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Topic: Reject Beijing’s bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics - page 2. (Read 1798 times)

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Chinese Activists Urge IOC to Reject Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics Bid
By Paul Eckert
2015-07-24

A group of Chinese intellectuals on Friday called on the International Olympic Committee to reject Beijing's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics to Beijing, arguing that China failed to keep the promises of openness and press freedom it made for the 2008 Summer Games and that conditions have only gotten worse since.

The IOC members will vote on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to decide whether Beijing or Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

A widening crackdown on lawyers and human rights defenders, deepening repression in Buddhist Tibet and Muslim Xinjiang and growing intolerance to press freedom make Beijing a poor candidate, said a letter to the IOC signed by scores of prominent Chinese activists.

"We feel utterly ashamed of such a notorious human rights record, which not only contradicts Beijing’s own promises, but also severely tarnishes the reputation and spirit of the Olympic Games," ," the letter said..

"As Chinese nationals and former citizens, we urge you to reject Beijing’s bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics as China is now facing a human rights crisis with a scale of violations that is unprecedented since 2008," it said.


Among signatories are Chinese students in the U.S., Canada and Australia, China-based dissidents Hu Jia and Du Yanlin and include exiled human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng, lawyer Teng Biao, and economists He Qinglian and Xia Yeliang. Many of the signatories have been forced to live in exile for their political views or activism.

"If the International Olympic Committee awards Beijing the 2022 Winter Olympics, a great event intended to promote solidarity, brotherhood and human development will once again serve a corrupt dictatorship. It will endorse a government that blatantly violates human rights," said the letter.

"Awarding Beijing the Olympics is a contradiction of the Olympics’ goal of “promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.”



A "mockery" of Olympic principles

To win the right to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China made promises of unprecedented openness and tolerance but quickly "a mockery of the fine principles that the Olympics stands for, and brought more humiliation than dignity and more sadness than joy to the people in China," the letter said.

"To win the 2008 Olympics, China promised to allow space for Chinese citizens to protest during the games. Spaces were allocated, but those that applied for permission to hold protests were actually arrested, making a mockery of China’s promises to the IOC," it said.

"We expect similar abuses to take place should you award Beijing the 2022 Winter Olympics," the authors added.

The IOC was sent a similar letter on Wednesday by a group of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Southern Mongolians and China's majority Han Chinese, who said the 2008 Beijing Games "did nothing to alleviate human rights abuses in China or enhance freedom" and that "in fact, the situation now in 2015 is far worse than when those Games were awarded in 2001."

"Until the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party are prepared to reform and recognize the inherent rights of all people, they should not be awarded the honor of another Olympics. The IOC must recognise that the Olympic spirit and the reputation of the Olympic Games will suffer further damage if the worsening human rights crisis in China is simply ignored," said the July 23 letter.

Friday's letter to the IOC echoed concerns voiced two days earlier by by The New York-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW), which warned that awarding the Olympics to authoritarian regimes encourages them to commit further rights abuses.

"There is plenty of evidence that awarding the Olympics to a country with a bad human rights record readily leads to more abuses linked to the Olympic preparations and events that will tarnish the games," Minky Worden, HRW Global Initiatives director, said in a statement on the group's website.

Since Xi Jinping assumed the presidency in March 2013, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has "unleashed an extraordinary assault on basic human rights and their defenders with a ferocity unseen in recent years," HRW said.

"It has also significantly narrowed space for the press and the Internet, further limiting opportunities for citizens to press for much-needed reforms," the statement said.

The letter to the IOC noted that "more than 250 Chinese human-rights lawyers, legal assistants, activists and their family members have been arrested, interrogated, put under house arrest or made to disappear since July 9.”

