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 Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics Games, hopes to beat
Almaty, Kazakhstan, and win the 2022 Winter Olympics, when a
decision is made on Friday in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
But five groups opposing Beijing's bid have appealed to the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) urging it not to award Beijing
the Games.
"China is now facing a human rights crisis with a scale of
violations that is unprecedented since 2008," U.S.-based Chinese
rights activists Rose Tang and Gu Yi said in a letter last week to
the IOC.
Like other campaigners, Tang and Gu said human rights have
deteriorated in China since Beijing held the 2008 Games. The last
two years under President Xi Jinping's administration have been
marked by a sweeping crackdown on dissidents, activists and human
rights lawyers.
"If the IOC awards the games to Beijing, it sends a signal, a
message to the entire world, that it's the right thing to encourage
a dictatorship which violates human rights blatantly on a larger and
larger scale," Tang told Reuters.
China has long argued that it is unfairly singled out for criticism
of its rights record and says other governments should examine their
own records before making accusations.
"At a time when the Chinese people are looking forward to a
successful and exciting Winter Olympics, a few people with ulterior
motives are politicizing the Olympic Games," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement to Reuters.
"This is not in keeping with the Olympic spirit and will not enjoy
popular support."
"POWER OF SPORT"
The Beijing 2022 Bid Committee said sport should be kept separate
from politics.
"While it is only normal for different groups to raise specific
interests around major sporting events, we believe in the Olympic
Charter's vision to protect the power of sport from political
influence," the committee said in an e-mailed response to Reuters.
The IOC said both Almaty and Beijing had given assurances
on "non-discrimination ... Internet access, media freedom, labor
rights and the right to demonstrate during the Games".
"At the same time, the IOC acknowledges that outside of Games time
it must respect the laws of sovereign states," IOC head of media
relations Emmanuelle Moreau said in an email.
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"It is not a world government."
Protests are being planned outside the Chinese consulate in Los
Angeles and the IOC office in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday and
Friday respectively, according to Cheng Qiubo, a rights activist
based in Los Angeles, and Tenzin Dechen Yundung, president of the
Tibetan Youth Association in Europe.
In 2008, activists disrupted the Olympic torch relay at several
international stops and protested during the torch lighting ceremony
in Olympia, Greece, in a bid to embarrass China.
Padma Dolma, of the British-based Students for Free Tibet, unfurled
the Tibetan flag in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 2008 before she
was detained.
Now she's again hoping to disrupt Beijing's plans.
"We want to shame the Chinese government and the IOC into not
allowing these Games to happen," she said.
Du Yanlin, who signed a letter opposing the Games in Beijing, said
state security officers summoned him last Saturday for a meeting.
"According to what they said, the Winter Olympics is an important
event for both Beijing and the country, the leaders are paying close
attention," Du said. "So your issuing a statement will mean that
they will definitely look for you."
The Ministry of Public Security did not respond to a faxed request
for comment.
(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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