Today’s London publicity stunt for the Chinese regime should be ignored by the
public and any reputable athlete or politician, unless to register a fierce
protest. The four-month “journey of harmony” of the Olympic torch (or many
cloned torches) through 21 nations is an exercise in political laundering.
It is appalling that the prime minister is to “greet” his torch in Downing
Street.
This tour has nothing to do with sport. It has been staged by the Chinese
government, not the International Olympic Committee, with “celebrity
runners” in each country approved by the commercial sponsors, Coca-Cola,
Lenovo and Samsung. In Britain those conned into joining include Tim Henman,
Sir Trevor McDonald, Vanessa-Mae, the Sugababes, Ken Livingstone and Gordon
Brown. It shows how craven Britain has become to its membership of the
so-called Olympic family and its Chinese parents.
The idea of carrying a lit torch from the Temple of Hera in Greece was
invented by Hitler in 1936 to suggest a link between the German people and
fellow Aryans in southern Europe. It was revived as a political act by
Sydney in 2000 with a regional tour symbolising Australia’s links with the
Pacific rim of Asia. Athens staged a world tour in 2004 in honour of the
Games returning to their original home.
Nothing has equalled the present shenanigans. China’s ruling politburo knows
that these Games carry heavy political baggage. Everything is image. The
regime wants value for money from its $30 billion and that would never
accrue from a mere fortnight’s track and field events.
That is why today’s London run, which began in Athens last month, will return
to China by touching down in Lhasa, Tibet. There it will meet a torch from
the summit of Everest. The centrality of Lhasa to the tour is to emphasise
that Everest is in China by virtue of being in Tibet. It is not the
protesting Tibetans who are polluting sport with politics, but their Chinese
overlords.
Participants in today’s display are thus endorsing an event the climax of
which is to celebrate a dictator’s conquest of a neighbour. When Saddam
Hussein did that to Kuwait, Britain went to war. The least Britain owes the
Tibetans is not to add to their humiliation. Playing sport is one thing,
political cheerleading is another.
I normally dislike boycotts, embargoes and sendings to Coventry. They tend to
hurt the wrong people and only boost the self-importance of those at whom
they are directed. That particularly applies in areas such as sport, where
non-political contact between young people in conflict-ridden parts of the
world should be promoted rather than suppressed.
For that reason it is right, as the Dalai Lama has said, for athletes to
participate in the Beijing Olympics, as in Hitler’s in 1936 and Moscow’s in
1980. But the athletes and their political and media hangers-on should
recognise that the Games have never been politics-free, not since their
revival in 1896. The ambition of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, their promoter,
was emphatically political, hoping that big nations would “fight each other
at the Games” instead of rushing into wars of national prestige.
Since then a self-perpetuating mafia, the IOC, has relentlessly hyped the
Games as festivals of national prestige to push their cost way beyond that
of any other world championship and beyond the hopes of any poor city or
nation.
It demands permanent stadiums, villages and massive security, most of it
useless for any lasting purpose. The world is littered with vacant and
derelict Olympics venues. London has caved in to the same pressure and is
building unnecessary sites for athletics, swimming and cycling, as well as
London facilities for horse riding and shooting that could have been staged
in the home counties at Hickstead and Bisley.
The IOC knows that only by investing the Games in flatulent pretension can it
hope for rich governments to keep it in the style to which it has become
accustomed. Nothing but dictatorship could have drained Beijing of the $30
billion that its Games are costing. After Britain’s experience of IOC
lifestyle requirements - such as “Zil lanes” in Mile End Road for its
personal limousines - it may have to rely on other dictatorships in future.
The pretension is embodied in the torch, a 20th century invention, called “a
symbol of peace, justice and brotherhood” that is “bringing people together
on its journey of harmony”. Its “mother flame” is being transported about
the world in a specially adapted Air China jet, with 10 “flame attendants”,
like Greek acolytes. The torch requires its own motorcade and a nightly
hotel room where it must be surrounded by unsleeping guards.
No sport does itself credit by associating with antics reminiscent of the
crazed millionaire in Dr No. Yet even London has capitulated to this
nonsense, with the British Museum, Downing Street, Canary Wharf and the
Docklands Light Railway all cashing in. Taxpayers must spend £1m on eight
hours of police overtime culminating in the lighting of an “Olympic
cauldron” at the Millennium Dome. If this were not the Olympics it would be
total nutcase country, with the Witches of the Sabbath and the Flat Earth
Society demanding equal time.
Handling the politics of the Olympics will clearly be a matter of some
delicacy. The Chinese ambassador in London may yet absent herself from
today’s event. Gordon Brown and his cabinet should do likewise. The British,
led by Tessa Jowell, the ensnared Olympics minister, periodically intone
their “concern for civil rights in China” as if it were a Buddhist mantra.
It makes no difference.
From the moment the Games were awarded to Beijing, all involved knew they
risked becoming quislings to the Chinese cause.
Many athletes have protested that boycotting the Games because of Tibet or
civil rights would be a “terrible blow to young people who have trained for
years”. But most sporting championships are purely about sport, such as
those devoted to cycling in Manchester last week. By contrast, athletes
always knew that Beijing would be a seismic political event.
In Tibet 140 people are reported to have died, preliminary to the athletes’
enjoyment of their sport. Eight were reported shot last week for supporting
the Dalai Lama. The Chinese have closed Lhasa to clamp down on further
protest, as they had to close Tiananmen Square for the first receipt of the
torch. They have arrested 70 Uighurs in the “autonomous” province of
Xinjiang. Dissidents in Beijing are being arrested and condemned to who
knows what fate. One writer, Hu Jai, has been imprisoned and tortured for
doing what the IOC boss, Jacques Rogge, advocated, namely that the Olympics
be used to publicise human rights abuses in China. What is Rogge doing now?
The Olympics are a festival of chauvinism, a farrago of anthems and flags and
medal tables and prestige. Those participating in the Olympics are not
individual players, as in most sporting occasions. They are Coubertin’s
soldiers, defending their nation’s honour in a charged political climate.
