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Question of the Week



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WELCOME to Scotland on Sunday's online feature, Question of the Week.
Picture: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
Picture: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
Each week we ask the readers of scotlandonsunday.com for their views on a burning issue from the past seven days. The best responses may be reproduced on the Online Forum page in Sunday's print edition of the newspaper on March 30.

If you wish to appear in Scotland on Sunday, then, along with your response, please leave a first name and surname, as well as your location - eg Tom Smith, Edinburgh. We welcome all comments.

The question this week is...

Should Britain boycott the Beijing Olympics in protest over human rights abuses in Tibet?



The full article contains 110 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 27 March 2008 12:18 PM
  • Source: Scotland On Sunday
  • Location: Scotland
 
1

bfarquhar,

Paisley 28/03/2008 16:11:38
No. I can remember how I cheered when Beijing lost the bid for the 2000 Olympics back in 1993, no doubt with the massacre of 1989 firmly in people’s minds. Older and wiser now, I believe China to be a dangerous animal when riled. Much as the country’s behaviour in Tibet disgusts me, no good can come of humiliating the Chinese on the world stage now we have allowed them to stage the Games. We must hold our noses and bear it.
2

Teuchter Mike,

28/03/2008 18:13:32
I doubt it would do much good for Tibetans, and it's seems unfair to punish athletes who are not responsible for the situation. It would be nice to think some athletes and nations might make a stand while they were competing but i can't see it. The reality is that the abuses in Tibet have been going on for years, so the Chinese shouldn't have been given the games in the first place.
3

Tomdonald,

28/03/2008 21:06:40
Certainly not. In a week in which the Chinese have demonstrated that they are quite unable to love their neighbours, there is no possibility that a demonstration in Beijing will have any more effect than that in Tiananmen Square. The ancient Chinese civilization is one of the first of mankind as we understand it. The world is benefitting from the “coolie” cheap labour working hard for a pittance. Fair Trade will eventually arrive in China.

The Olympic concept is an ancient one based on physical performance in "sporting events" of many sorts. The only international competition so far that every nation of every colour is only too willing to enter. Statistically only 2.5% of the population are in the “Mensa” class of sportsmen. It is my belief that the 21st century will bring in a society which will have defeated “evil”, whether it be terrorism, hunger, cruelty, et alia. In today’s secular society As an octogenarian I think it is irrelevant whether this comes about from God (St John’s Dream in Patmos) or not. The “kingdom of heaven” will have arrived. Personally I think the atheists will be in the minority.
4

Stewart MacKay,

Edinburgh 28/03/2008 23:12:52
No, there should be no Olympic Games boycot, largely because the games are the world's premier sporting event. Sport is one activity that helps break down barriers and unite people in the spirit of respectful competition. Using them as a platform to make a political statement on this scale would make them farcical.

Moreover, human rights abuses went on in Tibet long before communist Chinese rule was established. One only needs to consider the system of serfdom in which economic exploitation and physical abuse of many people took place. The two groups benefiting from this were 'rich secular landlords' and 'theocratic landlords.' These were able to amass much wealth at the expense of the abused serfs. Whilst many of the ordinary monks lived modestly the Dalai Lama himself, who presided over all of this, lived a life of luxury in a grand palace. Besides many other abuses taking place, it was not uncommon for young boys to be removed from their families to take up the life of a monk, and then to be sexually abused in the process.

Whilst Communist China clearly has its flaws, it liberated the area from serfdom and from this abuse. China has in recent years invested a huge amount into building up Tibetan infrastructure and improving the quality of life there.

Over the last two decades in particular China has opened up a lot economically and culturally. What has enabled this, ironically, is the free market. It is this that I believe will eventually see a relaxing of laws against freedom of expression, which seems to be one of the main issues in Tibet.

That said, boycotting the Olympic Games on the grounds of human rights issues in Tibet would be a big mistake.

We ought to be congratulating China for the way in which it is opening up and helping them as much as is possible to continue to improve quality of life of its people. This, surely, is a better, more humane way of approaching the issue.

 

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