China And The Olympic Spirit

In a previous post, we had criticized Lebron James' decision to participate on the United States Olympic Basketball Team despite his teammates' boycott of China due to the country's complicity with the Darfur Genocide.

Although Lebron James' decision did not receive much media attention, Steven Spielberg recently made headlines when he removed himself as "artistic adviser" for the Olympics due to China's lack of pressure on Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in Darfur. Sudanese rebel leader Abdul Wahid Mohammad Ahmed al-Nur said of Spielberg's stand, "This is a noble move by Spielberg - he will certainly go down in history as someone who gave human lives precedence over fame and money."

China's support of the Sudanese government and therefore the continuing genocide in Darfur should be a major concern.

However, the singular focus on the Chinese complicity with the Sudanese government has deflected criticism away from China's actual human rights violations within their own borders.

"While positive steps have been made in some limited areas, namely reform of the death penalty system and greater reporting freedom for foreign journalists in China, Amnesty International remains concerned that these are overshadowed by other negative developments -- in particular the growing crackdown on Chinese human rights activists and journalists as well as the continued use of 'Re-education through Labour' (RTL) and other forms of detention without trial. Official statements suggest that the Olympics are being used to justify such repression in the name of 'harmony' or 'social stability' rather than acting as a catalyst for reform. Global experience shows that the best way to ensure social stability is to ensure the protection of fundamental human rights based on the rule of law."

For me, the abuses of the Chinese government were made much more real in looking at the abuses against the rights of a single human.

Shi Tao is a Chinese journalist who was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2005.

What was his crime?

Well, he sent an email.

That's right. Shi Tao used his Yahoo! email account to send an email to a pro-democracy organization in the United States. The contents of his email included a report of an order from the Chinese government to various Chinese media organizations to downplay the upcoming 15th anniversary of 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations, which culminated with the actions at Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese government was able to access this email when Yahoo! supplied them with user information. For their complicity in the imprisonment of over 60 individuals, Yahoo! is currently facing its second lawsuit from Chinese dissidents.

With email in hand, the Chinese government charged Shi Tao with "illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities." In the process of investigating and prosecuting Shi Tao, government officials harassed Shi Tao's family on a daily basis. They encouraged his wife to seek a divorce, which she eventually did. And, they convicted Shi Tao and sentenced him to ten years in prison.

As Shi Tao's family continues to seek his release, his uncle, brother, and mother have reportedly been monitored and harassed at work and at home.

China holds the current "record" for most journalists and cyber-dissidents imprisoned in the world. "As of July 2006, Amnesty International had documented at least 54 Chinese Internet users believed to be imprisoned for such acts as signing petitions, calling for an end to corruption, disseminating health information, or planning to establish pro-democracy groups." The American corporations Yahoo!, Google, and Microsoft have assisted the Chinese government in obtaining the information that led to these imprisonments.

China has also developed a sophisticated system of censorship for the internet, which blocks or filters content determined to be "subversive" or "dangerous." Websites are consistently blocked if they include such words as "democracy," "freedom," and "human rights." Websites from human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, and foreign news agencies are also blocked. "A study done by Harvard Law School in 2002 found that more than 50,000 of 204,000 websites tested were inaccessible from at least one location in China."

Although we need to continue to pressure the Chinese government to end their support for the Sudanese government and the Darfur Genocide, it is equally important that we do not forget that China is among the worst of nations for human rights violations.

Take action today to ask China for an "Olympic Year of Freedom of Expression."

Then, ask Yahoo!, Google, and Microsoft to end their complicity in China's human rights abuses.

Tell your representatives to support unrestricted internet access in China and other repressive countries.

And, finally, show your support for the individuals whose rights have been violated. Call for the release of Shi Tao.

Let the Olympic Ideal not be tarnished by the abuses of its host.

In the words of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games,

"May joy and good fellowship reign, and in this manner, may the Olympic Torch pursue its way through ages, increasing friendly understanding among nations, for the good of a humanity always more enthusiastic, more courageous and more pure."

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