Word: beijingers
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Gere does have a point: the unrest in Tibet stems from years of brutal Chinese religious, economic and political repression. And well before Gere's statement, many other activists had called for a Games boycott, for myriad reasons. Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders argued that a boycott should be considered...
Apart from in Tibet, China has clearly contributed to suffering in Darfur and Burma; it is the main diplomatic protector of Khartoum and Rangoon, and the major consumer of Sudanese oil. The Games are also hurting the human-rights climate in China - Beijing has been rounding up prominent activists before...
But a boycott would backfire miserably. Besides hurting athletes who have spent years prepping for the Olympics, a boycott will cost activists whatever ongoing leverage they have over China. Once a boycott is declared, activists almost surely would lose any interaction with Chinese officials, who would simply write them off...
The Long RoadThe central question surrounding Tibet, of course, is what will happen when the current Dalai Lama dies. In preparation for that event, the man has been stressing for years that the function of any Dalai Lama is only to fulfill the work of the previous Dalai Lama; therefore...
"If 30 years from now, Tibet is 6 million Tibetans and 10 million Chinese Buddhists," the Tibetan leader said to me five years ago, "then maybe something will be O.K." As the world looks toward Beijing and its glittering coming-out party this August, and the Chinese government prepares to...