Does China Deserve To Host The Olympic Games?

[Pandora]

My opinion: No Way.

When you kill Tibetan monk sue to religious persecution, or for any other reason, you do not deserve to host these games.

Also two words: Tienanmen Square

Edit to include: If hosting the games made the ruling party open their eyes and stop the genocide, then yes. Is that going to happen? I highly doubt it.

[Hellion]

Also lead poisoning seems to be one of China's favorites

[Msterbeau]

I'm agreeing with no. They've shown no sincere desire to correct human rights abuses, business fraud, etc...

[Rev.Reverence]

Yeah, I like 'Orange Robes', why do those godless commies' wanna' go and kill them up like that?.....

Tienimen Square?, was that in like the late 80's early 90's?, or did something happen there recently?

I barely remember those days... but I remember that! and the wall fell...

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

1989

i wanted to add.. I want to meet that man.

[phee]

1989

i wanted to add.. I want to meet that man.

Sadly the man in the picture was killed during the protest

[ttogreh]

The Olympic Games were meant to transcend politics. Remember the 1936 Olympics? China wants to be respected and honored. Tibet, Tian An Men, poisoned pet food... The games can be used to spotlight the injustices of a country, and glorify the good in others.

Boycotting it is all rather childish. Look, China has 1.3 BILLION people. The richer and more educated they become, the more likely a benign revolution is to happen.

Engagement, not isolation.

[phee]

The Olympic Games were meant to transcend politics. Remember the 1936 Olympics? China wants to be respected and honored. Tibet, Tian An Men, poisoned pet food... The games can be used to spotlight the injustices of a country, and glorify the good in others.

Boycotting it is all rather childish. Look, China has 1.3 BILLION people. The richer and more educated they become, the more likely a benign revolution is to happen.

Engagement, not isolation.

I do agree that their people should be able to participate... but China has not done a good job of transcending their politics at all.... even if we set aside (which I don't) the human rights violations... they still are hurting their people just to have the games there.

[ttogreh]

... And the whole world is watching, and talking about it, phee.

[Pandora]

... And the whole world is watching, and talking about it, phee.

The whole world has been watching and talking, and nada has changed. They're still killing monks and civilians.

They are isolated and never punished for their violations, they should not be rewarded with the Olympic Games as a carrot on a stick in my opinion.

[ttogreh]

China has insurmountable capital in terms of cheap labor and economic potential. The simple fact is, exposure and shame is the only way to "beat" them. We can't even begin to hope to stop them from ascendancy, but we can nudge them in a better direction...

[phee]

China has insurmountable capital in terms of cheap labor and economic potential. The simple fact is, exposure and shame is the only way to "beat" them. We can't even begin to hope to stop them from ascendancy, but we can nudge them in a better direction...

I can respect this point of view.

I disagree... but it is a valid opinion

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Boycotting it is all rather childish. Look, China has 1.3 BILLION people. The richer and more educated they become, the more likely a benign revolution is to happen.

Engagement, not isolation.

That does not work in the Chinese model. The people, do not get rich and educated there. Only a very very small percentage of the populace get education and "riches". That percentage gets smaller as the population total grows.

The one hope now... is a major food shortage. That, is the one thing that will get things to happen there. Hopefully, and I can't beleive I am saying this, they get another really bad rice harvest as they did last season. Rice prices have sky rocketed in the last month do the last harvest being so poor. Thats are real hope... though a great many people will die.

[ttogreh]

Well... actually, the population, if the one-child policy holds, will stabilize in the next couple of decades, and experience a dramatic increase in aging.

Check out this graph.

In two years, the 20-49 demographic will peak at 665 million, or twice the total population of America, plus change. After that, the fifty plus demographic will get ever larger, and will surpass the 20-49 demographic some time in the mid 2030s or early 2040s.

However, all of the capital accrued in these past few decades will need to be maintained, which means immigration. We are going to witness tens of millions of young migrant workers living in China in the coming decades.

Trust me, all of this is going to come out in the wash...

[Marmee_Noir]

I'm agreeing with no. They've shown no sincere desire to correct human rights abuses, business fraud, etc...

The Olympic Games were meant to transcend politics. Remember the 1936 Olympics? China wants to be respected and honored. Tibet, Tian An Men, poisoned pet food... The games can be used to spotlight the injustices of a country, and glorify the good in others.

Boycotting it is all rather childish. Look, China has 1.3 BILLION people. The richer and more educated they become, the more likely a benign revolution is to happen.

Engagement, not isolation.

The whole world has been watching and talking, and nada has changed. They're still killing monks and civilians.

They are isolated and never punished for their violations, they should not be rewarded with the Olympic Games as a carrot on a stick in my opinion.

I'm so at odds with it. I can agree with quite a few peoples reasoning..

Part of me says HELL NO they do not deserve it.. Another part says, though while China has always been a bit of the talk of the town maybe hosting such an important world event will really bring much more needed attention.. And possibly open the eyes of their own people.

Then I hit the fence at ummm how much should we really fuck with another country. By no means am I saying we should just sit back and allow certain injustices.. But ummm I think it's more for their own people to start a revolution than for our country to put the smack down on them.

