Tibet/China - should we boycott the Olympics?

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Eceni

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Just read Tim Stockdale 'giving up everything' to go to the Olympics and thought that there are people in Tibet giving up rather more than the occasional chance to jump a horse.

I wouldn't go, but then I'm not an Olympian.

thoughts?

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Well, if none of us did anything because not everyone gets the opportunity, not a lot would happen, would it? I'm sure the Olympics is going to be very lucrative for China with all the tourism. Are you going to donate your air fare to their cause, instead of going?
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I have made a pledge never to travel by air anywhere, ever again... so no air fair. But have signed the petition, and yes, if there were a way of sending money, I'd do it. This one matters, it seems to me... but may be because a number of my closest friends are Buddhists and I visited the Tibetan centre at Eskdalemuir when I was a student.

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I'm with you on this. And it's not just the Tibet issue, China has got a pretty bad human rights record in general, more executions than all other countries combined etc. ...
 
As we "boycotted" Moscow in 1980 for something, in the grand scheme of things, less trivial than the "chinese situation" then yes, i think we should.....

mind you, and i know this maybe irrelevant, China shouldn't have been awarded the Games in the first place....
 
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mind you, and i know this maybe irrelevant, China shouldn't have been awarded the Games in the first place....

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Except that it gives us leverage we wouldn't otherwise have? Not that I think our lords and masters considered that at the time... Feels like Berlin in 1936....

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mind you, and i know this maybe irrelevant, China shouldn't have been awarded the Games in the first place....

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Yes, I agree.
 
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As we "boycotted" Moscow in 1980 for something, in the grand scheme of things, less trivial than the "chinese situation" then yes, i think we should.....

mind you, and i know this maybe irrelevant, China shouldn't have been awarded the Games in the first place....

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We didn't boycott Moscow. The Americans did, but we went and won lots of medals because the Americans were not there to kick our butts as usual.
 
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As we "boycotted" Moscow in 1980 for something, in the grand scheme of things, less trivial than the "chinese situation" then yes, i think we should.....

mind you, and i know this maybe irrelevant, China shouldn't have been awarded the Games in the first place....

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We didn't boycott Moscow. The Americans did, but we went and won lots of medals because the Americans were not there to kick our butts as usual.

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Britain as a nation did.....

hence "boycott" in inverteds....the athletes had a choice...many chose not to go....
 
What about Chinas involvement in the fur trade then?? Milllions of dogs cats and other animals are skinned alive each year for there fur, for that reason alone i would NEVER go there for a holiday
I realise that when people are poor they need to feed their family somehow but i think the whole country lacks 'animal compassion' who else would eat live octopus beacuse they believe it increases their fertility??!!!! (i know these are strong views and every culture is different and i respect cultures TO AN EXTENT!!)
 
Yes we really should and why it hasn't happened I don't know (ah yes, the lucrative business opportunities heading this way in the near future). It makes me bloody mad.
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Don' t agree with what is happening to Tibet, very similar to the history between Eire and the Uk. Except it is 50 as opposed to 800 years...

Personally, the games should stay in Greece
 
Yes we should boycott the Beijing Olympics. It is shocking that this argument hasn't really happened, and that it has taken until now for it even to be widely discussed. China's human rights abuses were well known when the Olympics were given to Beijing, and China's support for the Sudanese government isn't exactly hot off the press either......
 
Will be interesting to see how is all pans out in the next few months and who goes and who does not..... Ok if I got the chance to go to an Olympics you would jump at the chance but I would not want to go there and I'm sure there will be lots wishing it was not there.

Yes I can't see why they got it too
 
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Don' t agree with what is happening to Tibet, very similar to the history between Eire and the Uk. Except it is 50 as opposed to 800 years...

Personally, the games should stay in Greece

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Ehh hardly. Britain has been trying to give Ireland away for years...
 
Why boycott a sporting event but continue to have diplomatic and business relations? 2 weeks of sport is a minor issue compared to our business links to China.
 
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I have made a pledge never to travel by air anywhere, ever again... so no air fair.

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Seriously?! No holiday for you then!

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Well.... lots of places to go in the UK and if I did have a mad moment and decide I wanted to head for the continent, there's always the train...

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks sending the games to China was cynical, short-sighted and based entirely on finance

sigh

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Why boycott a sporting event but continue to have diplomatic and business relations? 2 weeks of sport is a minor issue compared to our business links to China.

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Yeah but no but yeah but...the Olympics is a massively prestigous event for any country that hosts it. It's not just a showcase for sport, it's a chance to show off and promote it's culture, and in this case it's a culture of violence and oppression. There was a discussion that I was involved in (I can't remember if it was on this forum) regarding the use, or not, of the Red Arrows display team in the 2012 Olympics in London, the government has oppposed it as it might be seen as a threat/insult to other countries, and I agreed with this.

You can bet your boots that China will slip in a tank or two, or something of a military nature, at the opening ceremony in Bejing.

Regarding China over ruling Tibet, it's been something that's made me seethe for years. They have pulled down the monastries and forced the monks to build new Chinese buildings with the stones. A couple of years they brought out a new law to ban reincarnation, anyone suspected of being reincarnated wil be imprisoned.....mad but true....and have set themselves up to choose the next Dalai Lama. Ever since I was first aware of it, in my teens....I'm in my 50's now, I've deliberatly tried to avoid buying anything made in China. Pathetic I know, as if it would make one iota of difference, but it's been my version of a silent protest.

As a nation they are scarily bonkers, and yes, I think we should boycott the Bejing Olympics!!!!!!
 
TBH I dont think we should boycott the Olympics. I honestly dont see how it would help the situation unless ALL countries did so in ALL sports. As long as most turn up then Im sure they'll still make a hefty profit.

The only reason I have my doubts about the Olympics is simply the heat. I think its going to put a lot of strain on the horses, especially the eventers. I just dont want to see any deaths due to exhaustion etc.
 
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I'm in my 50's now, I've deliberately tried to avoid buying anything made in China. Pathetic I know, as if it would make one iota of difference, but it's been my version of a silent protest.


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I don't think it's pathetic at all - if we all did it, worldwide, it would make a difference.

I don't buy anything Japanese because of the whaling. Hadn't, until now, boycotted China, but will do so - tho' how in heaven's name I'll avoid clothes made in China, is anyone's guess.

but worth a try

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I don't think boycotting the Olympics will do squat about the situation in Tibet
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The boycott of Moscow '80 didn't end the 'invasion' of Afghanistan

Nothing seems to have any effect on a country with a "situation" the rest of the world disagrees with - how long was South Africa partitioned off from the rest of the world because of Apartheid? Didn't seem to bother them one bit.
 
Was thinking of this myself and think that we should stay at home, it might then send a strong message to the country which is now a SUPER POWER that the world does not agree with what is going on.

We are quick enough to go into a country due to weapons of mass destruction and one of the biggest Oil producers, but when there is a human cost, we sit tight......
 
I think China should NOT have been given the Olympics, but since they HAVE got them think it would be totally unfair to expect athletes who have been in training for years and years for the games to be expected to boycott them. For some of them this might be the only chance they get and I don't see why they should be forced to give up their dreams.
 
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