The Olympics are a United Nations general assembly by another name. China
and the IOC are relying on the ceremonial flummery to validate the Games
financially and politically.
There is now no way those participating can cut the Games down to sporting
size. The IOC has long closed that option. But in this contest of political
symbolisms, they can return like for like. The more odious the host regime,
the more assiduous visitors can be in publicising the odium.
Politicians should go nowhere near these Games except in protest. Leave them
to sport. Today and at every stop along the way, the torch and its bearers
must suffer a tunnel of shame, parodying its protestations of peace,
brotherhood and justice. This is an opportunity to publicise and protest
against the world’s greatest dictatorship.
The BBC’s 400 Olympics staff are on the mother of all junkets, in contempt
alike for China’s oppressed and Britain’s licence-fee payers. It will be
shocking if such a media bonanza ignores its wretched political environs.
China last week welcomed the British government as a member of something
called the Olympic family. If this is a family, I hope that for the next
four months it is an intensely unhappy one.
simon.jenkins@sunday-times.co.uk
nonesense I must say ur comment U don't even know the gov.&the truth ,so don't look at the chinese gov.as urs & please take care of ur some graceful but biased words
well can u addimit that during the past decades there was the compleyely purified Games without the gov.support &anticipation? so who will organize the Game, who will publicy the olympic sprite to its people& who will take care of the Game?? u really don't know how much hard work the chinese gov. and the people do for it. we rebuild the street and airport to meet the emerging foreign visitors,the gov. publicy the Game everywhere .many high school volunteers like me paticipate the natinal compaign for the Games, we receive the help & advice from the local gov.and the people .and much work we do is just for ur foreigners(interpretion,guidiance , cordination and accomodation) u can't deny the gov. contribution we're proud to be the host but don't welcome the unfriendly people who ignore & distort our effort.
jill chueng, changsha, china
just a great great column Simon. I'm an expat living in Abu Dhabi I get the Sinday Times out here every week and this article was so spot on, completely encapsulated my thinking entirely, in words i only wish i had the ability to use but i guess that's why i'm an engineer and ur a wordsmith!. absolutely sterling stuff, keep up the good work...
Aidan, Abu Dhabi, UAE
I wonder what would people in Britain feel if other countries were instigating seperatist movement in Northern Ireland and bankrolling violence by IRA. I guess British Government's response would not have been very different from what China is doing now. Of course such occurances on our own land happened a decade ago, a time long enough for us all to suffer a collective memory loss. By the way, it's so popular to criticize a rising power. If we cannot stop China from progressing then let's stop the torch. How heroic!
Seawing, London, UK
Surely if we are to boycott Beijing games, we have set a precident which requires all future games to have a clean human rights record across all territories and minorities.
I did not see anyone boycott the Atlanta games for the rights of Native Americans, the Sydney games over the status of Aboriginies, nor the Athens games for the treatment of Albanians.
This may well be a moral awaking by the UK and other Western nations, which can only be a good thing, but I feel it is lacking in conviction (how many protestors will actually boycott Chinese goods?) and rather than improve the world, simply lead us to into moral positions we cannot support by our actions.
Surely the Chinese (as well as every Arab nation) will have far more justification to boycott our games in 2012 due to our human rights abuses in Iraq/Afganistan - I really hope they do not.
Unless the Olympics is held in Scan
Tom, London E1, UK
KEEP IT A SPORTING EVENT!
The Olympic Games are not about politics and they should not be politicized! To do so would
set a very bad precedent that could come back to haunt Britain in the future.
There are AMPLE MEANS AND OPPORTUNITIES to address China's irresponsible actions in Tibet...without damaging one of mankind's noblest
cultural and sporting institutions.
Garth Strong, San Diego, USA
KEEP IT A SPORTING EVENT!
The Olympic Games are not about politics and they should not be politicized! To do so would
set a very bad precedent that could come back to haunt Britain in the future.
There are AMPLE MEANS AND OPPORTUNITIES to address China's irresponsible actions in Tibet...without damaging one of mankind's noblest
cultural and sporting institutions.
Garth Strong, San Diego, USA
And well done, London policemen! Sometimes, you just need to put your head down and do a good job, even at the risk of being misunderstood.
We know those semi preofessional protestors who are funded by political organisations which would do everything to grab powers at the cost of innocent lives. Yet they told the world they are non violent, right after nasty crimes they committed in Tibet and other places in China.
These people are IRA alike, you know?
Jane, UK
Jane Newton, nottingham,
" 99% of protesters are NOT Chinese. 99% of Pro-China people are Chinese. Interesting?? "
X Zhao, London,
Response to Mr. XZao. Pro-China protests appear to be are orginized by the Chinese goverment. I have seen 'ad-hoc' pro-China anti free Tibet demonstration in Toronto organized by chinese visa students in Toronto. There were thousands of Chinese flags and banners on display. The banners and flags looked brand new freshly manufactured.
Andrzej Wrotek, Toronto, Canada
How Gordon must envy the Chinese! Centralised totalitarian control, no dissent tolerated, a parasitic socialist state apparatus feeding off a dynamic market economy....
Gervas Douglas, Andorra la Vella,
This is so one sided. There were reports of rioting and looting against ethincally Chinese citizens in Tibet when trouble started. Irrespective of the history of Tibet, these were race crimes but no one condemned them. The media focus is now on Tibet independence which is a sovereign issue for China, same as any other country.
According to the Olymic Movement, good sportsmanship, sense of fair play, and respect for athletes teaches people of different races, religions and nationalities to work peacefully together in competition toward common goals, in the hope of promoting peace and a sense of brotherhood throughout the world. This is what the Olympics is all about.
China has come a long way in terms of opening its doors. Sure, there is need for improvement, but change takes time. Let's not forget there are 1.4 billion Chinese people (including myself) and also scores of atheletes eagerly waiting to be part of history. Who will really suffer if the games are boycotted?
