Members of the US House have sent a letter to the President asking that he not attend the Olympics in Beijing later this year. This request comes after the recent “suppression” of the Tibetan riots at the hands of the Chinese government. It is in addition to concerns regarding other human right issues in China.
Leaders of France, Germany, and Great Britain have announced they may not attend. The letter sent asks that Bush follow the lead of other leaders.
In the article "House members urge Bush to skip Olympics" the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Qin Gang, stated, “We hope to enhance mutual understanding, friendship, and cooperation with other peoples through the Games. We must follow the purpose of the Olympics and not politicize the games.”
On a different issue regarding the Olympics, my husband said that during his recent visits to China, there are plans to temporarily shut down plants to offset pollution. This is in addition to having the most severe polluters moved outside of Beijing.
He said the news also mentioned something about an element they are going to put in the air to “bring the pollution down to earth” and out of the air. I seriously doubt this is possible and if so they are creating another problem by solving one through pollution of the soil. Not to mention the impact on the people.
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It's interesting that Chinese officials would attempt to spin the Olympics as apolitical. Any time we meet with other countries, it's political. Consider the 1956 Moscow games when countries boycotted for several reasons, including the Soviet invasion of Hungary, the Suez Crisis, and most interestingly, China's boycott because Taiwan was included in the event under a separate flag. There's also 1972 in Munich when Palestinian terrorists kidnapped Israeli atheletes, 1980 in Moscow when the US and others boycotted because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the so-called retaliation-for-the-1980-boycott boycott in 1984 Los Angeles, which ironically China participated after a 32-year absence.
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