Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Olympic Notes, Chinese Shadows & China rejects US criticism


Chinese Shadows

Globe Editorial
May 8, 2007

ALTHOUTH THERE never was an axis of evil, there are murderous dictatorships in the world today that have one thing in common: support from the People's Republic of China. In Sudan, Burma, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe, China has become an enabler of evil.

Although Beijing's bosses rule in the name of communism, their motives for backing tyrants have nothing to do with the doctrines of Mao Zedong. Their reasons for helping the genocidal regime in Sudan avoid meaningful United Nations Security Council sanctions, or for voting against a Council resolution to censure the military junta in Burma, are more capitalist than communist. China's foreign policy is not driven by any quaint notions of solidarity with the wretched of the earth. Full Article Link

OLYMPIC NOTES
Torch relay caught in political crosswinds

By John Powers, Globe Staff
May 8, 2007

Beijing's globe-spanning torch relay -- five continents, 137,000 kilometers, 130 days -- has hit a couple of major road bumps next door. Taiwan refused to be part of the proposed route (which includes San Francisco and its famous Chinatown) and pro-Tibet protesters are up in arms over the plan to bring the flame to Mount Everest.

The Taiwanese, who have their own Olympic team (Chinese Taipei), object to being part of the domestic portion of the relay because it implies that Taiwan (as the Chinese insist) is part of China.

"It is something that the government and people cannot accept," said Olympic committee chief Tsai Chen-wei.

What the Taiwanese wanted was to be part of the international portion, with the relay coming from and going to somewhere other than the mainland. What the Chinese are offering is to have the torch arrive from Vietnam and proceed to Hong Kong and Macau, which they control. No go, says premier Su Tseng-chang. "Taiwan's sovereignty must not be downgraded," he said, threatening to boycott the Games if the Chinese insist upon calling it a "China-Taiwan team."

The Tibet situation is also ticklish, since a trip to Everest would reinforce China's claim to a country it has ruled for more than half a century. When five Americans recently protested the relay at the mountain's base camp, the Chinese government expelled them. Full Article link

China Rejects U.S. Criticism on Religion
Tuesday May 8, 2007 9:46 PM

BEIJING (AP) - Beijing accused a U.S. advisory panel on Tuesday of taking ``potshots'' at China in a report that accuses the government of imprisoning and torturing people for practicing their religion.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its findings last week that every religious community in China continues to be subject to serious restrictions, state control, and repression.'' Full Article Link

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