Vote totals:
Yes:
37%
No:
63%
Neutral:
0%
DEBATE: THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
The Games provide a huge global audience to communicate to
The audience that is reached by the Olympics is absolutely vast, extending into billions of viewers worldwide. Any form of protest will bring about huge publicity and will get the views of the protesters out to many people. This would lead to a lot of pressure being put onto the Chinese government and any change is more likely to come about.
This year China will play host to the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet, the Summer Olympic Games. This spectacle should not be tarnished for the sake of politics.
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
Now is the perfect time for any change to happen
Since being awarded the games 6 years ago China has been putting in a vast amount of change. The government has been building infrastructure, promoting the spirit of the games and developing its country. The momentum of this change could easily be transferred to a change in governmental policy if that was so required, and so now is the perfect time for any changes to be made. China is currently a huge global focus and if they want to do anything publicly then now is the time.
Debate over the politics of China has been going on for decades without much impact. The Free Tibet movement has been in existence since the 1950s – what is different about 2008?
At the moment China is facing the significant task of delivering the Games on time, on budget and in such a way that they are safe and secure for all athletes and spectators. The government should be focusing on these important issues now.
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
It is the right of every athlete, spectator and government to express their own opinion
Recently the chiefs behind the British Olympic team have forced British athletes to sign a contract preventing them from speaking out about politically sensitive issues at the games. The censorship of competitors is itself a breach of their right to speak out about issues which they feel strongly about. This also applies to the governments and other highly influential visitors to the Games.
Direct action by athletes would violate the IOC charter.
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
History has shown that the Olympic games can be used as a platform for political messages.
In response to the invasion of Afghanistan, the US boycotted the 1980 Olympics.
In 1968 two American runners made the symbol of Black Power on the medals stand.
The value of the Olympics is first and foremost as an opportunity to display national pride and international sportsmanship, but it has also served as a method to issue a protest or make a statement without using violence.
Although experience is the key to most decisions, it has to be said that times change and sometimes we have to focus on the here and now rather than basing everything on history.
But if we were to take that approach, let’s look at the track record of political boycotts of sporting events…
-1908, Irish athletes boycott because they were held in England: Ignored
-1950’s and 60’s, African countries boycott because of South Africa being in the Olympics: takes 12 years(time we don’t have for Beijing)
-1980, 65 countries including the US(Jimmy Carter) boycott the Olympics because USSR invaded Afghanistan: USSR stays in Afghanistan and get angry, enough to get revenge (1984 Olympics)
1984, USSR boycotts as revenge: Since there is no cause to solve in this boycott, obviously none comes
And there you have, all of the failed boycotts
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
The spirit of the Olympics is about unity, not antagonism
The Olympics should be a coming together of the nations of the world to celebrate sporting excellence. It should not be used to continue the political wranglings of the world, but to emphasise what they have in common and promote peaceful relations.
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
Now is the perfect time to do it
If we do not profit from the huge audience given by the hype on the Olympics, when will be able to push the Chinese government to address the question of human rights ?
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
Politics should not overshadow the sport
The issues that Chinese opponents are fighting against are so crucial and important that sport should take a back-seat in order that the issues can be tackled.
The debate is all rubbish, and the human-rights group are just a bunch of biased street hooligans. They have multiple standards, they choose what they want to oppose without consider the facts and what others think and feel.
They don’t even want to find out the true 2000 years of China’s history before doing engaging with the nonsensical idea of so called Free-Tibet. There is no such issue. Tibetans has been involved in the change of dynasties in China for the last few thousand years.
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
Any form of protest would go against the Olympic spirit
Although the actions of those in Mexico City got the athletes involved into trouble, the consequences of those actions have been monumental. That moment has done an enormous amount to ensuring the world is a better place today.
It may be argued that any athlete expressing personal views regarding political issues would be in breach of the International Olympic Committee charter. Section 51 states that the Games “provides for no kind of demonstration, or political, religious or racial propaganda in the Olympic sites, venues or other areas”. The Games of 1968 are testament to this. The decision of American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos to carry out their "Black Power Salute" in Mexico City saw them suspended form their national team and banned from the Olympic village.
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
The Chinese government should concentrate their resources on making the Games a success
Nothing should distract from the major issues facing the world today.
The Chinese government should concentrate their resources on lifting its population out of poverty, educating its poor, improving its human rights record, releasing the journalists it has imprisoned for trying to tell the truth, and only then, once it has achieved these fundamentally more important goals, should it concentrate on throwing a big party celebrating people running around in tight costumes.
There is also the major issue that as China drives to make its Games bigger and better they are displacing people from their homes and silencing dissenters. It is easy for China to enforce crackdowns in the name of security of the Olympics.
China should focus on ensuring that they are held under perfect conditions and the rest of the world should let them do that. The Games will provide China with a major security problem. They have to concentrate on counter terrorism and ensuring the well-being of visitors to the country during the period. Any direct action taken by protesters may make these problems more difficult for the relevant authorities compromising visitor safety.
THIS YEAR'S SUMMER OLYMPICS SHOULD BE USED AS A PLATFORM TO HIGHLIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CHINA.
There is no Tibet issue at all
Dalai is just a puppet.
Tibet is just an excuse.
The real aim is just to humiliate China as usual.
The situation with Tibet is very similar to the situation in Iraq. If the rest of the world would like Tibet to be freed, then Iraq should be purged of its American invaders as well. By sending our troops to Iraq, America has clearly shown where it stands on this issue. If not, then hypocrite is the only word for it – condemning the Chinese in Tibet while our American troops stand ground in Iraq.