My 1st Op-Ed

My first published Op-Ed in the Nation, Thailand August 26 2008.

Harmonious perhaps, but at what cost?
By Jonathan Fox

As Beijing's Olympic festival draws to a close, it is time to reflect. The past two weeks provided the world with new heights in Olympic showmanship, by both athletes and organizers. Yet all the glitz and glamour Beijing put forth failed to hide the sad truth of repression and violence in China.

It is now safe to say that the Olympic host failed to live up to its promises to the International Olympic Committee. China assured the world that during the Olympic games it would provide full press freedom, allow open protests, and improve its human rights record. Not only has the Chinese government failed to improve its human rights record, under the spotlight of the games they seemed to have worsened. As the inde?pendent watch-dog group Reporters Without Borders recently noted, press freedom during the games was severely restricted. At least 22 journalists trying to report protests during the games were harassed or detained by Chinese authorities, several had equip?ment and cameras confiscated. Two American bloggers have recently been sentenced to 10 days in jail for "disrupting public order" by honestly reporting pro-Tibet protests tak?ing place in Beijing.

Prior to the games opening ceremony, Chinese officials confidently declared that the 2008 Olympics will be an opportunity for the world to see the new face of China. Instead the world has witnessed the old face of Chinese oppression, the same that reared it ugly head during the fateful 1989 Tiananmen Square democratic upraising.

Leading up to the Olympic games 50 Chinese human rights activists were placed under house arrest, harassed or forced to leave Beijing during the games. At least 15 Chinese citizens have been arrested for requesting permission to demonstrate in State sanctioned protests zones during the games. Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying, two Beijing women in their late 70s were sentenced to a year of forced labor after daring to apply for permission protest in the capitals Olympic protest zones. During the games, on August 10th, a Tibetan nun named Sonam Yungzom was reportedly shot to death while shouting slogans in Kardze town, in eastern Tibet. A witness reported that the Nun's crime was daring to shout out "There are no human rights in China, there is bru?tal oppression in Tibet, still the Olympics go on in China!" Is this the China Olympic organizers hoped to show the world?

As China asserts its place in the 21st century, it must catch up to the international norms and behavior expected of all great nations. It is no longer a question of so-called "Western" values, but one of human decency. Countries across Asia, Thailand chief among them, have successfully demonstrated that protecting human rights bears no threat to social harmony. Countries like Indonesia and South Korea have successfully transitioned into open democracies, providing peace, stability, and prosperity for their peoples.

The world hoped, and Chinese officials assured, that the Olympic games would be a catalyst for greater freedom in China. Much hope was placed on China realizing the Olympic spirit of "building a peaceful and better world". Sadly, the 2008 Beijing Olympics have failed the Olympic spirit, they have failed the world, and they have failed the people of China who deserve so much more.

(The author recently returned from Beijing where he took part in non-violent action).