20 March 2008 

Last week, the Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi held a press conference and declared that groups who decide to mix politics with the Olympics will never succeed, and would only end up losing their credibility. China has been repeating the same line time and again that politics and sports must not mix. Before that, Yang Lan, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, also said, "The Olympics shouldn't be used to solve problems that have nothing to do with the event. On the contrary, it is supposed to shun such problems (as politics).”

And apparently, many world leaders seem to agree with China. The European Union also opposed any call for boycotting the Olympics saying that it would be counterproductive to the improvement of human rights in China. Today it was reported that President George Bush would not change his mind about attending the Olympics in China because the president believed that politics is not a factor in the Olympics. Last month, in an interview with BBC, Bush declared, "I'm going to the Olympics. I view the Olympics as a sporting event." Bush said that he didn’t need to use the Olympics to bring up an issue with China, because he has been doing that all along.

So the concensus among political leaders is there will be no boycotting of the Olympics, despite Darfur, the crackdown in Tibet, and countless other vices committed by China within and beyond its borders.

The questions for us to discuss then are following:

Are the world leaders correct in opposing calls for boycotting the Olympics?

Even with the Olympics taking place as usual, do you believe that the Olympics should be used as a forum for bringing up political and human rights issues?

Do you believe that there is a "separation of sports and politics" when it comes to the Olympics?

Is it a waste of time for VietWill to use the Olympics to protest against China's aggression int he South China Sea?

Please join the discussion and share your ideas

VietWill Blog Staff 

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oldbear   |03-25-2008 12:56:10 There're 2 distinctive things: China and the Olympics. Endorsing the Games doesn't mean supporting China's agendas, and vice versa. Most boycotts have more to do with ridiculous China's censorship than political and human right issues. Trashing the Games would solve Tibet's problems, bloodsheds in the middle east, Africa? no! The Olympics is a public forum. To demonstrate pure human spirits. To express desires for the better, faster and higher. It calls for fairness, integrity and unity. So by all means, raise our voice and reminds people what's it all about. we're not protesting the Olympics. We're protesting China. The Games happen to be the venue. A big public forum my 2c Reply | Quote

Toan   |03-25-2008 13:41:58 I'm cool with the Games. We're not aiming at the sporting event. We capitalize on it to direct public attention to whatever message we want to convey. Reply | Quote

BinhThuong   |03-26-2008 22:02:18 Even though the entire Olympics don't have to be boycotted, things like the Opening Ceremony can be boycotted as a message to China. The opening ceremony, just like the torch relay, is just a big showing off party. It doesn't affect the athletes in their competition. THere are some world leaders already boycotting the opening ceremony. That's a good way to slap China in the face for its actions. Reply | Quote

nearlymissed   |04-05-2008 20:11:39 Why do we like the Olympics? Because it represents human spirits. In my opinion, it represents something inherrent in all of us; the feeling of being a winner. Whether we like sports or not, we watch as if we were one of those competitors vicariously. The Olympics however has always been also been a platform for boycotts and politics. For example, in 1980, 65 nations refused to compete at the Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, resulting in only 81 participating nations, the lowest number of nations to compete since 1956. The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin were used as propaganda by the German Nazis but Jesse Owens (a black athlete) won the long jump with the help of Luz Long at the expense of his own silver medal. It is the event in which the whole world is watching. Therefore, it is also an opportunity for us to bring attentions to a large audience. For that, I will watch and boycott at the same time...So much for me being multi-tasking. Right. Reply | Quote

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