As the Beijing Olympics are close, it is time to look at how China has been using Olympics to build its image in the world and will heighten this effort as it gets closer. In all this, China is given the rare opportunity to repair the scars of Tinnamen Square, the imposing of martial law in Tibet and to show to the free world that they are competitors in the world market, but at the same time China has used this good opportunity for wrong purposes. Mainly China in its effort to assimilate Tibet, they have begun masquerading Tibetan attires in global media as a part of Chinese culture. The Qinghai-Lhasa railway and the facade of economic development in Tibet is also a growing concern as it is clear that China is developing Tibet not for Tibetans but for the growing urban population due to migration from China into Tibetan soil. Infact the money poured into development of Tibet is instrumental in ecouraging migration into Tibet thus marginalizing Tibetans as second class citizens with little prospects of economic advancement facing Chinese hegemony. Given that China's human rights records have worsened and the growing concern of web censorhip in partnership with big corps like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo etc it certainly is important to ask will the foreign press have a free access to coverage from China during the Olympics. If China cannot allow free access to foreign media during the olympics then why is China granted this ability and what about the policy of IOC. Is the IOC willing to compromise its own integrity and concede to China's demands.
"Restrictions on Freedom of Expression" article link is:
http://secrettibet.rsfblog.org/freedom_of_expression/
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