Awarding the Olympics to Beijing: A Mistake that Keeps on Giving …
April 13th, 2008
By WILLIAM KERN
After the failure of the 1980 U.S.-sponsored Olympic boycott, hadn’t the world learned its lesson about the ineffectiveness of such actions? According to this editorial from the Nederlands Dagblad, things have changed since then - not the least of which is the fact that unlike South Korea, which rapidly democratized in the run-up to the 1988 Games, Beijing has taken a different tack.
The Dutch newspaper opines, “Such wishful thinking has now given way to the harsh reality. Over the past decade, Chinese leaders have decided that capitalism and dictatorship make an excellent pair … The IOC’s pseudo religious rhetoric about the brotherhood of nations doesn’t work anymore, because that now equates with siding with the Beijing regime.”
And like the other editorial WORLDMEETS.US has translated from the Dutch, this one prominently mentions the Berlin Olympics in 1936 - perhaps evidence of some raw emotion that remains over that war, during which The Netherlands was invaded and occupied by the Nazis.
EDITORIAL
Translated By Jan de Nijs
April 9, 2008
The Netherlands - Nederlands Dagblad - Original Article (Dutch)
In 1936, the world discovered how dictatorial regimes can make political mileage out of organizing the Olympic Games. Even today, the muscular blond men in the movie Olympia (1938), a propaganda film by Leni Riefenstahl, present a perfect illustration of this point. Adolf Hitler exploited sports to further his racist ideology. Since then, the Olympic Movement has zealously fought to protect the Games from being politicized. This despite the fisticuffs in Mexico in 1968 , the terror in Munich in 1972 and the boycott of the Moscow Games in 1980.[Editor’s Note: The author refers to the “Massacre in Tlatelolco” which took place during the approach of the 1968 Mexico City Games. Students, frustrated over a variety of injustices attributed to the authorities, held major demonstrations on the afternoon and evening of October 2, 1968, ten days before the opening of the Games. Most sources estimate that between 200 and 300 students were shot to death by police and military forces . The 1972 Munich Games saw the kidnapping and murder of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists ].
The turning point came - or so it seemed - with the Los Angeles Olympiad of 1984. Because of the sale of television rights, those Games were such a huge success that ever-after, a boycott no longer seemed possible. And by focusing on large-scale commercialism, former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch managed to overshadow rampant corruption and nepotism, which was then conveniently forgotten.
[Editor’s Note: Although the author’s point is well-taken, because of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games, the Soviet Union then led boycott of the 1984 Games, which caused 14 Eastern Bloc countries and Cuba and (but not Romania) to boycott the 1984 Olympics ].
With six months to go before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the situation continues unchanged. No country in the world is seriously considering a boycott of the Games. What has changed, however, are some of the surrounding issues.
When the IOC chose Beijing in the summer of 2001, although there were muted protests, most of the lights were green. The Cold War was over. More and more of the world was about to accept free trade. And it couldn’t be otherwise - or so people thought - since democracy would soon follow. Of course, China would use the Beijing Games to showcase its best behavior to the World. And hadn’t awarding the 1988 Olympics to Seoul resulted in the rapid democratization of South Korea? Optimism reigned and there seemed no obvious reason to deny the Olympiad to the world’s most populous country.
Such wishful thinking has now given way to the harsh reality. …
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated foreign press coverage of the torch controversy at it relates to the United States.
This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Communism, The Netherlands, Nazis, Human Rights, Newspapers, Capitalism, Hypocrisy, Tyranny, Ideologies, China, History, Sports, Europe, Political Cartoons, Cartoon Commentary, Freedom of Speech, Business. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
