Category: 2008 Olympics
2008 Olympics: Now Mostly Riot-Free!
Is there some really compelling reason that the IOC had to grant the Olympics to a tyranny as unrepentantly repressive as that of China? With authorities eager to present China as a harmonious nation during the August Games, the government has ordered local officials to defuse petition campaigns by discontented citizens and to prevent “mass [...]
I Do Love That Sarkozy!
I swear, French President Nicolas Sarkozy continues to surprise me. He’s not only holding fast on his pressure on China heading into he coming Olympics, he’s rallying the rest of Europe to the cause. PARIS (AP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday he will push for a European Union-wide agreement on whether to boycott [...]
China’s Torch Song is Falling Flat
I am really enjoying reading about the travails of the Olympic Torch Relay. Over the weekend, the torch was met by hundreds of protesters in Great Britain. In Paris, protesters forced the authorities to extinguish the torch three different times so they could shelter it on a bus (via memeorandum). I hope the torch is [...]
What I’d Like Bush to Say to Hu
It looks like the President has been talking to the Chinese leader about those missile parts. Here’s the AP story in its entirety as of 3:52 PM: President Bush told Chinese President Hu Jintao that a “mistake had been made” in shipment of nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan. Yep. And I dearly hope that he [...]
China Cracks Down Harder. So Where Are George Bush and John McCain?
The Chinese crackdown in Tibet continues while protests move into surrounding provinces. China sent additional troops into restive areas and made more arrests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in an effort to suppress anti-government protests even as the Dalai Lama offered face-to-face negotiations with Chinese leaders. Government officials acknowledged for the first time that the [...]
Here’s to a Horrible Olympiad!
I’m with John Derbyshire on the Olympics. At the Olympics, the Maoists will be dealing with free people from free nations, and there is only so much they can do to control them. It’s not clear they understand this. They’ve been living for decades in a bubble of unchallenged power, and are not very imaginative. [...]
To the IOC, “Some Risk” Apaprently Now Means, “Air You Can Chew”.
Luckily, the IOC is a famously neutral and non-political body capable of dispensing the privelege of hosting the Olympics to places that hold the best interests of the athletes at heart and do much to foster the spirit of international competition (such at the Tibetan Monk Beatdown and the Protestor Skeet Shoot). I say that [...]
That’s What You Said