(cross-posted to The Agonist)
With news coming out of Tibet about what looks to be another brutal Chinese crackdown on dissent (which the Dalai Lama is calling “cultural genocide”), I find myself wondering how those of us in the West can make ourselves heard. How can we impress upon the Chinese government that their behavior is reprehensible beyond words, and that we expect them to respect human rights both inside and outside their borders? Clearly, the Chinese government is not about freedom and human rights; why else would they be selling arms to Sudan, employing forced prison labor as a profit center, or brutally oppressing the Tibetan people?
I have an idea; it’s not going to be popular, and I realize it will never happen. Nonetheless, it’s a proposition I believe merits serious consideration. In 1980, to demonstrate America’s condemnation of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, US President Jimmy Carter decided to boycott the Moscow Summer Olympics. It’s a decision that’s still controversial today, but I believe that it was the right decision. Carter used his prerogative to keep the US Olympic team home that summer, thus embarrassing the Soviets and making the point that America had the capacity and the willingness to take a moral stand. Ultimately, the boycott accomplished little besides sending a message heard by few and remembered by fewer. Nonetheless, taking a moral stand was the right thing to do. While it may not have accomplished it’s intended goal, Carter’s boycott was a principled stand taken by a President willing to do the right thing…even if it was unpopular at the time.
Today we have an opportunity to take a stand against Chinese international immorality and poor citizenship by hitting them where it hurts. I believe it’s time for Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © to threaten an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics unless the Chinese withdraw from Tibet, cease using prison labor as a profit center, and stop selling arms to Sudan. If China demurs, then the US team should be kept home this summer. China would then be forced to deal with the reality of an Olympics significantly tarnished and diminished in significance. It’s not often that the US has legitimate leverage it can use against China. Given our sizable trade deficit with China, and the reality that Chinese capital is increasingly financing our economy (effectively the equivalent of a $4000 loan to every American man, woman, and child over the past ten years), it’s not as if we have much that we can threaten to withhold. The reality is that we need China far more than China needs us. Nonetheless, a threat of a boycott, or an actual boycott if the Chinese prove intransigent will send a strong, clear message that the US will not tolerate human rights abuses and the support of genocide.
OK, back here in the real world, I understand that the chance of this happening are about the same as my being elected the next American Idol. There are those who would argue that politics and sports shouldn’t mix. While I can’t say that I disagree with this argument, the reality is that politics and sports have always butted heads. How often do you see an Israeli team competing in an Arab country? Taiwan only has an Olympic team because after being recognized by the IOC, mainland China pitched a fit, throwing their weight around in such a manner that Taiwan can use neither the country’s name or their flag. They must compete under the Olympic flag as “Chinese Taipei”. I could go on, but you get the point. Politics and sport are all two often flip sides of the same coin. And it’s not as if an Olympic boycott hasn’t ever been directed at the US. The 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics went forward despite a boycott by the Soviet Union. Whether or not you agree with this line of reasoning or not, the reality is that most of the world sees sport as a subordinate arm of government.
It’s very unlikely that the US will have this sort of leverage available again. The fact of the matter is that China has us by the short hairs. They know it…and if Americans were paying attention, we would, too. We’re simply too deeply dependent on Chinese capital to even pretend that we have anything resembling leverage. If we don’t take advantage of this opportunity to force the Chinese to take positive action, it will be a LONG time before we have anything even remotely resembling this kind of leverage at our disposal. We can do the right thing…or we can sit back and be complicit in the brutal reality of China placing it’s self-interest above all else.
Like we don’t already know what the Reign of Error © will do….
I’m a realist, and I understand that the chances of the Worst President EVER showing any degree of moral courage in this matter hovers somewhere below zero. It’s too bad, really, because the Beijing Olympics present an outstanding opportunity for this sorry excuse for a human being President to take steps that may actually result in a positive outcome. He could be the President who saved Darfur, freed Tibet, and perhaps even made life better for China’s prison population. This would, however require a degree of courage and foresight that The Decider © has yet to display even a glimmer of.
The other problem, of course, is that over the past eight years, the US has lost whatever moral authority that created and nurtured during the Clinton Administration. Our illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq has eroded American standing worldwide to the point where we’re almost universally reviled (So, how’s that international pariah status working out for you?).
An argument could be made that the US is in no moral position to be attempting to coerce China when we’ve so casually blown off the will of the international community regarding the war in Iraq. No intelligent and credible observer could credibly argue with that contention. It’s not as if America has been playing well with others- particularly since 9.11. Even worse, this Administration has proven itself willing to do whatever it takes to cozy up to China. After all, we need them more than they need us, remember?
An American boycott of the Beijing Olympics will never happen, of course, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an idea worthy of serious, thoughtful consideration. Those of us who regard ourselves as people of conscience really have nothing else to hang our hats on besides a solid moral argument…and we all know how receptive the Chinese government is to that sort of persuasion.
In the end, exactly nothing will change…which is too bad, because I believe that history will judge this as a missed opportunity, one that will cost thousands their lives. When you’re responsible for a couple hundred thousand deaths, though, what’s a few thousand more? I think it was Stalin who said that while one death is a tragedy, a million is just a number. How true…and how sad.
WE DESERVE BETTER…and so does the rest of the world.
