Not and I donât think China should have received the Olympics. When they were given the games we were told it would help open the country up. But since then human rights violations have increased, more people are locked up for social reeducation, etc.
Why do you we trade with with this place? Most goods are now made in China.
If China was Cuba or Zimbabwe or Burma, they would have been economically and social isolated and allowed to implode.
Time Gordon Brown took a stand, oh sorry I forgot he is a jellyfish - spineless.
agree. if speaking of democracy, china is much worse than Zimbabwe and Iran, actually Iran is a proper elective democracy, and Zimbabwe has political oppositions(though they are beaten and terrorized), there is no opposition allowed in China, no trad union. but probably that is why the business elites and investment money in the west love China so much.
I wont be following any of the Olympics. Their human rights voilations are appaling and I try and avoid buying Chinese goods as much as possible, although sometimes unavoidable.
i wont be following the olympics cause its bores the **** outa me :w00t:
Now thats a better excuse than all the human rights stuff.
Doubt the cameras can zoom in on anyone through all the smog anyway.
Exactly, if you really want to protest about human rights violations, then stop buying all products other than food and water. Its our hunger for cheap commercial goods that feeds the human rights abuses.
I just say â1936 Summer Olympicsâ under the Nazi Regime in Berlin. Which have been even misused as part of the propaganda machinery.
There have been loads of people saying, that the Olympics should take place in Berlin at this time, in order to set a sign of unity and to convey the Olympic spirit in a time of crisis and concerning developmentsâŚbla bla blaâŚhowever the world knew at this time that something is absolutely going wrong in Germany (internal and external politics/policies).
Bottom line, people are just bloody naive and donât learn from history.
I worked in rural China for three years and also after this returned to work in Beijing. It always really upsets me when people jump on the China Human Rights bandwagon, when most of their material is gathered from either the internet, or Western journalists who canât speak Chinese and rarely go out of the capital or the âeasy to travelâ routes.
I worked every single day with Chinese people, who were extremely proud of their countryâs history and its development over the years, and I was friends with Chinese people who couldnât speak English. There are many positive things to say about the country, the resiliance, work ethic and pride of its people. There is the fact that people are proud of their communities and will in many cases go to extreme lengths to put othersâ first and take decisions according to the good of the community and family, rather than themselves. It is a huge country, it is not homogenous, it is made up of many groups and cultures within the provinces and thrives mainly, not on the Communist System as such, but on the system of âguangxiâ (connections). Where I lived the one child policy was not enforced, the woman down our street had three kids and people were able to live and work in relative freedom. Yes, there are human rights abuses which we hear about, but in a country the size and scale of China, most communities are not completely tied to Beijingâs policies.
I actually was also there at the time of the Iraq war and found that the reporting was fairly balanced, as China was an neutral country, unlike our news channels at that time.
Will all the people boycotting Chinaâs Olympics, be boycotting our Olympics in 2012? Because our human rights record is shocking.
We have invaded countries, murdered innocent civilians and removed heads of state, who we backed and supported in the first place. We did not care when the gassing of the Kurds took place at Halabja. At the time our foreign office covered it up and we rewarded Saddam Hussein with a threefold increase in Trade Exprot deals. We still donât care how many Kurds Turkey murders.
What about the human rights of the Iraqi people, the Afghan people, the Chagos islanders (whose island we sold to the US - forcing the people off their land to die in poverty in Mauritius). What abut the B52 bombers we sold to Indoniesa to fight against the east Timorese? What about⌠if you want I could cite even nore of our human rights abuses on this forum, but I wonât.
solute to your work in rural china and understanding of the ordinary lives there! china is no longer a socialist state, the ruling party is no longer a communist party but a name. they are a bunch of elitist clique collaborating with conservative international force and money bags to exploit ordinary people and make labour condition worse worldwide. chinese people, chinese state/government, and the party are not one thing as the Holy Trinity, so boycotting China, like boycotting iraqi before, it is ordinary people instead of ruling elites who suffer
+1 - nice one Hels - puts a different perspective on things doesnât it!
Although I respect and value the above concerns about Chinaâs human rights record/lack of interest in the Olympics donât you think it would have been nice to preface your comments with a bit of courtesy guys? BBSMonk is after all a LondonBiker who is offering hospitality to other London bikers. Perhaps prefacing your comments with - thanks BBSMonk - but I donât agree with Chinaâs human rights policies/am not interested in the Olympics might be in order!
no problimo, good to know LBers are all men/women of high principles:w00t:
Thanks for the kind offer,
However as its a long way for lunch, how about getting people together for a non political evening out before you go ?
you lot are full of it china is full of good stuff