Stefanie, Hong Kong,
Sir,
It’s not surprising that someone like you would speak out just like those Ignorant and Biased (these two often hand in hand together) people when it comes to talking about Tibet and China.
You may hit some points such that IOC should have a permanent venue which is worth debating (not that I agree, because it has become a convention for the global society so why stop it when lots of people support it?). However, your accusation that China is the “world’s greatest dictatorship†is completely wrong. And it’s outrageous and totally unacceptable to compare the Chinese government with Hitler. What you say about China and Tibet, together with what I read in papers and watch on TV, has turned Me, a Chinese who received both Chinese and Western education and worked for both Western and Chinese organizations and who is pro -West, into anti – West. And I am not alone.
Jane Newton, nottingham,
Hitler was responsible for the break of WII and millions of the deaths of innocent people. And he was the dictator who, somehow, was elected. Yet, could you let me know who is the current dictator in China if you are so sure? Like any government in the world, Chinese government should be open to criticism, but when Communist party won the civil war 59 years ago, China, with a population of 400 million, was in a terrible state, partly thanks to nearly a century’s exploitations of Western imperialisms. Under the Communist regime, China’s population trebled (yes, even after disastrous famines and the cultural revolution) and the majority of people have enough food and the living standard has been improving, in particular minority people who enjoyed extra subsidies in education and medical care (similar to what Scotland and Wales get in the UK).
Jane Newton, nottingham,
Olympics.. how many planes full of VIPs and other useless people, and how many limos to ferry them about? Not very good for the environment is it?
How much tones of concrete glass etc etc used in the construction of these permanent sports sites? A used olympic stadium isn't much good for anything is it?
How much did the london 2008 and 2012 bids cost? How many people were kept in useful employment by these bids?
What use are the olympic games to anybody?
Ian, Aberdeen, UK
Very noble sir, I think all of us (bar the politicians, and economists) agree.
Mount J, dorset, gb
"British outrage at the domination of one country by another is so hypocritical as to bring on a fit of laughter. Do the words "Northern Ireland" or "British Empire" not deserve some mention as you waggle your finger so sanctimoniously at the Chinese?
Jim Houghton, Los Angeles, CA, USA"
I'm sorry Jim, am I to be blamed for human rights violations carried out before my birth; violations which I despise as much as the ones perpetuated now by the Chinese government?
I am not opposing the cultural genocide of Tibet and the suppression of dissent in China as a Briton but as a human being with a compassionate and sincere belief in the fundamental human rights outlined in the Universal Declaration, rights purportedly upheld by the IOC.
Sanctimonious? If it is sanctimonious to wish for others to share what dignity and liberty is afforded to me by mere virtue of my geographic location, then yes, I am. You see, unlike you I am not so insensitive as to attempt to draw laughter from suffering.
Alexander Nicholson, Coventry, UK
I welcome your support.It is reassuring to find someone with influence,who has the courage to speak out.
I would also ask the athletes taking part,to take a moment and ask themselves"Am I doing all that I can",after all people are dying so that they can compete for the honour of a medal.
Last time I looked,we bestowed medals for heroic acts!
James, Dumfries, Scotland
I'm all for the protests yesterday but the most effective protests would be to stop buying Chinese products as far as it is possible. This would be the only way the Chinese government would feel any pressure.
Adding import tarifs to Chinese goods might make this easier but with the state of the global economy it would unlikely to get much support politically.
Nick, London, UK
"Wilfred Knight" of Orange County - any chance of a rational thought to further the debate in hand? Fabian of LA managed it.
"The silence about American human rights abuses is becoming a bad joke"
John Bull, Bristol, UK
Can we please dispense with the huge amounts of money spent on the Olympic Games, and the IOC, the totally unnecessary new buildings and arenas built at public expense, people being trained to run around, jump, swim and throw balls, and, no doubt, do other things as well, for a once in every four years event, staged in a different country each time, and the endless TV coverage that is mind blowingly boring?
,
Jan Laidlaw, Geelong, Australia
It's a shame that nothing positive is ever written about China. We all know of the 1.4+billion people living here in China, yet they're ALL reduced to the harsh criticism of blatant one sided reporting. How much do we know about Chinese history? How much do we know about the Chinese people? A distinction between the Chinese government and Chinese people would be nice.
Jim, Wenzhou, China
Bravo,Mr. Jenkins! Communist China is today what Imperial Japan was in the 1930's. Building their military capacity and claiming more lives with brutal suppression of any dissent. Shame on the any party supporting this sham. Boycott NOW!!!
Eric Barlow, Conifer, Colorado,USA
Today in the London leg of the torch relay, I protested against China's treatment of Tibetans and human rights abuses.
Now I have come across this aritcle - excellent.
This further galvanized me.
Chris, London,
Dwight Vandryver - come 2012, not only would I expect the Chinese to have a good reciprocal case for boycotting the London Olympics, I would be fully expecting commentators such as Simon Jenkins to lead calls for a political boycott of the 2012 Games, in protest of the atrocities bestowed upon the Iraqi and Afghan people by the British government in the name of freedom and democracy.
Dave, Perth, Australia
The UK protests against the Olympic Torch relay are massive today... I am not Chinese myself but sometimes I wonder as an outsider whether the people in England are protesting in support of Tibet or just demonstrating their anti-chinese feelings nourished by the western propaganda...
Alex, London,
99% of protesters are NOT Chinese. 99% of Pro-China people are Chinese. Interesting??
X Zhao, London,
These games are held to show that nations political,economic , and military might and legitimize their righteousness and sweep their mistakes under the carpet forever.
I am a Tibetan and I am the history of Tibet. First thing I have heard of China was they invaded Tibet with military force and fooled the Tibetan aristocrat in believing their lie to protect Tibet from imprilist India (British Govt of India) and expansionist America. Soon after my parents have escape Tibet when I was 3 or so. My father said he had never seen a Chinese and how many Chinese are there in Tibet. If you do not know Chinese you will not get any job, may be it would be difficult to travel too. Monks are given "Patriotic Education" since 1959 and have started in a big way these days.
