olympics

Hi emptymiror, The tensions now rising with the impending 2008 Chinese Olympics seem to be more in the way of opportunism by aggrieved parties, namely Tibetans and their supporters, than any conflict between Communist and Capitalist regimes. Even China's posture regarding attempts to disrupt the preliminary activities leading up to the 2008 Olympics has more to do with national pride than with Communism per se. The issue of Tibet may well be deserving of focused international attention and lobbying of the Chinese government, but I don't personally consider the Olympics to be an appropriate forum for the dispute. Although it might be prudent for the Chinese government to broker a satisfactory resolution to the Tibetan issue before the games commence, I also think it would be unjust to disrupt China's conduct of the games for political purposes. A Dragon is still a Dragon, even if you kick him in the nuts when he's not looking. I think it would be better to try to come to some agreement with China than to make it look bad in front of the rest of the world. Surely there's no better opportunity to encourage a compromise than when there's other things China would rather be giving all its attention to. The Olympics and its consequences? I believe there will be a lot of tired athletes, and a few of them will go home with medals - mostly Chinese this time around.