I was watching Chinese TV, a practice I rarely indulge in and saw the following scene form a daytime drama. The show was set in WWII in China during the Japanese occupation. I watched a scene where a Chinese officer shot a rifle at a flagpole draped with a Japanese Flag. The shooter made an amazingly accurate shot which caused the flag to fall to the ground (it was like watching the spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood where a shooter could shot a hat off a head or save a man from being hung but shooting at the noose). The next camera shot showed the feet of Chinese soldiers walking on the flag as it lay in mud. Pretty incendiary stuff I'd say. And this is a daily staple on Chinese TV.
The local website www.WuxiLife.com recently posted an article about expats having a chance to carry the torch for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The WuxiLife article suggests it would be pretty cool to do this.
I think it is not cool at all. If you carry the torch you aren't carrying it for China. You are carrying it for the regime. No expat, with a conscience, should take part in this propaganda exercise. The whole Olympic movement if you asked me has turned into another useless bureaucracy for international government like the United Nations. One dictator; one vote.
1 comment:
Even though we disagree on most things, I'm with you 100% on the Olympics.
I remember very clearly back in '01 when China was awarded the Olympics that it was contingent on an improved human rights record. Instead, the human rights record has deteriorated even further. It's a shame the IOC doesn't have the conviction to enforce that agreement and cancel the Olympics. (Or better yet, let Greece host it again, since they did such a great job 4 years ago.)
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