Experts say the relentless crackdown on human rights defenders portends a repressive phase not seen in China since the 25 years since People's Liberation Army troops crushed the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.
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致国际奥委会公开信:反对北京申办2022年冬奥会
(博讯北京时间2015年7月25日 首发 - 支持此文作者/记者)
     
    博讯报道,7月24日,以中国人为主的一群人发出致国际奥委会的公开信,并征集全球联署,反对北京申办2022年冬奥会。
     
   公开信认为,中国正在发生广泛和严重的人权迫害,包括最近发生的超过250名维权律师及人权卫士被打压事件。公开信说,“如果国际社会同意北京申办2022年冬奥会,那么一场基于团结、兄弟情谊和人类发展的盛事将再次服务于一个腐败的独裁政权,支持一个无耻侵犯人权的政府,这将和奥林匹克宪章中‘增进社会和平、促进人类尊严’的宗旨矛盾。”
   
    公开信称,中国政府并未兑现主办2008年夏季奥运会关于改善人权的承诺,人权状况更加恶化。公开信认为,“如果(国际奥委会)赞同北京举办2022年冬奥会,将给世界传达这样一个信息:国际奥委会支持中国政府侵犯人权。”
   
    7月31日,国际奥委会将在马来西亚吉隆坡举行全体会议,投票产生2022年冬奥会举办城市。
   
    以下为公开信全文:
   
    致国际奥委会公开信:反对北京申办2022年冬奥会
   
    尊敬的国际奥委会委员:
   
    我们敦促您投票反对北京申办2022年冬奥会,因为2008年以来,中国人权史无前例的恶化。
   
    我们在写这封信的时候,中国政府正对公民社会展开一场全面进攻。自从7月9日,超过250名维权律师、法律助理、活动人士和他们的家庭成员被逮捕、审问、软禁和或失踪,年龄最小的只有16岁,最年长的81岁。
   
    北京已将奥运会用于宣传中国共产党。如果国际社会同意北京申办2022年冬奥会,那么一场基于团结、兄弟情谊和人类发展的盛事将再次服务于一个腐败的独裁政权,支持一个无耻侵犯人权的政府,这将和奥林匹克宪章中“增进社会和平、促进人类尊严”的宗旨矛盾。
   
    2008年夏季奥运会对奥林匹克原则是一次嘲讽,给中国民众带来的羞辱多过尊严、悲伤多过喜悦。
   
    以奥运之名,北京强拆了150万居民的住宅,并将几千个”钉子户“赶出家门。在为奥运”清理“首都的行动中,数百上访者和残疾人被拘留在秘密地点。为了办奥运的面子,北京掩盖了全国性毒奶粉丑闻——而毒奶粉到2008年为止导致36万婴幼儿患病。北京禁止金牌选手方政参加残奥会,因为在”八九六四“被坦克碾断了双腿,从而成为天安门屠杀的活见证。
   
    为了获得08年夏季奥运会主办权,中国政府承诺为公民在比赛期间的抗议活动提供场地。政府的确提供了,但申请抗议的公民仍然被逮捕,这等于把政府自己对国际奥委会的承诺开了个玩笑。如果北京取得2022年冬奥会主办权,类似的滥权还会发生。
   
    我们对如此恶劣的人权纪录感到极其羞愧——它们不但和北京的承诺相矛盾,而且严重玷污了奥运的声誉,损坏了奥运精神。
   
    为了获得08年夏季奥运会主办权,中国政府承诺改善新闻自由。然而,中国媒体经历了更严厉的审查和打压。政府拒绝给一些外国记者发放工作签证,只因他们报道了“敏感”话题。据保护记者委员会记录,全世界关押记者人数最多的国家正是中国。
   
    如果赞同北京举办2022年冬奥会,将给世界传达这样一个信息:国际奥委会支持中国政府侵犯人权。这样,2022年冬奥会将与1936年柏林奥运会和1980年莫斯科奥运会极其相似。
   
    我们相信,纯洁的奥林匹克梦决不应服务于主办国政府严重的对内镇压。我们梦想着有一天,奥运圣火将照亮一个自由的中国。然而在当前、在现政府统治下,在北京再次举办奥运会将成为耻辱载入史册,也将使国际奥委会成为以奥运之名侵犯人权的帮凶。
   
    Contacts (联系人):
   
    Yi Gu (古懿), [email protected]
   
    Rose Tang (唐路), [email protected]

   
    Signatures (签名):
   
    Tony Chang (张上), Australia (澳大利亚)
   
    CHEN Chuangchuang (陈闯创): USA (美国)
   
    CHEN Guangcheng (陈光诚): USA(美国)
   
    CHEN Kuide (陈奎德): USA (美国)
   
    CHEN Liqun (陈立群), USA (美国)
   
    CHENG Qiubo (成秋波): USA (美国)
   
    DU Yanlin (杜延林): China (中国)
   
    FANG Yong (方勇): USA (美国)
   
    FANG Zheng (方政): USA (美国)
   
    FENG Yun (封云): UK (英国)
   
    George GE (葛洵): USA (美国)
   
    Yi GU (古懿): USA (美国)
   
    HE Qinglian (何清涟): USA (美国)
   
    HU Jia (胡佳): China (中国)
   
    HU Yunfei (胡云飞): USA (美国).
   
