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President Bush Slams Beijing on Eve of 2008 Olympic Games
Written by Robert Vance on August 8, 2008 – 10:43 amPresident Bush should beware. After making his strongest condemnation of Beijing ever yesterday in Thailand, he may very well receive the same frosty welcome that French President Nicholas Sarkozy is likely to receive. If the Chinese population at large happens to hear about what Mr. Bush said, any appreciation that they had for his willingness to attend the Opening Ceremony will quickly be replaced by ‘hurt feelings’ and outrage. Oh well. President Bush made sure yesterday that his final official visit to Asia would not be in vain. In Bangkok, Mr. Bush stated that “America stands in firm opposition to China’s detention of political dissidents, human-rights advocates and religious activists.” Mr. Bush also said that “we call for a free press, freedom of assembly and labor rights, not to antagonize China’s leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential.”
These strong words coupled with President Bush’s visit to Beijing send a powerful message to the CCP and to the rest of the world; President Bush and the United States will participate in the 2008 Oympic Games but they refuse to ignore the dire human rights crisis that is taking place in China. President Bush is not attending the Olympics to appease Beijing; he is attending so that he can have one last opportunity to pressure Chinese president Hu JinTao, who unlike President Bush, still has a few years left in office. While President Bush and President Hu have had a cordial relationship, Mr. Bush has never been afraid to criticize China on its human rights record. Human rights activists who were angry about President Bush’s plan to attend the Olympics can now be assured that Mr. Bush is making every moment of his trip to Asia count.
If the Chinese accuse President Bush and the United States of politicizing the Oympics, so be it. Pretending that everything is well in China for the sake of a smooth visit to Beijing would be doing a disservice to the Chinese people. Instead of staying away from the Olympics, President Bush is taking advantage of this premier world event to turn up the pressure on a totalitarian regime that is in great need of change. He should be applauded for his willingness to speak out on the eve of the 2008 Olympic Games.
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Sharp article….I guess there’s some wisdom in avoiding the boycott mentality (”if you don’t do it my way, I won’t even participate at all”). The President has a positive, hopeful attitude that seems to pervade all he does. He takes some lumps for it (and lots of bruises from the US media) but is consistent and faithful to the causes in his heart, of which none are dictated by polls…..I think that infuriates the press!!!
Also much enjoyed your article about the opening ceremony…indeed, we learned much about Chinese history and culture as we watched. It was quite moving. In some ways it was a little frightening as well…..to see the multitudes of Chineseyoung people, and the cutting edge technology. If we think of it all of being applied to and through the Chinese military we may realize that the days of an unchallenged US military superiority are numbered.
This is so interesting.
While interfering with China’s internal affair, trying to split Kosovo from Serbia and split Darfur from Sudan, Bush made a strong statement for Putin to respect Georgia’s territorial integrity.