NEWS: China's New Olympic Rules

POLITICS: China's New Olympic Rules

Ahh, the Olympics: the traditions; the majesty; the competitive spirit; the graceful athleticism and the...the political restrictions?

That's right. China, not satisfied with infringing on their own citizens' rights to protest against the government, or cracking down on claims of independence of different areas, now they have released a list of rules for foreign visitors coming for the Games. These include:

• No printed material that is critical of China


• No rallies or demonstrations


• Olympic Tickets do not necessarily mean an entry visa will be issued


• No smuggling in Opium
(since there's no history of opium in China)


• Do not insult the Chinese flag or other national Chinese symbols


• No religious or political banners

Some of these make sense, like the rules of what to do if you get food poisoning, and I'm sure that plenty of host countries have refused entry visas to some people who had Olympic tickets. But some of these count as suppression of what are considered basic human rights.

It should be noted that Olympic rules have, for over 50 years, included a ban on political, religious, and racial propaganda on Olympic sites, but that is more about suspending political differences and descriminations than China's version:

China was supposed to, as part of their winning bid in 2001, improve their human rights records.

We're still waiting.

Yay, isn't Communism grand

Don't forget about the microchips in Olympic tickets with all the ticket holder's personal information on it.

If you finish 1st in any event while high on Opium, then fair play to you.

Did somebody say BOYCOTT!?!

Given the wacky, directly-impacted-by-industry weather changes happening in China + the equivalent of a high school chemistry lab in at least one random athlete's body, whatever opium they may ingest would likely be converted into heroin before it reached their heart.

I'm going to make an early prediction that China takes gold this season in Protest Suppression. Myanmar for a photo-finish silver...

Does the IOC care so much about simply HAVING a Summer Games that they wouldn't pull China's hosting rights and maybe just co-ordinate to have a pre-existing site used as an auxiliary location? I'm sure most countries wouldn't balk at the sudden upswing in tourism if they already had infrastructure in place.

China getting the games was a gamble to start with, and I think letting them keep it after a lack of measurable change (as stipulated by the IOC) is the equivalent of hoping the card dealer will feel guilty when you ante up with your kids' college funds & your spouse's kidney.

I can't say I'm surprised. I really think they were a bad choice to host. And that condition that they have to improve their human rights record is a joke. Everyone knew they weren't going to do it.

Ah, China the land of low cost manufacturing, the forgotten rural masses, and a huge income disparity.

BTW, China is run by "thugs and goons" originally said by Jack Cafferty and fully supported by IDGAS

So essentially it's just like here, except with more manufacturing ?

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Chainlink said:

IDGAS said:
Ah, China the land of low cost manufacturing, the forgotten rural masses, and a huge income disparity.

BTW, China is run by "thugs and goons" originally said by Jack Cafferty and fully supported by IDGAS

So essentially it's just like here, except with more manufacturing ?

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Right. It is just jealousy on my part

GAHHHHH! argh!!!.....China OWNS our fucking debt.....when the FUCK will the US get a clue....it's nauseating how dependent we have become on those fascist fools! Gah! Back in high school, probably about almost 10 years ago, I tried to do my own little version of a boycott of all things China. Heh, only last about one year. Besides realizing that my actions were only a mere pepper spot on the juice glass that was/is international commerce, do you know how HARD that was? In fact, I remember I was shopping around for some new hiking boots, and OMG! Not ONE DAMN pair of boots were made in the good ol US of A.....Wake the fuck UP!!!! OK, probably the LEAST insightful post you will see here today, but, well, it just seemed like a good forum for a good ol fashioned rant. thanks!

On behalf of the city that placed second, the time for that idea has long passed.

(And not to make it all about my city, but every time Toronto places second for an olympic bid, the winner is pretty suspect. ((Atlanta for the bribery, Beijing for being Beijing)).

Yeah, Beijing's really going wacky over the Olympics. They also very suddenly and without warning issued a ban on the import or handling of a broad range of chemical commodities for like a two month period, for reasons no one can really figure out. Since these chemicals are feedstocks that eventually end up, in one form or another, in a good chunk of the finished products China exports, you can imagine the disruptive impact this could have on China's manufacturing sector. But that's classic China fuckupery. The ban could also have reverberative impacts on other markets as well, particularly the US.

They also, as far as I can tell, seem to have issued a very sudden change in policy regarding what documentation is required for obtaining a China entry visa (at least for US citizens), which has left me scrambling today to collect, fax and FedEx a bunch of extra things.

As one western dude I know there dryly put it the other day: "They do things a bit differently here."

While I have naught but goodwill towards Toronto (Being half-Canadian by blood) I was referring to cities that had ALREADY hosted an event in the past, and thus might still have some of the support structure in place. I realize that obviously within a 12-18 month window of the games beginning, it's point-of-no-return for moving the competition, but the IOC must have seen China dragging its feet for YEARS even after winning the bid.

True, other countries/cities that had bid & lost might feel some disappointment at having China pulled and the games return to an already-chosen location, but given the shortened timeline & circumstances, I think any rancor would quickly pass in the spirit of the actual purpose of the games: Goodwill.

I agree with Olympic principles that the games should be exempt from political exploitation, but the very nature of the whole set-up is meant to express & inspire the best in humanity. We've fallen short on both sides, in my opinion, this summer.

Maybe six months ago that could have been an idea - and that's a big maybe. With almost two months to the day until it starts, it's too late under any circumstances to move the games, unless you are going to cancel them and hold them later.

As an aside, it's incredibly unlikely that the committee had any serious intention of holding China to any kind of human rights or open-ness standards. At the time, I don't recall any benchmarks that China would have to meet or contingency plans if they didn't. I do recall people thinking that having journalists in the country for the games would shed light on their actions and maybe create international pressure. And in that regard I think we've seriously underestimated the Chinese government.

Context.

Clearly that's the correct reading of events. As China has been restructuring their economy to be a beacon of capitalism, we are seeing a great flowering of democracy, huh?

I'm just absolutely disgusted that China has been awarded the Olympics, the supposed symbol of freedom and world peace in sports.

How their record of atrocities against the Tibetan people and indeed their own population can be overlooked by the powers at be is beyond me.

I've got a feeling that there's going to be some serious uprising in Beijing whilst the Olympics are on.

The world cannot stand silent and allow China's disgraceful record of human rights abuse to continue.

Wanna bet?

Thanks for mentioning that. I was about to point out that finding fault in the Chinese government for cracking down on opium smuggling because China has a history of opium use is the historical equivalent of finding fault in Sierra Leone for cracking down on human trafficking because they have a history of slavery. WTF?

I've got a feeling you've never been to Beijing.

You're welcome. I should be clear, though, that I think we have plenty of legitimate grounds for criticizing the current Chinese government. I just don't think that their opposition to opium is one of these legitimate criticisms.