Column: Putting the Olympic torch protest in context

By Rod Rose
THE LEBANON REPORTER (LEBANON, Ind.)

LEBANON, Ind. April 11, 2008 02:39 pm

— While Chinese storm troopers escort the Olympic flame on an 85,000-mile journey from Athens to Beijing, pleas for “understanding” are oozing from the politically correct.
Using the torch as a focus for protesting China’s trampling of human rights could force the Chinese government to become more reclusive, L. Ling-chi Wang, a University of California, Berkeley professor emeritus of Asian American and Ethnic Studies, said in a commentary posted by CNN.
“Humility and compassion, not hypocrisy and self-righteousness, is what is needed,” Wang said.
Protests of Chinese human rights violations centered on the Olympic torch “have the effect of desecrating the Olympics and humiliating and insulting the people of China,” Wang said.
What arrogance.
The Chinese government is not using the Summer Olympics as a showcase for its openness. It is using the Summer Olympics as a ploy, a misdirection maneuver intended to give the appearance it is a progressive modern nation. China is not modern. The recall last winter of millions of lead-tainted toys made in Chinese shops is only one indication of how backward China remains.
According to several reports, the blue-tracksuit-wearing “flame attendants” China has sent to escort the flame are paramilitary police. The Age newspaper of Australia said the escort unit’s members were selected from the 660,000-strong People’s Armed Police, in 2007.
Lord Sebastian Coe — who won the Olympic 1,500 meters run in 1980 and 1984 — called the escort team “thugs,” The Age said.
The apologist Wang calls the United States, “a rogue state worldwide because of our invasion of Iraq.”
Wang does not mention the Chinese invasion of Tibet — nor the People’s Armed Police role in suppressing protests in Tibet.
Wang purports to represent the opinions of 1.3 billion Chinese. He plays the “yes-but” game well. Wang declares he is “not opposed to free speech and legitimate protests against China’s wrongdoings.” But, he continued, “I am opposed to using the Olympics to demonize China and its people.”
What an ingenuous way of deflecting the blame back on the West.
Wang asserts that “most Americans” are ignorant of international issues. He insinuates that jealousy, xenophobia and fear are the roots of the torch protests.
Shame on us uncultured barbarians.
Since the Chinese Communist Party seized control of the country in 1949, the government has historically crushed protests.
But Wang says “ignorance” of China, fomented by “the media, politicians and organized groups,” is to blame for “the conspicuous absence of information regarding historical context and complexity.”
The Chinese government kills protesters. How complex is that?
Perhaps Wang has forgotten what happened on June 4, 1984, in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square — when Chinese Army soldiers shot several hundred protesters to death, and crushed an unknown number of others under the tracks of armored vehicles.
Or perhaps Wang remembers Tiananmen Square, and doesn’t care.
The Summer Olympics begin on August 8, and continue through the Aug. 24 closing ceremonies.
Americans should watch and enjoy the Games. They should delight in the performances of thousands of dedicated athletes.
During the Games, when Americans are buying anything at all, they should carefully look for the “made in China” label, and put the object back on the shelf.
Boycott China, not the Olympics.

— Rod Rose writes for The Lebanon (Ind.) Reporter. He may be reached at rod.rose@reporter.net.

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