Monday, April 7, 2008

To Boycott or Not to Boycott 2008 Olympics

Whether tis nobler in the world body politic or not, China is suffering the precision slings of arrows to their outrageous Olympic fortunes. Recurve bows for Archers are the only class of bow allowed at the Olympics. Arrows of dissent are cascading onto Beijing from all over the globe as boycotts take on various ghostly forms to challenge Chinese strong arm tactics against a sea of troubled policies towards Tibet, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, Taiwan and a host of internal Human Rights abuses. Exiled Chinese dissidents from Tiananmen Square massacre are urging the world to keep the pressure on China to amend its policies and adopt Human Rights as a guiding principle.

China and the Chinese ambassador to Canada accused the Dalai Lama of being the muckraker or serial liar behind the scenes stirring protests up to set the world against China's Olympics. Tibetan turmoil continues to mount in Olympic reaction to the civilian deaths from China's militaristic quelling of protests. China's heavy handed response to Tibet's renewed quest for independence caught the attention of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) luminaries responsible for awarding the Olympics to Beijing. The IOC Chairman, while in Beijing today at an Olympic Committee meeting discussing the uprising for freedom in Tibet, is still aiming to squash the boycott threats. China is also targeted for its policies of exploitation in Africa, principally backing brutal factions beholden to the Chinese for the civil war in Sudan's, Darfur region.

On Monday, a Beijing Olympics spokesman criticized protesters who attacked London's relay parade. China decided name calling and characterizing the many as the few, was their best response while under assault from rhetorical arrows meant to puncture their policy stances.

"A few Tibetan separatists attempted to sabotage the torch relay in London, and we strongly denounce their disgusting behavior," said Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympic organizing committee.
Every head of state is being questioned now on their intentions regarding the lavish Opening Ceremonies and their attendance. Bush is in, while some of his former White House staffers proffer to relocate the Olympics, Gordon Brown is taking it on the chin from Fleet street for allowing the Olympic torch destined for Beijing at #10 Downing Street while firmly rejecting boycott notions. The French are outraged as President Sarkozy is trying to honeymoon and upgrade his dissolute image while being hounded about the Olympic opening ceremonies where he favors a boycott. It has gotten so bad just carrying the Olympic flame, Norway, in a Tao Te Ching way states, declares the rest of the Torch relay should be canceled now.
The relay of the Olympic torch through the streets of Paris was disrupted this morning after only 200 metres. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered along the route and shouted pro-Tibetan slogans. The torch was extinguished twice and put on a bus for safety reasons. Five protestors have so far been arrested. A large number of police have been deployed to prevent disturbances along the 28-kilometre route.
Denmark is fence sitting about a boycott while Canada is doing the let's not routine. London is the home base of the Free Tibet Campaign.

All of this makes China apparatchiks ensconced inside the Imperial City, after scooting past the stone lions guarding the Gate of Heavenly Peace, violently ill. Perennial Oscar winner, Stephen Spielberg quit early on, stating China's policies preclude him from helping to stage Beijing's opening ceremony. Decades, even changing the course of nature by rerouting the mighty Yellow River and billions upon billions of yuan have gone into making the 2008 Olympics a premier corporate event to elevate China's standing on the world stage as the next super power.

European athletes are demanding clear guidelines from Jacques Rogge, Chairman of the IOC on what their freedoms of speech will be at the Olympics. China is being tormented in the wake of its own actions for the entire world to see and offer harsh critiques to decide whether a trip to Beijing for the Olympics is a good idea.

Dreaming Lhasa is the internationally recognized contemporary film about Tibet offered from the exiled film making partnership of Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin. Like many of the world's people, Tibetans are now building a body of work to chronicle their own diaspora.

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