Back in March I raised the question of whether or not the readers of this blog will be watching the Beijing Olympics this summer. The games begin in just a few weeks, and I’d like to raise the question once again.
In March I began thinking about the Olympics because of the Chinese government’s violent reaction to the protests in Tibet. Last week I began thinking again about whether or not I’ll watch the games after reading a Washington Post story about the recent crackdown on Chinese dissidents by the government. Reporter Jill Drew writes about the toll this harassment has had one one of those dissidents, Huang Qi,
Huang, 45, is among dozens of Chinese writers and lawyers who have been convicted, detained, placed under house arrest, tailed or otherwise harassed as part of China’s broad crackdown on dissent in the run-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing next month. At least 44 writers are in Chinese prisons in violation of their rights to free expression, more than at the beginning of the year, according to a report released Tuesday by the PEN American Center, an advocacy group.
While much has been written about the political stakes involved, less well known is the personal toll that opposing the official Chinese government line these days can take. Huang’s friends are often harassed and sometimes detained; his wife, Zeng Li, has been forced to change apartments frequently after police pressed landlords to evict her; frequent beatings when he was in prison left Huang with brain injuries that now spark bouts of violent anger and other health problems. The stress eventually became too much for Zeng; she separated from Huang in 2006.
Time Magazine’s Simon Elegant offers this commentary on China’s promise to increase human rights when they won the right to host the games.
And what about the human rights and general openness that were supposed to have been enhanced by the awarding of the Games? It hardly needs to be said that the exact opposite happened and most dissenting voices have either been jailed or intimidated into silence. Same goes for the promised greater media freedom… My feeling is that the conservative forces in the top leadership (or hardliners if you prefer) will be emboldened by the fact that despite a severe crackdown in the full glare of pre-Olympics publicity, there has been virtually no substantive international reaction. I’d wager that they’ll argue that there’s no reason not to keep those irritating dissidents in jail if there’s no downside. It could even encourage security forces to tighten further once the Games are over.
Given all of this, I find the Associated Press’ report of 10,000 free Bibles being distributed in the Olympic Village to be little more than political pandering. (via CT)
Here is the question: As an American Christian, what is an appropriate response to what is currently happening in China? I’m interested in what you think about the individual’s response. Let’s leave the question of our government’s action out of it for now (though both presidential candidates have opinions: McCain and Obama). I know some see no connection between the Olympics and the politics of any country, including the host country. Others will see economics and politics every time they tune in. Is deciding to not watch the games a small act of solidarity with those Chinese citizens who have suffered as a result of the Games? Or, would a decision to avoid the Olympics only hurt the (mostly) amateur athletes who have worked so hard to make it to Beijing?
David W. Swanson 
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