I respect the Chinese people but it is the Governments policy that kills. So protest. Dear Chinese people if you do not see world news Today then there is some problem with your system. British Govt. must tell the truth. Pleas
Rigzin, Santa Fe, USA
Sir,
You have expressed, much more fluently tha I could, all of my thoughts about these obscene events.
The one and only thought on which we seem to differ is the athletes part in all of this.
I have read many column inches, and heard a lot more, about how hard they have worked toward this goal, and how sport should be separated from politics.
It seems that the athletes have abrogated any sense of individual responsibility to their sports associations or government.
This, it seems to a simple soul, is the moral equivalent of a thug justifying his attack on an innocent bystander by saying that his friends encouraged him.
Do our athletes, so hard working, so determined, so driven, have no individual sense of what is right and wrong?
How is it that they are unable to see that they have as clear a responsibility to protest about all of the infringements of human rights of the Chinese government, and not just those that affect Tibet
In my view, thinking athletes should not go.
Tont Andrews, Rochdale, Lancashire
"...badness is of the self, the one, the you or me on our oddy knockies, and that self is made by old Bog or God and is his great pride and radosty. But the not-self cannot have the bad, meaning they of the government and the judges and the schools cannot allow the bad because they cannot allow the self. And is not our modern history, my brothers, the story of brave malenky selves fighting these big machines? I am serious with you, brothers, over this. But what I do I do because I like to do." -- Alex, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, by Anthony Burgess
This is a classic struggle between Augustinian (Tibet/Alex) and Pelagian (China/State) forces. As the former fights for self determination, even at the cost of badness, the latter oppresses the individual for the sake of the hive. Unlike Alex above, most Olympic athletes are "of the self" in the best way possible (at least in the West), and that, sadly, is what's being co-opted by the manipulative, totalitarian Communist Party of China.
Boycott.
Shaun Smith, Toronto, Canada
Before watching the parade today, I had no idea that we had so many policemen in this country. Are they normally kept in cold storage somewhere? They're not usually seen from one year to the next.
Simon, Birmingham, UK
Meanwhile, the British servicemen are "accidentally" dropping bombs on innocent Afghans and Iraqis. An illegal invasion of Iraq paid for by the British taxpayer.
Jennifer Smith-Kiyani, Norwich, UK
Not only is the olympics a political fiasco, this whole ceremony of sharing the olympic flame with other countries slaps the face of the environmentalists. How ironic is it that a huge jet plane is used to transport a small flame around the world! I wonder what the carbon foot print of the flame is?!
Darren , Bedfordshire,
Whatever happened to diplomacy? I find these protesters tedious, futile and obviously semi professional. We don t know who they are, though we can guess their provenance easily enough, but they are representative of the type of tyranny, that is to say disregard for law and reasonable process, which they are professing to oppose. It is the increasing shame of this country that at every occasion these people come out of the woodwork, put on this mindless performance, and disrupt any occasion to suit themselves. Unfortunately they provide the police with overtime, so they aren t complaining. There is too much loose money available to fund these barmy armies.
Henry Percy, London, UK
"Muslim activists in Europe? Like the ones who killed 50 people in London, and 180 or so in Madrid?"
Thats his point these people are rightly called terrroists in europe but in China these Muslims are " activists and the tibetan mobs that burned people alive throwing rocks are called protestors. Western Hypocracy.
Raymond, norf, uk
I doubt that Mr Jenkins can even read a single chinese character. My advise, go China , take a tour , go know some Chinese friend living there, see the places through your own eyes, and you will find a completely diferrent China.
Jane, Taipei,
It's a shame nothing positive is ever written about China. We all know of the 1.4 billion people living here, yet they're ALL reduced to the harsh, blatant one sided criticism of the media. A distinction between the Chinese government and it's people would be nice.
Jim, Wenzhou, China
Mr Jenkins you once again have proved yourself to be the most outstanding columnist in this country. Well done Sir!
Tania, London, UK
Muslim activitists in China are called "dissidents" whereas muslim activitists in the Middle East and Europe are labelled as "terrorists".
[don, toronto, Canada]
Muslim activists in Europe? Like the ones who killed 50 people in London, and 180 or so in Madrid?
Andy Gill, London, UK
Most of us know nothing of Tibet and care even less. How many of the protesters could even find it on a map. Simon Jenkins and many like him believe we all think as he does. Get real mate.
A Palmer, Bristol,
The UK protests against the Olympic Torch relay are massive today... I am not Chinese myself but sometimes I wonder as an outsider whether the people in England are protesting in support of Tibet or just demonstrating their anti-chinese feelings nourished by the western propaganda...
Alex, London, UK
British outrage at the domination of one country by another is so hypocritical as to bring on a fit of laughter. Do the words "Northern Ireland" or "British Empire" not deserve some mention as you waggle your finger so sanctimoniously at the Chinese?
Jim Houghton, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Where Will China Invade Next?
China invaded Tibet in the 1950s but they have a lot in common with other Olympic hosts. Take The Soviet Union and Germany: both of these nations held the Olympics while gearing up for war. They used it as a rallying point and as a way to scare other nations by their power.
So where will China strike next? I don't think the Taiwan people need to ask that question - they know.
Brown has again shown his undeniable ability to get it wrong. He loses credibility at home and sends the wrong message to China. Any Chinese politician rest safe in the knowledge that an attack on Taiwan will not be met with resistance by Britain, rhetorical or otherwise.
I seem to remember some New Labour type going on about moral foreign policy a long, long time ago. Maybe I was dreaming.
