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From The Hill

Eight House Republicans have called for a boycott of next year’s Olympics in Beijing in a resolution introduced just before the congressional recess.The resolution criticizes China’s human rights record and compares the 2008 Beijing Games to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi-era Berlin.

Those Olympics showed that “the integrity of the host country is of the utmost importance so as not to stain the participating athletes or the character of the Games,” according to the resolution, which is cosponsored by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Joseph Pitts (Penn.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), John Doolittle (Calif.), Dan Burton (Ind.) Frank Wolf (Va.) and Christopher Smith (N.J.).H. Res. 610 is one of three House resolutions calling for a U.S. boycott of next year’s Olympics introduced just before Congress adjourned for its August recess. The resolutions show that next year’s Beijing Games will continue to be used to leverage China on a host of issues.

All of the resolutions criticize China’s human rights record and say “immediate steps” should be taken to boycott next year’s Olympics unless the Chinese government takes certain steps on human rights, foreign policy and the Darfur conflict.

H. Res. 610 and a similar resolution cosponsored by Rohrabacher, Pitts and John Shimkus (Ill.) criticize China for contributing to human rights abuses in Sudan, North Korea and Burma. They also cite China’s own human rights record, singling out its detention of the Panchen Lama, a central figure of Tibetan Buddhism selected by the Dalai Lama.

A third resolution, introduced by Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), focuses on China’s ties to Sudan, which critics charge has provided cover for the Sudanese government to engage in genocide in Darfur.

Both the Senate and House have already approved non-binding resolutions calling on China to use its influence to end the Darfur conflict. Those resolutions mentioned the Olympics but did not call for a boycott.

Chinese embassy officials have met with members of Congress in an effort to curtail calls for boycotts. Last week, China held a party in Tiananmen Square to mark that the games are a year away, and to celebrate its hosting duties.

Tiananmen Square was the site of pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989 forcibly put down by Chinese police and soldiers, an event mentioned by H. Res. 610.

Nice try, but unless China is indiscriminately shooting people in the head on live TV way too many politicians and major corporations are in bed with China and are reaping multiple monetary orgasms.

Despite arms dealing with Sudan, Myanmar and Iran and certainly arms sales to terrorists around the globe and even despite Chinese goods, poisoning American children, trade with China has, been a boom for large U.S. companies like Boeing, Caterpillar, and Cargill, which had trumpeted the prospect of a massive Chinese market for American products and services. China is a growing market for commercial aviation, and NEEDS billions of dollars worth of airplanes from Boeing.
Let’s see Darfur/Human Rights vs lot’s of dead presidents, simple math.

Now just ignore the fact that China has been a tougher… er uh impossible market to crack for smaller and mid-sized American companies, like those selling bicycles, small electronic goods, vacuum cleaners, and lawn mowers, who face stiff price competition from Chinese manufacturers of these products.
Try going through your home and find something NOT made in China.

Bottom line, this country is not going to do anything to piss off China. We will take our happy asses over there, win a few gold metals, smile and praise them for keeping people from spitting on the streets.

This is simply more Washington symbolism that won’t amount to anything.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 6:31 am and is filed under Politics, Socially Unacceptable, China.
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