Word: tibet
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Even when he's not filming, Richard Gere knows how to do drama. In the wake of the deadly protests in Tibet, Gere, a longtime Tibet activist and friend of the Dalai Lama, made a splashy announcement. The Hollywood star declared that "if [the protests] are not handled correctly, yes, we should boycott [the Olympics]. Everyone should boycott...
...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 given China's jailing of journalists. Darfur advocates Steven Spielberg, who recently withdrew as an artistic adviser to the Games, and Mia Farrow have called for a boycott because of China's Sudan links. "I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual [with...
...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 the Olympiad...
...Only a combination of tough public shaming, which clearly tarnishes China's valued global image, and private dialogue with Beijing, not ostracism, can produce results. Indeed, by spotlighting China's abuses in Xinjiang province, where there are policies as harsh as those in Tibet, while quietly reaching out to Chinese officials, the Bush Administration has won the release of leading Uighur dissidents...
...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 unveil all the fruits of its recent remarkable economic achievements, oppressed citizens in Tibet and elsewhere will no doubt use the same opportunity to remind the world of what has been lost in terms of freedom and humanity in the rush for those achievements. The calm scientist in monk robes, however, with...