And in case Gordon Brown and chums think that the Olympics is a sign China wants to be friends they should read the Art of War where it says attack while the opponent's chi is weak.
joe, Berwickshire, Scotland
I've been out there to see a bit of the torch relay more out of curiosity than anything else. Except for some and the Tibetans, I have overheard a lot of English people criticising the Chinese people rather than China as a Government, they seem to confuse the Government and the Chinese nationals and hold the latter accountable for the actions of the former
C.J., London, UK
I was impressed by today's torch relay in London. Well-done to the citizens of London, and well-done to the organizers!
The polite behaviour of the handsome Chinese torch attendants remarkably represented a humble and yet dignified Confucian tradition. That is the essence of the ancient and yet modern Chinese culture. Confucian values of humility and harmony are beginning to replace the cold-war rhetoric of confrontation and domination.
When China completes her project of modernization, we will see no so much a world power as a moral model of a new culture: New Age Confucianism.
Edward, Bristol,
I was thrilled that London won the Olympics, but what has happened in Tibet and the whole Chinese olympic jamboree has ruined the whole thing.
For China, the olympics has been a vehicle for launching themselves into the world as a Great Nation. Let us not forget that it is less than half a century ago (1959 to 61) ten's of millions of Chinese died in a famine caused by the economic polices of Mao. However, China's claim of "Great Nation" status, cuts both ways. It is not just about economic achievement, but about human values.
What the events of the past few weeks have shown is that the Chinese Communist Party leadership needs to go back to it's ideological drawing board. There is a lot of work to be done before that nation could be considered great.
Matthew, Englishman in New York, USA
Don't boycott the Olympics. Who is this outpouring of anger helping? China is a world power now and we must engage with her as a partner not lecture her like a child. The protests so far have made a point but if the Olympics turns out to be a failure not only will China blame the West but the Chinese people will blame the West, fuelling nationalism which is already a dangerous force in Chinese society. Will every Olympics from now be something, there are reasons against any big country holding the Olympics - no British/American Olympics because of Iraq, no Russian Olympics because of lack of democracy, no South African Olympics because of support for Zimbabwe, no Brazilian Olympics because of deforestation of the rainforest... where does it stop?
Positive engagement not inchoate boycott!
tom , London, UK
In response to Samantha of London - - - we are constantly protesting outside the Chinese Embassy in London - and have been for years. Some people travel from the other end of the country to do so and we are not all Tibetan.
Ann, Portsmouth,
The Chinese are using just as ghastly methods of torture on Tibetans. Didn't you see Despatches on TV this week? How about forcible sterilisation without anaesthetic, as well? You can still see that programme on Catch up TV.
Ann, Portsmouth,
Five years ago we followed, without question, the leading nation of the western world and therefore the world into Iraq.
The host of this year's Olympics will be the leader of the entire world witnin 20 years. It is therefore not surprising that the party without principple should indulge them.
David Williams, Eastnor, England
It is a great shame that the IOC decided to make the short sighted decision that the Olympic Games should be held in China in the first place. Now that there is no going back, let it be an opportunity to make it clear to China that its human rights abuses are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Let it be made clear that most people support the Tibetans, who have a right to be free in their own country and to choose their way of life without censorship, intimidation, imprisonment and torture.
It would be shameful to let economic interests dominate the actions of governments around the world. I for one will think twice before buying any more goods made in China.
It is also a shame that the endeavours of the genuinely talented and hard working athletes who have worked hard for this opportunity will be overshadowed by politics. At least, let it not be a wasted opportunity to bring about positive change.
michaela klaffenbock, Stirling, UK
What about the erosion of our freedoms? We should get our own house in order first and stop interfering in the Middle East.
Alan Heaton, Frankfurt, Germany
POLYMPIC FARCE.
The Brown government thought they would bask in the sunshine by politicising the Games. The POLYMPIC GAMES.
The shame of the Polymic flame parading through London with (armed) Metropolitian Police guarding it is a shameful day for Britain and for British Politics in general. It is not good enough for Gordon Brown not to touch the flame - he should be burnt by it for allowing the Met' to be so aggressive to protesters for "FREE TIBET". The Chinese Government are no doubt very pleased with the Met's tactics - perhaps they will be invited to use such tactics in Tibet. A real "honour" for the Commissioner!
As for the lame athletes who talk about the inspiration and aspirations the Polympic Games give to children - do these aspirations include the children of Tibet? I don't think so.
As for the "torch bearers", what have they to do with sport, let alone the Polymics?
Boycott these Polympics, the flame went OUT on DEMOcracy.
das, Manchester, UK
If it weren't for the parade today you wouldn't have this opportunity to make public the opposition to China's human rights issues.
Pople and cultures don'tcvhange overnight, but the combined events of today (except the assaults on torch bearers) will start the process.
If Tibet is so important why aren't you constantly demonstrating outside the Chinese embassy? Why just today?
Samantha, London,
Well I'm certainly planning to ignore the 2012 Olympics.....
andrew, swindon,
"Are the Chinese water boarding Tibetan protesters?
Are they placing hoods on their heads and threatening them with dogs and sexual abuse? " If they were, John, do you think we would know about it? My view is Gordon thought he'd have a nice photo shoot with a celebrity, get some publicity to take people's minds off the economy and then learn how China deals with political dissidents for when times get tricky over here.
Andy, Whitchurch,
Dear Sir,
I applaud your article and the sentiments expressed therein. As a white South African it is with a wry grin that I listen to athletes, especially black athletes, saying that politics and sport should not be mixed up together. Apart from the fact that the Olympics is, as you have said, a form of ritualised warfare between nations it strikes me as if the sporting world has been struck by some sort of sporting amnesia after South Africa, my country, was ostracised and boycotted for many years. Surely these athletes twenty years ago would have refused to engage in any sporting event in South Africa or participate with South African sportsmen. I remember the "cavalier" tours and the howls of protest. Why should this be any different in China's case? If I were a professional athlete I would not even participate.
.
M.Davies, London, UK
The 'west' and 'east' are not too different. I live in Thailand and the Chinese Thais think that money can solve all solutions, help your kharma, etc. They lost sight of the great buddha.
