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Human Rights, China

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The Chinese are being silenced by their government for the Summer 2008 Olympic games.
16 years ago, February 13th 2008 No: 1 Msg: #27425  
Quote from UN report:
NGOs face challenges operating in China
Nongovernmental organizations working in such areas as environment, health and social welfare are feeling the heat from Chinese authorities in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Some nongovernmental organizations have been closed down and individuals have been placed under house arrest. click here

and:
UN approved news report

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16 years ago, February 15th 2008 No: 2 Msg: #27607  
Will the above effect your decision about whether to go to China at this time?
Will u boycott china/ the olympic games in protest?

Mel
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16 years ago, February 25th 2008 No: 3 Msg: #28480  

Will You Boycot the 2008 Olympic Games in support of human rights in Burma?



Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar called Monday for the world to boycott this year's Beijing Olympics over what they said was China's continuing support of Myanmar's military dictatorship. From : International Herald Tribune
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16 years ago, March 3rd 2008 No: 4 Msg: #29065  

Human Rights in China and the Olympics.



China had pledged in 2001, when it was awarded the right to host the Games, that it would improve its record on those issues.

In their testimony Wednesday, however, the human rights advocates said the Chinese government was continuing to crack down on political dissent by jailing activists and harassing the news media.

From: washington post
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16 years ago, March 14th 2008 No: 5 Msg: #29916  

Tibet uses Olympic Games to bring World Attention to the Chinese Governments Violation of their Human Rights.



Beijing has kept a tight lid on dissent before the Games. But people with grievances against the governing Communist Party have tried to promote their causes when top officials may be wary of cracking down by using force.
From: New York Times

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16 years ago, March 17th 2008 No: 6 Msg: #30130  
Apparently Australian, American and US citizens are now being denied visas for China.
Does anybody have a news link to confirm this?

Mel Reply to this

16 years ago, March 25th 2008 No: 7 Msg: #30757  
OLYMPIA, Greece–Demonstrators upstaged an Olympic flame-lighting ceremony here yesterday, unfurling a banner depicting the Olympic rings as handcuffs before a Tibetan woman covered in fake blood blocked the torchbearer's path.

BEIJING–In the darkest of ironies, as the Olympic torch was lit in Athens yesterday, a court in China sentenced a man to five years in prison after he dared to say the principle of human rights is more important than the Olympic Games.

From: The Star
and
here
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16 years ago, March 26th 2008 No: 8 Msg: #30850  

Will France Boycott the Olympic Games?



Baltimore Sun
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16 years ago, March 30th 2008 No: 9 Msg: #31209  
N Posts: 8
Hello there,

I think we have one good option, quite efficient if lots of people join the action.
It's very easy to do, very quick, and it could be very efficient.



(clik for more informations, and use the banners.

It also exists in french here

ps: If people want to correct the english banners, you're welcome to do so.
ps2: if people can translate it in spanish, chinese, or other languages, welcome too ! Reply to this

16 years ago, March 31st 2008 No: 10 Msg: #31287  
Hello RomainP 😊

Here are translations into Dutch and German.

Ik kijk niet naar de openingsceremonie van de Olympische Spelen in Beijing.
(I won't be watching the Opening Cermony of the Beijing Olympic Games.)
Je TV uitzetten
(Turn your TV off.)
is je mening geven.
(It's expressing your opinion.)

Ich werde mir die Eröffnungszeremonie der Olympischen Spiele in Beijing nicht ansehen.
(I won't be watching the Opening Cermony of the Beijing Olympic Games.)
Deinen Fernseher ausschalten
(Turn your TV off.)
ist Stellung nehmen.
(It's expressing your opinion.)


Mel
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15 years ago, April 11th 2008 No: 11 Msg: #32305  
What do you think about the protests surrounding the Olympic torch carrying?

Although I agree that people have a right to protest I think it should be done without using violence and vandalism.

