2008 Olympics: The impact of international politics on the Beijing Olympics 21 Articles

by Ebey Soman

The 2008 Olympics is a critical step for both the internal image of China as well as how the world precieves China. When Beijing won as the host city in 2001, Chinese primer, Li Lanqing,exclaimed "The winning of the 2008 O...read more

by Janet Perry

Hu Jia and his wife sat together, happily holding their new baby girl, in a photo taken before he was dragged out of their home by China's 'security agents'. They look like a happy young couple. How brave they must be to...read more

by Sophia Carvlin-Miller

Thirty years ago, the prospect of the United States participating in Olympic Games held in Communist China would have been unthinkable. But today that prospect is a reality, with the Olympic games scheduled to begin in Be...read more

by Marcus Brooks

Why should the West care about Asians running around in robes? Why should the West care about repression in Tibet? Should Western countries boycott Beijing because Tibetans are being beaten, jailed or murdered? These qu...read more

by Michael T. Heath

In a perfect world, the quadrennial Olympic Games would stand outside the political sphere - inhabiting a place where citizens of the world could meet, compete and share a common celebration that powered historic and long-...read more

by Dan Willett

The arguments by human Rights advocates for a boycott of the Beijing Opening Ceremonies are well intentioned, intended to bring International attention to the truly abysmal Human Rights record of China, and particularly Ch...read more

by Bradley Dedon

As the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing approach, many speculators are worried with the thought of a political uprising possibly deflecting the world's attention away from sport and over to other issues, such as Tibet, for ex...read more

by Roberto Alvarez-Galloso

After reading through the mediocre material written by MSNBC and NBC about China. I have decided to respond to the lies by MSNBC and NBC as well as other Western Media who are either ignorant of the realities of China or a...read more

by Firoze Hirjikaka

I recently read a very interesting article by Chinese actress and director, Joan Chen in The Washington Post. The thrust of the article is that the current clamor for boycotting the Beijing Olympics or, at least, the Open...read more

by Keith Graff

Oh for the good old days when this question would more than likely be framed around the problem of judging in individual sporting events. When the lines were more clearly drawn between the political left and the right, the...read more

by Ray Fauteux

There are many athletes around the world who see themselves as pawns in the high-stakes game of politics and international intrigue. They have put their lives on hold for years and now hold their collective breaths as they...read more

by Costas Chryanthou

It must be said from the get-go that the Olympic games are supposed to be a joyous ceremony type event where the leading world elite athletes participate in their chosen athletic sport. Politics should not interfere with t...read more

by Laura Roberts

Watching the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics, many people wonder how a nation run by oppressors and censors could have ever received an Olympic nod. Protesters around the world interrupt the torch relay in order to express...read more

by Marci Kennedy

The 2008 Olympics in China represent a hope for continued change in China. That hope is currently in jeopardy. As China prepares for this years games, the long-suffering people of Tibet make their bid for freedom. The r...read more

by John Graham

Baron Pierre de Courbetin started the Olympic games in 1894 with such hopes for peaceful competition between nations. So it was for many years. Athletes competed first for the glory of trying out for their nations in diffe...read more

by Jyoti Hariharan

Every international competitive event in the world, is influenced by politics, be it a beauty pageant or a sporting event, the dirty hand of politics is always there to make a mark. Boycotts and bans are not new to the...read more

by Chiranjibi Paudyal

The issue of Tibet, violation of human rights and demonstrations across the globe during the Olympic torch procession have shadowed the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama has warned that t...read more

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by Colin Campbell

China will become the most powerful nation on earth in the next 20 years. Just an idle prediction? The Beijing Olympics represents the government of China with an opportunity to expose its modern face to the world. The las...read more

by Norma Jean Bishop

"To go or not to go" - is that the question? The Olympic Games are supposed to be above politics, a chance for fraternal interchange, but today this seems like an airy ideal. With China engaged in harshly suppressing hu...read more

by Phil Hill

The old saying politics and sport should not go together is a cute idea. You would have thought that some guy running one hundred meters as fast as he can, a woman jumping as far as she can has nothing to do with what is g...read more