Tibetans have wanted their language and culture and not the land.
In America, the Native American tribes wanted their language and culture.
The American government forced the tribes onto strange plots of lands 'reservations' and the Mao governement keep the Tibetans on their land.
The tribes that did survive in American have their language and culture. And least give the Tibetans back their language and culture and the Dalail LLama. He he one of the kindest and smartest and compassionte men alive.
The current Chinese government has brainwashed Chinese citizens. They are forced into line. Don't get angry with them, they no not what they say.
Gabriel, Bangkok, Thailand
WATER. WATER. WATER. I will kindly suggest everyone, who prefare democray and human rights to throw water over the flame. Forget about crabing it, instead line up 8-10 people and throw water over the flame, when it passes you by. And if we do not succeded doing so in London, when we do it in another city. WATER. WATER.
Julia Thompson, London, U.K.
The mistake was made in 2001 when the games were awarded to China. It's now too late to go back and cancel/boycott the Olympics, which would only penalize a group of people who were not related to this in any ways, the athletes. The Olympics should be maintain for them so they can crown 4 + years of hard work.
Still, the governerment bodies, from all over the world, should be boycotting the Opening/Closing ceremonies. The athletes, mission staffs, reporters, should be told about the situation and offered (because we still promote democracy and freedom of specch/choice) to wear a symbol (pin, button, arm-band, etc.) throughout the games to show their support to Human Rights. Although those are very important situations, it's not only about Tibet and freedom of press. China, is defitnetly not following Human Rights in many ways and it should be brought up to everybodies attention.
Finally, no more sporting events should be awarded to China if this is not resolve.
Marcel Roy, Kings, Ontario, Canada
Mr Jenkins,
I thank you for this article, the more as you have enforced me in my belief that there is still some decency in the English peoples.
Thank you.
Alex Oldenberg, london,
I am not a Chinese national, but I am speaking as someone of Chinese origin. The majority of people in China would like more political freedom, but they DO NOT want to be lectured by the West about human rights. This would be seen as an extension of past colonialism.
There are cultural differences in the way that Western and Asian people deal with difficult issues like Tibet. The Asian way is for quiet, behind-the-scenes dialogue, not open confrontation and a wish to embarrass (which we often see in the West).
The Western approach to Tibet is unlikely to produce long-term solutions to the plight of the Tibetan people.
T-M, London, UK
Mr Brown is now Mr Toad. It is not good for Britain to have democracy on the streets while politicians are toadying and complicit behind the scenes.
What we need now is for Badger, Rat and Mole to sort out the stoats and weasels with a good wacking. Britain needs to stand up for Darfur, Burma and Tibet by giving China a firm and decisive smack bottom.
Colin, Wales, UK
I love the Chinese peoples comments on this page I lived in China for seven years and have been Tibet 5 times.
You are totally ingorant to the fact the Tibetan majority dislike China and the oppression they face. Tibetans are treated second class whilst chinese tourist prance around and take photos of the potala palace like its disneyland!! I think the opinion of most of these "nationalists" should be disregarded. As for the olympics where shall we hold it next?? maybe ask Robert Mugabe if they fancy a go in four years time???
Russell Stokes, Abu Dhabi,
Chris , you should also watch the BBC 4" a year in Tibet". They showed a Tibetan woman having multiple children, something not allowed by Han Chinese, women allowed multiple husbands per their traditions (banned in the west) , a hotel owner benefiting from Chinese tourism, a Shamen who sent his son to a Chinese university (compare with Aparteid South Africa where blacks were banned from going to white universities). Guantanamo Bay is not representative of USA society just like what we saw in dispatches isn't representative of China. West and East have skeletons in their closet.
raymond, Liverpool, uk
The Olympics should be discontinued,
it serves no useful purpose
Prime Minister Brown should be ashamed of his actions
geoffrey elderfield, southsea, UK
If Brown manages to fix the next election. Hopefully the 2012 Olympics will become a focal point for protest in the fight to free England from Scot's rule.
Apart from that not interested and want to know why as a London Council Tax payer I have to pay for them?
H Henderson, Harrow, UK
But its real politic surely. If we boycott the games then its a sure fire guarantee that the London games will be boycotted. The French wouldn't dream of considering Mr Sarkozy's position viz a vis the opening ceremony if Paris had "won" the 2012 games. Hypocrisy is the norm for politicians, but the parallels with Germany in 1936 aren't just in the torch fiasco. China is arming. China needs leibensraum. China can invade its neighbours but its OK because the sudetenland was historically part of Germany. Its clear to me that history repeats here.
David B, Larkhall, UK
Yeah, who cares? Nobody watches freaks jumping high on steroids anhow. 'Athletics' isn't a sport. If the Olympics had to pay their way on ticket prices, they'd have died out 20 years ago at least, The modern Olympics were born in 1936, not 1896. It's a nationalist showboat. They only ever sell out for opening and closing ceremonies which have nothing to do with sport. And in any case our government has long ago forfeited any moral claim to higher ground. As a Londoner I shall boycott the London Olympics, 'Lord' Coe.
peter millar, London,
Woody, in Rotterdam wrote: "I say cancel the games in Peking and London and disband the IOC. Does anyone else agree?"
YES, Woody. For God's sake let's put this bizarrely expensive festival of running and jumping and playing with a ball in context: it's all trivia at best - and "bread and circuses" at worst.
Brian Clacey, Croydon, UK
Despite UK's support for the US invasion of Iraq on spurious grounds and despite our own colonial past, it is not an option to pretend that China is anything other than a brutal communist totalitarian state.
Human rights abuses are not confined to Tibet.
Dispatches : Undercover in Tibet is still available on 4oD or googlevideo for those outside UK and the programme gives a chilling insight into conditions.
