Tonight will be "China's night", won't it? If all goes according to the meticulously scripted plan, the entire world will see just how far China has come under the austere guidance of the Communist Party. The party and the corporate sponsors especially, have been spending orchestrating the ceremony to insure that it goes off without a hitch.
However, cracks are turning into chasms and the real story of the Chinese human rights situation has begun to seep out.
I'll try to delve into that further as a means of showing you why tonight's pomp and circumstance is a hollow guise designed to distract the world from the actual truth.
Editor's Note: Yes, I know the opening ceremonies have already occurred in Beijing. However, they have yet to air on television in the United States. Hence, to most people, they have yet to transpire.
In a matter of hours, the Olympics will officially kick off here in America. As per usual, viewers will be deluged by the scenes of pageantry, camaraderie and egalitarianism that the Olympics are hypothetically said to represent. Amidst soothing oration from Bob Costas detailing the harmonious spirit that pervades the game, viewers will be treated to an evening of pomp and circumstance, replete with the artificial symbols the Chinese officials will undoubtedly utilize to emphasize the sanctimony and collectivity of the Olympic ideal.
As one watches this orgy of lofty symbolism and rhetoric of justice and equality, let's not forget how China has transformed itself into a city purportedly worthy of hosting the Olympics. This metamorphosis has come by systemic discrimination, environmental degradation, and a fundamental disregard for human dignity. Here are just a few examples of China's wanton rejection of the human rights that are supposedly endemic to the Olympic spirit:
- China has been engaged in a systematic and brutal repression of Tibet since the former invaded in 1949. More than 6,000 Tibetan monasteries have been destroyed in the last 58 years, with only a few to be rebuilt. Numerous internal reports have also detailed the despicable abuse the PRC has perpetuated on the women and children of Tibet, a practice which included a 1994 death of a Tibetan nun reportedly due to beating at the hands of guards.
The Chinese government has implemented a policy that amounts to cultural genocide in Tibet. From importing thousands of ethnic Chinese into the Tibetan lands, to forbidding the Tibetans to practice their religion, the Beijing has made a concerted effort to stifle the symbols and practices that define Tibetan cultural.
- The Chinese government is a frequent practitioner of arbitrary detention. Though it sounds somewhat benign, arbitrary detention actually entails labor camps and imprisonment for long periods of time. According to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the People's Republic of China (PRC) utilizes these nefarious forms of detention "for political and cultural rehabilitation." PRC estimates, which are likely to be on the low end, say there are than 100,000 people in the "re-education camps."
- Dissidents in China are treated with an iron fist, and are often imprisoned, or even murdered, simply for exercising their fundamental right as a human being to liberty and dignity. The list of activists persecuted simply for pursuing reparations, or fair treatment for the downtrodden and poor are too many to list in this space. However, here a are merely a few of these courageous folks who have been subjected to heinous treatment, simply for campaigning for justice
Housing rights activist Ye Guozhu has been detained, and tortured via electric shock batons, simply for protesting the spate of forced evictions that the government instituted to free up space for Olympic construction.
Activist Hu Jia was recently sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison for "inciting subversion." What exactly did Hu do that was subversive? He participated in a European Union parliamentary hearing on how China has failed to live up to their human rights promises. He also was cited for "giving interviews to foreign media outlets", according to Amnesty International.
Doesn't it seem farcical that a government that imprisons citizens for speaking to foreign media outlets is allowed the right to host the most prestigious athletic competition in the world?
- Censorship is rampant in the PRC of 2008. Sites from amnesty.org (the official website of Amnesty International) to the BBC are censored by the state. Information, no matter how factually correct it may be, is constantly taken away from the upwards of 250 million Internet users on the Mainland. Though this is hardly as egregious as some of the other abuses, censorship is nevertheless antithetical to the Olympic spirit.
- And last, but surely not least, is the despicable manner that the PRC has dealt with the Falun Gong sect. The government continues to persecute and torture those Falun Gong members as the latter attempts to worship in peace and tranquility. Bu Dongwei, a Falun Gong practicing, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison simply for having Falun Gong literature in his possession.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, freedom of religion, association, speech and information are thoroughly vitiated in China. The violations listed above are but a mere few of what is a veritable compendium that the Chinese government has compiled, even after they promised improvements after being awarded the Olympics in 2001. In fact, Amnesty International reports that on an aggregate level, the human rights situation in China has actually deteriorated since they were given the Olympics.
Given this, one must take tonight's ceremony for what it truly is: a despotic, autocratic regime putting on an elaborate ruse designed to convince the world that they have even a modicum of respect for human rights and social justice.
The IOC was fooled by the PRC's promises that they would modify their intransigent behavior. I hope that when you watch the gallantry and pomp of tonight's Opening Ceremony, you won't be utterly fooled like they were.