    LI Juan (李隽): Australia (澳大利亚)
   
    LIAO Yiwu (廖亦武), Germany (德国)
   
    LIU Shasha (刘沙沙): Canada (加拿大)
   
    SHEN Liangqing (沈良庆): China (中国)
   
    SHI Yi (施毅): USA (美国)
   
    SU Yutong (苏雨桐): Germany (德国)
   
    Rose TANG (唐路): USA (美国)
   
    TENG Biao (腾彪): USA(美国)
   
    WANG Lihong (王荔蕻): China (中国)
   
    WU Lebao (吴乐宝): Australia(澳大利亚)
   
    WU Qiang (吴强): China (中国)
   
    WU Renhua (吴仁华): USA (美国)
   
    Wu’erkaixi (吾尔开希), Taiwan (台湾)
   
    XIA Ming (夏明): USA (美国)
   
    XIA Yeliang (夏业良): USA (美国)
   
    YAN Kefu (颜柯夫): Taiwan (台湾)
   
    YANG Jianli (杨建利), USA (美国)
   
    YANG Kuang (杨匡): Canada (加拿大)
   
    ZHOU Fengsuo (周锋锁): USA (美国)
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Reject Beijing’s bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics
    
    Dear International Olympic Committee Members:
    
    We urge you to reject Beijing’s bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics as China is now facing a human rights crisis with a scale of violations that is unprecedented since 2008.
    
    As we write this letter, the Chinese government is carrying out an unparalleled attack on civil society. More than 250 Chinese human-rights lawyers, legal assistants, activists and their family members have been arrested, interrogated, put under house arrest and made to disappear since July 9. The youngest is 16 and the oldest 81.
    
    Beijing has been using the Olympic Games to promote the Chinese Communist Party. If the International Olympic Committee awards Beijing the 2022 Winter Olympics, a great event intended to promote solidarity, brotherhood and human development will once again serve a corrupt dictatorship. It will endorse a government that blatantly violates human rights. Awarding Beijing the Olympics is a contradiction of the Olympics’ goal of “promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.”
    
    The 2008 Summer Olympics made a mockery of the fine principles that the Olympics stands for, and brought more humiliation than dignity and more sadness than joy to the people in China.
    
    In the name of the Olympics, Beijing forcibly relocated 1.5 million residents and evicted thousands of households. Hundreds of petitioners—as well as handicapped people—were detained in secret detention centers as part of the government’s effort to “clean up” the capital for the games. To put forth a good face for the Olympics, Beijing covered up a nationwide powdered milk scandal, which seriously affected the health of some 360,000 babies in China by 2008. The government also banned record-holding athlete Fang Zheng from the Paralympics because his legs were crushed by a tank in the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre.
    
    To win the 2008 Olympics, China promised to allow space for Chinese citizens to protest during the games. Spaces were allocated, but those that applied for permission to hold protests were actually arrested, making a mockery of China’s promises to the IOC. We expect similar abuses to take place should you award China the 2022 Winter Olympics.
    
    We feel utterly ashamed of such a notorious human rights record, which not only contradicts Beijing’s own promises, but also severely tarnishes the reputation and spirit of the Olympic Games.
    
    Beijing promised to improve press freedom in order to win the 2008 Olympics. Instead, the Chinese media have experienced even more censorship and crackdowns. China has been denying work visas to a number of foreign journalists who cover “sensitive” issues. The country is the world’s largest jailer of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
    
    Allowing Beijing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics would send the world a message that China’s human rights abuses are being endorsed by the IOC, making the 2022 Games look strikingly similar to the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
    
    We believe that the pure Olympic dream should never serve political oppression by a host government. We dream that one day the sacred Olympic flame will cast a light on a free China. For now, under this government, any more Olympic games would go down in history as the Shame Games, and make the IOC an accomplice in the abuse of human rights in the name of the Olympics.


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