Mel
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15 years ago, April 11th 2008 No: 12 Msg: #32310  
B Posts: 11.5K
Japanese:

ペキンオリンピックの開催式を見ません。
I won't watch the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

テレビを消して - あなたの意見を表示している。
Turn off the tv - it's expressing your opinion.
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15 years ago, April 11th 2008 No: 13 Msg: #32316  
N Posts: 8
Hi people,

Thanks for translating !
But, can you tell me what does it mean ?
If you just write the sentence in dutch or in japanese, I don't know what it is....




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15 years ago, April 12th 2008 No: 14 Msg: #32391  
Hello Romain,

You have the right idea condemning China and their brutal repressions of human rights, but your response to these crimes is far short of what is necessary.

Turning your TV off for the opening ceremonies will not help.
Turning your TV off for the whole Olympics will not help.
Boycotting the entire Olympics will not help.

Boycotts hurt only the athletes anyway.

It is very important to the Chinese to pull this sucker off, but not important enough for them to make concessions on Tibet/Darfur/Taiwan/freedom in general.

To illustrate why this is so, here is an excerpt from an excellent article from Maclean's magazine:

Why does China overreact so badly? Why does the government care so much
about such small and insignificant groups? Why does China never get it, never
seem to understand what our inevitable reaction in the West will be? And the
answer, too, is always the same, or at least it will be so long as the Chinese
Communist party controls the country: China overreacts, cares so much, and
never "gets it" because it can't do anything else.
"Over there, it's different," reports Maclean's contributor John Fraser.
"Tibetan monks, unchecked, could replace party cadres as moral leaders in at
least three major areas of China." And, against such a threat, the bleatings
of the West are merely ripples in an ocean. Because it lacks the confidence of
its own people, the party's endurance is based on never underestimating the
power of small but dedicated protest groups. Because the party knows from its
own successful experience 60 years ago that a small but dedicated protest
group can take over and control an entire country, it can never let its guard
down. Not once. Not ever.
For more on why Communist China will never change, turn to this week's
Maclean's.

I believe the only thing short of war that will do anything to reform communist China is serious diplomatic and economic pressure.

The Chinese public has had their appetite wheted for the good life enjoyed by Westerners, and they are clamoring for more. If the West wants to remove the communist regime, (which is what it will take to improve the situation) we will have to pursue aggressive economic sanctions, starving the Chinese public of the luxuries they so desperately want. After a while, the public will start to realize that the communist government is not meeting their needs and wants, and they will reform the government from the bottom up.

I agree completely with you about China, but if we want to accomplish something meaningful, we need to concentrate our energies on something that will do some serious hurt to the Communist regime.

Write to your Member of Parliament, Member of Congress, or whatever your system is, and tell them you want a foreign policy on China that has teeth.

Thanks for listening to my rant everybody. I'll let somebody else have a turn now. Reply to this

15 years ago, April 14th 2008 No: 15 Msg: #32552  

Secretary General of the United Nations will not attend the opening cermony of the Olympic Games.



Canada's PM Stephen Harper and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not be there either, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy is considering staying away.

U.S. President George W. Bush has not yet committed to attending the opening ceremony, and Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have urged him to boycott it, but he does plan to attend the games.

From CNN.com
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15 years ago, April 15th 2008 No: 16 Msg: #32680  
N Posts: 8
Ahora en español :









(to canadian viking : I'm sure that writing to my dears politicians will help... All the opposition party is already arguing with my government. But anyway, I don't call for a total boycott, only the opening ceremony ! In calling for a general boycott of the only opening ceremony, even the most moderate and reserved people can participate. Every little helps. It doesn't cost a lot to try it.)
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15 years ago, April 16th 2008 No: 17 Msg: #32747  

15 years ago, April 16th 2008 No: 18 Msg: #32748  

15 years ago, April 17th 2008 No: 19 Msg: #32881  

15 years ago, April 18th 2008 No: 20 Msg: #32916  
From the whispers I've heard in Mongolia (I'm here for 2 months currently) people have said that the Chinese have been arresting homeless individuals as well as making disabled and mentally challenged people in Beijing "disappear." Very disturbing and I think you all have the right idea. Every little bit helps so I think its counterproductive to argue over which methods are the best. Do what you feel in your heart is the right thing to do and change can and will follow.
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