Chris , chesterfield, uk
Simon, I don't generally support sports boycotts and would like to see protestors display their disaffection about the situation in Tibet so the world can see Londoners disgust but may I ask how many people have died as the result of Chinese bombings and machine gun fire in the last 5 years? How many people have been murdered in Chinese communities by warlords and their militia because the country's security forces have been disbanded? How many car bombings have there been in China or their dependent lands? How many countries has China invaded since 1990? Has China put armed guards on any foreign oil ministries but not hospitals?....oh no, that would be us wouldn't it? have we been awarded an Olympic Games..hmmn yes
Gavrilo Prinzip, Bromley,
Turn the clock forward to 2012 and presume that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still rumbling on, would the Chinese have a good reciprocal case for boycotting the London Olympics? Or is it nothing to do with the high ideals of human rights, but simply base commercialism and political propaganda?
Dwight Vandryver, Scholar Green, Cheshire, UK
So far no-one seems to have commented on the central theme of Jenkins' article, namely that the Olympic games are totally politicized and should be abolished. Contributors who write comparing human rights abuses by various regimes down the years are leading the discussion down a blind alley. As Jenkins points out the Olympic games are a huge waste of resources run by a self-perpetuating clique, let's discuss this subject instead. I say cancel the games in Peking and London and disband the IOC. Does anyone else agree?
Woody, Rotterdam,
The PM is just plain appauling - end of story !!!!
Ian Payne, WALSALL,
I think this morning's snow fall in central London should help thin the crowds most satisfactorily.
Drew , London,
What a FABULOUS, clear thinking and thoughtful article! It's contemptible that the Chinese government is trying to get away with a propaganda coup over the Olympic torch. Let's all fervently hope their lovely torch burns to cinders their insolent efforts to gain respectability for a brutal totalitarian regime that has perpetrated serious human rights abuses and caused tremendous suffering to millions.
Why are the sportsmen of this country taking part? Have you no shame?
Amit Sharma, LONDON, U.K.
..Yeh, yeh,yeh. Fat chance.!
Brits have lost their testicles.
When the tyrannical Iranians captured your sailors, you kissed their Persian butts and rolled over like puppy dogs.
Now you've removed your Union Jack flags from prisons, because the crosses might offend your poor muslim prisoners. You make me want to throw up !
From this side of the pond, you are looking more and more like a bunch of balless losers.
wilfred knight, orange county, usa /california
China is creating wealth for its nation and a middle class faster than any other nation in the world has ever done, and yet the media has it that the only way to understand China is through its relations with Tibet, a country that never had a history of freedom or democracy prior to the Chinese takeover.
R. Berke, Oakland, CA
Remember, Tibet was free and independent prior to the Red Army invasion in 1949. It had its own currency - the sang - its own postal system and issued Tibetan passports that were accepted around the world. Since the invasion, the Communist Chinese regime has ripped apart Tibet's culture, with over 6,00 monasteries destroyed. Countless Tibetans have been imprisoned and tortured, many have died or been driven into exile.
And if you want the truth, ask the people who were invaded! The Han majority clearly have no love for Tibetans and cannot accept there might be a point of view other than their own, which is why they cannot even talk to the Dalai Lama. They are gripped with fear and insecurity despite being so powerful.
We in the West have the luxury of distance. We would not stand five minutes of the type of rule the Tibetan people live under. Tibetans simply want to live in freedom in their own country, just like us. They absolutely deserve our compassion and support.
Mr D, New York, NY
If China were to appear more 'honored' to host the games and less the arrogant show off maybe I would lean more to their point of view.
The showcasing of an economy built on subsistence wages and the systematic poisoning of the planet is not to be boasted about.
Are some of the above really comparing the mental stress placed on a few dozen terrorists to the systematic torture and murder of hundreds of thousands by the chinese? Both are wrong but surely shouldn't be talked about in the same conversation. Our own lack of perfection does not make China any better
Mat, Muscat, Oman
Our athletes should participate in these Olympics. Their participation is more personal than political.
Our politicians should boycott the China Olympics.
In general the Olympics are too political. Perhaps national politicians, except those of the host country, should never be a part of any Olympics.
Keith S, Winnipeg, Canada
Well done, Mr. Jenkins. Despite all the comments posted here that somehow use the war in Iraq to justify the brutality of forcing monks to "denounce" the Dalai Lama, no one can force us to watch the bloated, corrupt circus known as the red Olympics. Let a thousand televisions bloom. To paraphrase Chairman Mao, "Power flows from the barrel of my remote control."
Fabian, los angeles, california, usa
LOL, that's just silly, the British and the Americans, after spreading freedom and love with uranium depleted shells and bunker busters to the people of the middle east, now point their fingers to China ~~
John, Singapore,
Have any of you noticed that Simon Jenkins has been one of the most eloquent and persistent critics of the war in Iraq? Two wrongs don't make a right and the West's tragic mistakes in Iraq do nothing to justify China's oppressive and unacceptable regime.
On the question of the overbloated IOC- has anyone measured the carbon footprint of hte games? How about one permanent location for the Olympics, paid for by all participating nations in proportion to their GDP In a developing area, instead of littering the planet with unwanted stadia?
Laurence, Blandford, Dorset
Simon Jenkins.
Thank god real journalism is still alive.Bravo and to hell with Beijing and the IOC.
I will be in Canberra as one small part of your "tunnel of shame"on the 24th of April
Bruce Gee
Bruce Gee, Melbourne, Australia
All we need to do is not turn up for the ceremony - thats a clear message to the chinese govt.
or
not send Gordon only our athletes simply because this is a sport event. Not political
or
the British govt should bend over and show the chinese govt how compliant we can be.
mike, Leeds, UK
If anyone should "greet" the Olympic torch it should be the head of state. The Prime Minister is not head of state (whatever Tony Blair may have thought). Our real head of state has more sense than to get involved in anything like this.
