sizes of the above graphic is available at the creators web site with his permission to use it. The url is: http://www.bbdo.co.uk/blog/archives/540 .

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This photo and caption is from the BBC’s Day in Pictures. When I saw it I thought the smog really made the blue in the photo stand out. That air is really dirty, I would not want to be an athlete competing in a city with such horrendous pollution.

Beijing’s National Aquatics Centre, known as the Water Cube, where swimming events will be staged during the Olympics, is seen lit up with the National Stadium in the background.Beijing’s National Aquatics Centre, known as the Water Cube, where swimming events will be staged during the Olympics, is seen lit up with the National Stadium in the background.

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