A Letter to the IOC

I write to you not only as a citizen of the United States with a great respect for the competition and goodwill of the Olympic Games, but also as someone who is worried with the future integrity of the games if they are to be granted to a nation not overly concerned with its human rights record. The nation I am speaking about is China.

I am in no way against the people of China having the games; they are a wonderful and generous people. I know many Chinese and have the greatest admiration for them and their culture.

It is their current government I am more concerned about, and what this government will do if given the games. Currently, in China, political dissidents are treated inhumanely, pent up in mental hospitals or labor "re-education" camps and sentenced to years of abusive treatment. Interestingly, the spectrum of "dissident" also covers Chinese-born scholars who are United States citizens who are branded as spies, those who are Chinese citizens and happen to believe in their own opinion of democracy other than the Chinese [party name omitted] Party's dogma, and also those who maintain their own religious beliefs and fail to worship religions controlled by the state.

The Chinese [party name omitted] Party, lead by Jiang Zemin, punishes those whom it deems as a threat. In April of 1999 it outlawed the Falun Gong meditation group simply because of this reason. Since then, over 200 Falun Gong practitioners have died, not to mention the thousands of others who have been forced out of jobs, had their families torn apart, and countless others who have been locked up in mental institutions and labor camps. The stories that come out of these places are harrowing! I won't go into detail each and every story I have read, but I assure you, you would be moved if you read some of them (most which I found at http://www.faluninfo.net). I really believe Jiang Zemin will stop at nothing in an attempt to crush their movement. In addition to the Falun Gong practitioners there are Catholics and Protestants who must practice their faiths underground lest they also be put to the same trial and punishment.

If given the Olympic Games, the Chinese government will do its utmost to show its "best face" to the rest of the world while holding a clenched fist behind its back. We will all see lavish gardens, historic shrines and palaces, waving crowds, and plenty of corporate advertising. President Jiang will promise us that China will take every measure to improve its human rights record to the rest of the world (upon being bestowed with the games). And I'm sure there will be more promises, and smiles on camera, than we can imagine.

Meanwhile, after all of it is over, after all the tourists and Olympians have left, Jiang Zemin and his cohorts will strike hard against those dissidents whom the television cameras never caught a glimpse of. The Olympic games will give him a green light to unleash all the more against these people because he will have no reason to hold back any longer.

As Chad Carlson, of the Washington Post, wrote in an article published on 05/31/2001:

"...many people believe that allowing China to host the Olympic Games would somehow spur Beijing to more responsible involvement in the community of nations. However, the same arguments that are being made on behalf of China today could, and were, made on behalf of the National Socialist German government of 1936 and its right to stage an Olympic Games in front of the world. Surely there were people who felt that if the Nazis were accommodated, the more unpleasant aspects of their political agenda (such as the Nuremberg racial laws) would be modified in the face of public opinion. Of course, it didn't happen."

Time and time again, later generations are offered the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of its predecessors so as not to repeat them. We shouldn't stand idly by and wait for the next opportunity when it is now being presented to us.

After all is said and done, some of us will soften our views on Jiang Zemin's regime and offer more credibility to its reputation. Some of us will not. Some of us will have the liberty to voice our opinions...many in China will not.

Sincerely,

A US citizen