More Protest Controversy Broadens Rift Between IOC, BOCOG
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| Davies Says IOC Inquiring About Lack Of Protests |
BOCOG Exec VP & General Secretary Wang Wei yesterday said that disputes at the Beijing Games "brought by would-be protesters had been resolved," casting the "empty protest zones in a positive light," according to Ariana Eunjung Cha of the WASHINGTON POST. But a China resident that sought permission to protest in the designated protest zones said that she and another woman "could face a year of 'reeducation through labor' because they applied for permits to demonstrate during the Olympics." IOC Dir of Communications Giselle Davies recently said to date, "what had been announced publicly doesn't appear in reality to be happening, and a number of questions are being asked." Davies added, "The IOC is keen to see those questions answered by the relevant authorities" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/21). A WASHINGTON TIMES editorial, under the header "Olympic Dodge," states the IOC's "thuggishness is marring the Beijing Olympics beyond already low expectations." The IOC, like Beijing, "seems to think that there is 'no news' beyond athletic exploits. It has been holding press conferences with alarming infrequency and bristles at the prospect of discussing all but the most scripted subjects." The IOC is "little more than an arm of Beijing's propaganda machine at this point," and it "must establish better ground rules if the host government is undemocratic" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 8/21).
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Kolecki Shaves Head In Gesture
Of Solidarity With Tibetan Monks |
TIME TO SPEAK OUT: U.S. Gold Medal-winning speedskater and human rights group Team Darfur co-Founder Joey Cheek, who had his visa to China retracted before the Games, in an e-mail to the AP writes, "I would love to see even more athletes involved in speaking out about what they believe in. The problem is that even if there was an athlete that wanted to speak out on issues of human rights, he might be silenced by whatever IOC official is mediating that press event, with a bogus explanation that is my biggest problem with these Olympics: the idea that the Games are only about sport." Cheek continued, "Every time the Chinese government has gone back on guarantees of free speech, free access for the media, and a number of the other issues, the IOC has acquiesced." The Chinese have "done many amazing things, and for that they deserve a lot of credit." Cheek: "However, these Games still would have been as successful without what appears to be massive suppression of any voice that the government doesn't want heard" (AP, 8/20). Polish pro-Tibet activist group The Other Space Foundation said Poland weightlifter Szymon Kolecki before receiving the Silver Medal in his event "shaved his head in a gesture of solidarity with Tibetan monks." Kolecki after the medal ceremony told Polish sports magazine Sportfan, "This haircut is from this morning. I can't directly say why I did it. It's connected with certain things that the Olympic Charter forbids. But I will say that it's symbolic" (WSJ.com, 8/20).
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Security Presence Likely To Have Strong
Influence On Beijing Olympics' Legacy |
LEGACY OF THE GAMES: The WASHINGTON POST's Sally Jenkins, in an online chat, wrote the Beijing Games will "go down with a terribly mixed legacy. They are absolutely great competitively, and repulsive at the same time. This morning the Chinese government sentenced two women who are nearly 80 years old to a year each in reeducation camp, because they filed for permits to officially protest the destruction of their homes at an official Olympic demonstration site." Jenkins: "I love what's happened on the field and in the pool here, but in some ways its a vast fraudulent cover story, too. The IOC sponsors, six of them American companies, really called this shot and sent the Games here" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/20). In London, Graham Ruddick writes the Olympics thus far have "run smoothly, with few political protests regarding China's human rights record." The London Telegraph's China correspondent Richard Spencer said that if that continued, and China "remained top of the medal table, then the Games would be seen as a success by the Chinese people." But Spencer warned that the Chinese government "remains concerned that there could be unrest amongst its citizens after the Olympics, with a number of protesters who have been jailed during the Games being released when the competition is over." Spencer said of how China has dealt with protests, "We say that China has got the hardware right, as anyone can see from these fantastic facilities, but the software is more difficult -- how they deal with people and how they deal with the outside world" (London TELEGRAPH, 8/21). The GLOBE & MAIL's Geoffrey York wrote the Beijing Olympics "have been an impressively smooth operation, with efficient queues, smart transportation, and squadrons of cheerful Chinese volunteers helping to make it even more pleasant. Most impressive of all, in my opinion, is China's astonishing ability to get 90,000 people out of the Bird's Nest stadium and into a single subway station in a matter of minutes" (GLOBEANDMAIL.com, 8/20).
TUNING THEM OUT: In Manchester, Sean Michaels reports Apple's iTunes music store has been blocked in China, "allegedly due to athletes listening to protest songs." It all started when more than 40 athletes downloaded "Songs for Tibet," an album produced by U.S.-based Tibet group the Art of Peace Foundation. The foundation offered the album for free download to Olympic athletes, but China has since "turned off the iTunes music store" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 8/21).
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