People always tend to bitch about how America needs to step in and do something.. But all it ends up leading to is America destroying a country and then having to pay to rebuild it. And being called names the whole way through!

[Fierce Critter]

Moving my link to an article detailing what's going on with the residents of Beijing.

For this sort of thing, I would gladly boycott. I should have found a link with photos/video of the poor old people sitting around dazed or crying, not knowing where to go, what to do.

[ttogreh]

I really don't think the communist party or the Beijing planning authority really do understand how TRULY LARGE the amount of media attention that is about to descend upon their city and nation.

Exposure. Do you think Bull Connor was the very first southern sheriff to use fire hoses and German shepherds on peaceful protesters? What changed?

The nightly news coverage, that is what changed. The games... are going to happen. If China wants them to be a success, it is going to take care of the evicted, at the very least.

[Rev.Reverence]

Wow, thanx for the commentary.....

I don't pretend to be caught up on world news/ politics...

But your all helping me out on that front!

Opinion wise, I think it sucks what's going on, and letting the Olympics be there is the best way I can think of to send

1,000 cameras over there, so we can see what's going on. Kindda' like the Trojan horse, but not really...

[Pandora]

As for the exposure factor, it's a great point, but China is going to be on their best behavior, unless large amounts of Chinese people start rioting or protesting, but even if they do, we're not about to invade that country. China is so large they are under no threat from anyone unless several countries band together, and there's no way that's happening in my opinion. We need their cheap goods too much, and China controls 25% of the US national debt.

[Marmee_Noir]

As for the exposure factor, it's a great point, but China is going to be on their best behavior, unless large amounts of Chinese people start rioting or protesting, but even if they do, we're not about to invade that country. China is so large they are under no threat from anyone unless several countries band together, and there's no way that's happening in my opinion. We need their cheap goods too much, and China controls 25% of the US national debt.

Couldn't of said it any better.. Course they are going to be picture perfect with that much media attention focused on them... For the same reason I wouldn't be scared to travel there.. China is a very safe place for tourist, cause they keep a damn good eye on you to make sure NOTHING happens.. They don't want that sorta bad media/focus on them...

Hell I bet China is smitten like kitten to be hosting the games.. They'll put on some big happy show to try an cover up and divert attention from the tragedies that are really happening!

[ttogreh]

Which may very well be true, but at the same time, they are idiotically displacing thousands of Beijing residents...

Look... more people are talking about the Beijing pollution, the Tibet problem, the sweat shops, the lead poisonings, all because China has a forum to bring in the entire world. America is swimming in debt, is fighting two wars, and may very well be in a mild to moderate recession.

A boycott would be bad business as well as politics. The best we can hope for, is to remind people of China's warts, and snicker at the amount of vanishing cream being used to hide them.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

The question as worded "Deserve" no, honestly i cant see any other answer if we look at it as a reward for good behavior.

In a shorter time frame (however we want to measure it) it might actually do more harm than good from an 'exposing china to the world' viewpoint. Slowing the current governments desire to change their ways in there here and now if they feel they can get these sorts of international events without doing so. But, as a long term good? Probably. Longer term it will shine a flashlight on whats going on over there, probably leading to more international pressure on the government and expose the common Joe to more of the outside world probably leading to more internal pressure. Bare with me here...

Even though the change up to this point has been glacially slow, there is a vast difference between the china of 50 years ago and the china of today. Partly due to just a global ethical shift, but also due to economic and polticial pressures internal and external. The change has been slow, and they are still a backwater, but there has been change. It just takes a very long view to see it. Hu Jintao and such would be viewed as a bleeding heart liberals to Mao Zedong.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

As for the exposure factor, it's a great point, but China is going to be on their best behavior, unless large amounts of Chinese people start rioting or protesting, but even if they do, we're not about to invade that country. China is so large they are under no threat from anyone unless several countries band together, and there's no way that's happening in my opinion. We need their cheap goods too much, and China controls 25% of the US national debt.

There are more reasons than the size of their country to not invade them. A few billion reasons. Not to mention a war machine of that size... no body is going to poke that monster with a stick. I mean, as far as we know.. they every military secret we had up to just a few years ago... and the Clintons sold them most of our missile technology... and then we found out they stole the rest of it all with all out nuclear secrets.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Couldn't of said it any better.. Course they are going to be picture perfect with that much media attention focused on them... For the same reason I wouldn't be scared to travel there.. China is a very safe place for tourist, cause they keep a damn good eye on you to make sure NOTHING happens.. They don't want that sorta bad media/focus on them...

Hell I bet China is smitten like kitten to be hosting the games.. They'll put on some big happy show to try an cover up and divert attention from the tragedies that are really happening!

Don't forget... there will not be one picture or video feed going out of China that China does not approve of. The reporters either play by China's rules.. they they don't play in China.

[phee]

All of the athletes have been advised (as well as the reporters and spectators) that their rooms are going to most likely be bugged....

it just sounds like a bad idea to have that sort of multinational thing going on in that kind of environment.