Vanida Chithtamath
Aug. 28th, 2008
SOC 202
China: Hosting Olympics a Catalyst for Human Rights Abuses
A summary of the article ends promptly with 2008 Beijing Olympics closing ceremony and begins the backward progress of the Chinese government and their pledge to reform and improve human rights for their people. The website Human Rights Watch has seen the regression of human rights especially as the pressure of the Olympic Games drew near. Instead of just being a “force of good”, quoted by the president of the IOC, the Beijing Olympics has only increased the violence, repression of political views, massive evictions of their people, and greater numbers of arrest towards critics against the People’s Republic of China. As the IOC assesses the situation, for future Olympic Host cities there are greater monitoring to avoid problems as seen in Beijing.
My reaction is not completely surprised, it always seemed like China as much as they try to become publicly accepted for example hosting the 2008 summer Olympics, seems they completely ignored human rights of their people to suffice the perfect picture for the world. Their cultural and harsh standards are instilled in the core of their government. It is still upsetting that the government itself has pushed its people to these extremes; especially after the country dealt with a large natural disaster just weeks before the country hosted the Olympic Games. I assumed that an occurrence that large would bring the people together, but instead it went in the wrong direction. The Olympics for years has been seen as the type of event that brings people everywhere together. Human rights have been violated here are beyond just the physical, China has not taken any type of responsibilities for this action. China instead looks the other way and was trying to shut down outside media reports that would critique their country in anyway or anything that will take away from their prestige. It a sad truth but I will continue to watch for more human rights issue that arises throughout Asia.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/22/china19664.htm
3 comments:
I've always had a hard time following Chinese cultures and tradtions. The government has such harsh standards and the parents push their children way too hard. Instead of hosting the Olympics China should be helping famileis deal with the natural disaster that just took place not even a couple weeks ago. Human rights is defintely an issue that people should be worried about and I dont think China is trying to do anything about this issue.
I've come to conclude that China's focus is rarely centered toward it's people. It is ironic how the Olympic games symbolize conjunction or unity of all yet they are not unified as a nation. It is important to recognize that China is a major powerhouse and if other nations,including the US would stop empowering them, then perhaps their focal point would shift to human rights. We learned in the readings that change will not come about globally until enough people act in response to the problem; just how much more will it take for individuals to stand up and intervene?
The conclusion I have determined is that China is more concerned in making money for their country then supporting the people that represent them. The natural disaster should have been more of a focal point for them instead of the Olympics. China owes their citizens respect after everything they have done to build that country as a major power house for business and global issues.
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