The Olympic torch relay is set for San Francisco this afternoon and tens of thousands of protestors will be on hand.
They will be demonstrating-mostly-against China’s record on human rights. The Chinese government isn’t allowing coverage of the protests to reach a domestic audience. Not only do they control access to the Internet, they also have been censoring CNN broadcasts.
Let’s be clear.
China won the rights to host the 2008 Summer Games because they were willing to spend billions on new facilities and to shut down factories to ensure Beijing air is safe for the athletes to breathe.
This was never about sports or politics. It’s about money and the investment the Chinese government is willing to make to proclaim their prescence as a global super power.
But the Chinese are finding out the global spotlight isn’t always a good thing. It can shine on their economic power and national pride as well as on their dismal environmental and human rights record.
Despite protests along the Olympic torch route, there is no way China will begin talks with the Dalai Lama about a free Tibet, or stop selling weapons to the Sudanese government.
We can only hope this potential loss of face doesn’t make the Chinese government more xenophobic and retreat back into their borders. The best thing for the world and the Chinese people is more transparency, more trade, more communication.
Here’s hoping that message-at least-gets through
Mary Ellen Beninger
