Olympic Torch Relay Descends Into Chaos

marksman

Reality Checker
M
Joined
Jul 25, 2005
Messages
5,001
At the start of the relay, on the Eiffel Tower's first floor, Green Party activist Sylvain Garel lunged for the first torchbearer, former hurdler Stephane Diagana, shouting "Freedom for the Chinese!" Security officials pulled Garel back.

"It is inadmissible that the games are taking place in the world's biggest prison," Garel said later.​
* * *​
"The Olympic Games are about sports. It's not fair to turn them into politics," said Gao Yi, a Chinese second-year doctoral student in Paris in computer sciences.​
-Associated Press

Should the Olympics be politicized like this? I remember when Carter boycotted the Moscow Olympics because of the Afghanistan invasion, and I thought it was an empty gesture that sullied the 1980 Moscow games and the 1984 Los Angeles games (when the Soviet bloc counter-boycotted).

German Chancellor Merkel has said she will not attend the Olympics, though Germany will not boycott. French PM Sarkozy has indicated he might do the same. What's your opinion? Should world leaders refuse to attend the Olympics? Should nations refuse to send athletic delegations? Or would such things be an empty gesture that will do nothing to stem human rights abuses? If Canada or the UK takes action, would China boycott the Vancouver games in 2010 or the London games in 2012? Should the Olympics even be used as a vehicle for political demonstration?
 
The Olympics are political. As long as the demonstrations are essentially peaceful (and yes, I consider the basic act of trying to put out the flame essentially peaceful), then people are appropriately expressing their horror at China being given this political symbol of peace and human dignity.
 
While I understand the anger at China, I can't get behind the boycotts simply because the ones most hurt by it are athletes who trained their whole lives (often for this one shot) who will be screwed out it of because of politics which don't concern them in any way.

Although it does make me want to slap the members of the IOC who awarded the Olympics to China in the first place. Other than them, who didn't see this coming? Dummies.
 
I think that athletes should be allowed to go to the games, because as Drudgewire says for some of them it's their only shot at going and it's a shame if they miss out because of political problems.

On the other hand, politicians deal with political problems and I think they should distance themselves from the games as much as possible, unlike our dear Prime Minister who received the torch outside Downing Street.

I don't know what the IOC was thinking either. It was obvious that there was going to be a lot of fuss about it.
 
Last edited:
What? All of a sudden people don’t like China? Where were all the protests before this? Oh, maybe I get it. Now it is chic to be protesting China. Here’s a clue, it won’t do anything. China will do what is best for China, not what is best for you. Oh yeah, it’s not a democracy. All of you who said there is no more communism, you were wrong. Here they are over 1.3 billion of them, 20% of the world. No protest in the last 5,6,7 years. I guess they were hiding. Lets all just sit back and watch the Olympics on our televisions…….that were Made in China.
 
richardm said:
People have been protesting about China for decades. The difference now is that it is the Olympic Games, so the protests are newsworthy.
Click to expand...

Decades?? Really?? Where?? I don't seem to recall anything about it in the news. Last thing I remember was Sum Yung Guy standing in front of a tank. Oh wait, that was internal. I'm stumped.
 
The Painter said:
Decades?? Really?? Where?? I don't seem to recall anything about it in the news. Last thing I remember was Sum Yung Guy standing in front of a tank. Oh wait, that was internal. I'm stumped.
Click to expand...

You highlighted the wrong bit:

richardm said:
People have been protesting about China for decades. The difference now is that it is the Olympic Games, so the protests are newsworthy.
Click to expand...
 
I was protesting about china not long ago on this forum. I was complaining about china not doing more for the situation in Darfur and Burma.
The trouble is no-one really listens unless the protests makes the popular media as is what is happening now with the olympic torch.

If the olympics does not want to appear political then why involve politicians.Taking the torch down Downing street and inviting politicians to the opening cermony is making themselves political.
 
The Painter said:
Decades?? Really?? Where?? I don't seem to recall anything about it in the news. Last thing I remember was Sum Yung Guy standing in front of a tank. Oh wait, that was internal. I'm stumped.
Click to expand...

The free Tibet campaign has certainly been going on a fair few years. You must remember the early 90s and the free Tibet concerts, celebrity endorsements, meaningless congressional motions...... it's just been sparked back into life as a newsworthy event by the recent protests. Precisely the same thing occurred with Burma a few weeks back. And for anyone who thinks that China shouldn't have had the Olympics, it's worth remembering how quickly the repression in Burma has slipped off the radar. At least in Olympic year repression in Tibet will be on the radar for several months to come (if it will do any good is another question ;))

I have mixed feelings about the protests during the torch procession. On one hand it certainly does raise the profile of repression and abuses, and one's right to non-violent protest should of course be respected. On the other hand it does politicise what should be an event free from politics, where countries are united through sport. I can't help thinking that this may set a precedent for future torch processions, with every group using the publicity as a means of highlighting their grievance against the host country. If that is the case, I don't think Britain would get an especially easy ride....
 
Oh my God!!! There is repression in China???? Stop it. You can't tell me that everyone didn't know that already. Protesting China, boycotting the Olympics, is all a bunch of crap. If you really want to make a difference..............don't buy products made in China. However nobody will do that. Go through your closet, check the labels on all your clothes. Don't forget to check you electronic items. Why I'll bet you are using something made in China just to post on this messageboard. Unless you are not buying Chinese goods, you are a hypocrite.
 
I remember a column written about the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics: basically, the writer said that there was a family in her town with parents that drank, stole and beat up anyone who crossed their paths, kids who cussed, stole, beat up littler kids (and may have drunk), and her mother, in telling her to stay away from them, said, "We don't play with people like that." I always liked that way of looking at the question.

Of course, what with Iraq, the next Olympics awarded to the U.S. may be pretty quiet too.
 
Father Dagon said:
So I guess that the score in rioting is: London - Paris | 0 - 1
Click to expand...

Paris has historicaly been able to outdo london by at least an order of magnitiude when it comes to rioting.
 
The Painter said:
What? All of a sudden people don’t like China? Where were all the protests before this? Oh, maybe I get it. Now it is chic to be protesting China. Here’s a clue, it won’t do anything. China will do what is best for China, not what is best for you. Oh yeah, it’s not a democracy. All of you who said there is no more communism, you were wrong. Here they are over 1.3 billion of them, 20% of the world. No protest in the last 5,6,7 years. I guess they were hiding. Lets all just sit back and watch the Olympics on our televisions…….that were Made in China.
Click to expand...

Anyone who says China is communist is wrong as well. it's actually a single party dictatorship.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom