Letter of the Week
With all the talk of a coming out party at the Beijing Games, China has a miserable record on human rights and the IOC has done little to pressure China into meaningful reforms. The week's LOW asks that the viewers make a statement by choosing to tune out the Beijing Games. Thanks for the letter Tyler. Enjoy your quiet time.
I recently pledged to not watch the Beijing Olympics on television and wanted to ask you for your help to spread the word to do the same.
This year's summer Olympics take place in China. The Chinese government promotes their Olympic slogan of ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM while propping up one of the world's most brutal military dictatorships in Burma.
As you probably saw in the newspapers, last fall hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks marched in Burma calling for human rights and democracy. With funding and weapons from China, the Burmese regime cracked down on the peaceful monks, slaughtering hundreds and imprisoning thousands more.
That crackdown was just the tip of the iceberg. Using its veto power, China has blocked the United Nations from stopping the carnage in Burma. In a campaign of terror, the Burmese military regime has destroyed 3,200 villages, forcing 1.5 million people to flee their homes. The regime has recruited more child soldiers than any other country in the world. The regime has also locked up Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
As a result of China's policies, the UN is yet again making the same mistakes the world made in Rwanda and Darfur.
Unless China changes its policies on Burma, I am going to turn off my television, refuse to purchase products associated with the Olympics.
The Beijing Olympics begin on August 8, 2008. On the same date in 1988, thousands of peaceful protesters were massacred by Burma's regime during Burma's first uprising for democracy. This date, 8/8/88, should not be forgotten.
Tyler Riddle