Martin, Newmarket, Suffolk
Mr Jenkins, before the self-righteousness becomes too firmly implanted, may I suggest you take a deep breath and ask just why the Chinese government is so dreadful. Just what have they done recently? Have they been responsible for the deaths of over a million people? No, that was the US and Britain, whose actions in Iraq are believed to have lead to more than a million civilian deaths. Do they systematically lock up and torture people? That, I' not sure about, but if they do then they are in excellent company, aren't they (think: Guantanamo). Tibet hasn't been an independent state in your lifetime, and the reality is that both the UK and the US recognize Beijing as the legitimate government of Tibet. There are more than enough dreadful actions far closer to home than an attempt to organize a large sports festival you might properly wax eloquent about, and acting on the two cases I've listed specifically would almost certainly improve the lives of a large number of people.
John Reid, Wellington, New Zealand
Some of the classrooms of the Lhasa No. 2 Middle School were torched during the March 14 riot, but students were seen studying the Tibetan language on Tuesday in laboratories.
Schoolmaster Degyi Zhoigar said that 85 percent of the students are Tibetan and for them, Tibetan language is a compulsory subject. More than 90 percent of the teachers are Tibetan.
Students take seven 40-minute Tibetan language classes each week, along with five classes each of Chinese, mathematics and English, she said.
"Textbooks and notebooks were burned during the violence, so we have consolidated classes and asked students to share textbooks, making sure they can go on with their studies," she said.
Statistics show that 122 textbooks in the Tibetan language, covering 16 subjects at levels from primary school to senior middle school, have been published in recent years.
Cering Gyaibo, head of the religion research institute of the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua that in terms of Tibetan language use, cultural heritage protection, religious freedom, and economic and social development, the "Tibetan people are enjoying an unprecedented range of human rights."
JojoChristine, Guangzhou, China
He he , almost 16 years ago , Soviet Union was liberated by you guys , and then the people of Russia was suffering poverty untill Putin (who is the dictator in your eyes) seize the power. Almost 10 years ago, Yugoslavia was liberated by you guys, and then Kosovo was splited from its territory. Almost 5 years ago , Iraq was liberated by you guys , and then thousands of Iraq people was kiiled till now. He he , what you guys did can hardly make me believe that what you are doing now is for the good of Chinese people!! China will become an democratic and strong nation some day, but China will never lower her head to any other force, including you , Mr Jenkins!!!
Dennis, Southern China,
I don’t know where Simon was years ago when the torch was toured in Sydney and Athens. Did he just recently notice that the this started in 1936? For someone who obviously knows little about Tibet history and Chinese people, it is shameful that he uses an honourable sports game to denigrate an ancient nation and in so doing tarnish the games itself. Chinese people just want to be good hosts for Olympic. Objective people would see the good cause to have an ancient game in a developing nation like China. However, if the western media uses the events in Tibet to bias the view towards China and the games, the western media is losing its integrity & ethics of balanced journalism. It is a shame that a national newspaper shows no objectivity when reporting events in Tibet in March in many of its articles. Finally, what will he write when the torch comes to London in 2012 and more how about the world boycotts 2012 Olympic because of British’s and American’s illegal war in Iraq.
Bing Yu, London,
Big talk for a country that participates in the invasion of Iraq, sold opium and colonized part of China, invaded and looted the cultural treasures of Tibet. While talking about Greece, how about those Elgin Marbles?
C. Latan, copenhagen , denmark
Simon,
In your penultimate paragraph you make reference to:-
"The BBC’s 400 Olympics staff are on the mother of all junkets, in contempt alike for China’s oppressed and Britain’s licence-fee payers. It will be shocking if such a media bonanza ignores its wretched political environs".
It is timely for me to compare and contrast your comment with another "junket", about to take place, tomorrow, but removed from the Olympics / Chinese regime scene.
The New Zealand Government, represented by Prime Minister Helen Clark, is leading another junket, of 190 cronies, to attend the "first ever signing of a Free Trade Agreement between China and a Western country" (New Zealand). On a per-capita basis, our junket is more than seven times the scale of yours!
Only God knows what will become of NZ. We are already flooded with cheap, imports and our employees are being discarded, as our manufacturers either fold-up or retreat to off-shore bases.
Ron Durham, Torbay, Auckland, New Zealand
Well said, Mr. Jenkins. It is ironic that Prime Minister Gordon Brown is increasingly becoming Tony Blair. The latter connived with President George Bush to wage a war against the Iraqis and then stubbornly clung to his colossal errors of judgment without any expression of remorse. Blair proudly showed disdain for public opinion which turned against the war when the facts became known. Is the Prime Minister going to exhibit the same disdain for the public opinion which regards the Chinese Communist leadership as butchers, not unlike the Nazis, and demands that he should boycott the Olympics? Incidentally, some Chinese claim that Tibet was part of China during the Manchu (Qing) Empire, hence the Tibetans are Chinese. Indeed, the Tibetans are as much Chinese as Italians or French are Germanic because Charlemagne the Great conquered much of what is Western Europe and ruled over them? Or shall we say the Hungarians are Austrians because the former were ruled by the Habsburgs?
Andy, Washington, DC
Well said, Simon! Hopefully the snow will mute these shennanigans.
Rob Grundy, London,
1. In your historical accounts, somehow you manage to omit mentioning the invasion of Tibet by the British in 1903/4.
2. Muslim activitists in China are called "dissidents" whereas muslim activitists in the Middle East and Europe are labelled as "terrorists".
Hypocritical?
don, toronto, Canada
Excellent article. Please keep on their case,
Charles, Hopkinton, USA/MA
Given that the Labour Party never got rid of Dianne Abbot after her recent claims that, on balance, Mao did more good than harm, millions of deaths notwithstanding, it is no surprise that they should be so gutless when asked to challenge the modern incarnation of that tyrannical regime.
Nick, Rotherham, UK
Are the Chinese water boarding Tibetan protesters?
Are they placing hoods on their heads and threatening them with dogs and sexual abuse?
The silence about American human rights abuses is becoming a bad joke.
john garrett, colombo, sri lanka
Meanwhile, UK helps Turkey oppress the Kurds...
Chang, Louisville, KY