Team Darfur co-Founder Joey Cheek Barred From Attending Games

Cheek Likely To Miss Beijing Olympics After Chinese Government Revokes Travel Visa

DON'T SPEAK: In DC, Sally Jenkins writes of China, "The only vision of the world that's permitted is their own, judging by the fact that [Cheek] was denied admittance to these Summer Games for the following offense: He spoke." These Olympics "might have been China's chance to present a new face to the world. Instead, the main impression one has so far is of the immense egotism of the Chinese state." Jenkins: "Ironically, the more the Chinese government tries to control speech at these Games, the more it flexes its power and enforces silence, the weaker it seems" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/6). Tribune Co. Olympic reporter Philip Hersh wrote the denial of Cheek's visa is "another sign of China's disdain for human rights and fair play, both alleged cornerstones of the Olympic Charter. And another sign of the shame the [IOC's] leadership has brought on itself and the upcoming Summer Games by not holding this repressive government accountable for promises of openness it made" when it awarded Beijing the event in '01 (LATIMES.com, 8/5). In Seattle, Ron Judd, who is not in Beijing, wrote of Cheek's ban, "So this is how it's going to go. The Chinese government will simply stonewall and deny complaints about any controversial facets of 'its' Olympics ... and the IOC will plead impotence" (SEATTLETIMES.com, 8/5).

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