Boycott Beijing
Beijing should never have been chosen to host the 2008 Olympics. China has a repressive society. It’s a one-party state which kills opponents to the government. Catholics are persecuted.
There are many corrupt and despotic regimes in the world today, such as Zimbabwe and North Korea, but China is the biggest.
I don’t envy the Chinese government in holding together such a vast country with so many people and an inequitable distribution of resources. That enormous challenge warrants some leeway in how we respond to internal governance issues.
However, there is no excuse for Chinese expansion into Tibet. The world should send a loud message to China that Tibet is a sovereign nation entitled to self-determination. The influx of Chinese workers is similar to the Soviet influx of Russians to the Baltic states.
Many western countries, including some Australian sports, boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
It’s appropriate we should consider Chinese behavior in Tibet in the same context. To participate in the Beijing Olympics will give legitimacy to an evil regime. Reflect on Berlin 1936.
I'm a 41-year-old father of four working as a newspaper editor at Mount Gambier in South Australia.
