(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-22 07:28

When Democratic presidential candidates Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama urged US President George W Bush to boycott the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony, they either forgot or ignored the big applause that the Americans gave to China when the world's most populous nation decided to participate in the Los Angeles Games despite the Soviet Union-led boycott, says a commentary of Xinhua News Agency. The following is an excerpt:

Fourteen countries boycotted that Games in 1984, in an action seen as a retaliation for the US-led snub on Moscow four years earlier. Cold War rivalries hurt two Olympics and the Olympic spirit.

But suddenly, boycotting the Beijing Games has become an "in" thing as more people are jumping onto the bandwagon, acting as human rights defenders to woo their voters or peddling the idea of a "Free Tibet". How come it is justified now to turn the Olympic Games into a political battlefield?

Right, because all untold political purposes could be disguised in the name of "human rights". Then, you have an opportunity to see what double standards are like.

When Jin Jing, the disabled, wheelchair-bound young girl from China, was assaulted by "Tibet independence protesters" who violently and repeatedly tried to wrench the torch from her, wasn't her human right trampled on and even personal safety endangered?

Strangely, even the appalling scene live on TV did not arouse due sympathy and attention (some Western media seized the chance to show how embarrassing the torch relay was to China) until International Olympic Committee President Jacque Rogge described it as "unacceptable".

A San Francisco teenager had to give up the glory to hold the sacred flame due to fears of a possible dangerous situation (according to a CNN report). Some other torchbearers were also forced to pull out because of the increasing pressure unfairly inflicted on them.

Do they still have a free choice?

When over one-fifth of the world population faces boycott threats to the Olympics they have been longing for, is it for their human rights or against them?

How many among those who protested loudly, who expressed their anger toward "oppression and torture" that Tibetan people are "suffering", have been to Tibet, or to even China ?

Presumably, most have not. Then you cannot help wondering why all of a sudden everybody becomes a China or Tibet expert. Those who think most Chinese are "brainwashed" by their "censored media" now have to think again. Why do overseas Chinese, who have access to all "uncensored" information, become the major voice supporting China in this debate?

An interesting fact is that many of the Western supporters of "Free Tibet" do not have basic knowledge that China has 56 ethnic groups. They thought Tibet was the only group that is different from the majority Han people. Not to mention their ignorance of the history of Tibet.

The Beijing Games is a great opportunity for the West and China to better understand each other. It creates a green passage for Westerners to see and feel a real China. Why should this opportunity be wasted and the passage blocked?

(China Daily 04/22/2008 page8)