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© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Exiled artist Ai Weiwei on Beijing Games
By STEPHEN WADE NEW YORK©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Paul
That is exactly what is happening now! Shame on you IOC and especially Thomas Bach!!!
That is the only thing it is about, money for IOC. Above all, sport or human rights!!!
Joe Blow
Ai is interesting, he sounds like both a dissident and a CCP autocrat in the same breath sometimes.
How is the West more hypocritical on human rights than China is? He sounds like Xi there.
And to say China doesn't care about the boycott? Of course they do, China is a face culture and being roundly snubbed on the world stage is the biggest loss of face. They're just pretending not to care because lashing out in anger would be an even bigger loss of face (they always value their high "EQ").
Addfwyn
@Joe Blow
I don't really agree with much of what he said here, or much of what he has said in the past, but I can take a stab at the two points you raised since he is actually pretty right about those.
Should be patently obvious. At a government level countries like the United States clamor about unproved human rights abuses in China while turning a blind eye to those openly perpetrated by their ally against the Palestinian people (This admittedly is at least getting some traction among the public, finally). They wax poetic about the threat China poses to Taiwan, while bombing multiple countries on a daily basis.
Could go on and on about domestic issues in many western countries, I would not want to imagine living in the US as a minority. Nevermind things like sanctions that are still levied on many countries.
No country in the world is blameless of things like this, but it is very hypocritical to try to claim a moral high ground when you are one of the worst offenders.
I agree to the extent that think they would care more if it were a real boycott, but it isn't. Countries are still sending athletes and boycotting countries are STILL sending diplomats and dignitaries, just....separately. It's transparent pandering.
I don't think they SHOULD care either way, but that is the way it seems to be paning out.
Yrral
Running from your country and complaining, lack credibility, is he addressing America problem too, their lots of people who stay and fight, knowing the peril of their action
Joe Blow
America has various problems, its close relationship to Israel drags it into wars in the Middle East that we have no business being in. At least in American you can say that out loud and the majority of the population disapproves of the US engaging in wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. In China you can't say anything about their human rights abuses. That sort of mental torture, that has persisted for 50+ years (actually since 1911) is harder to calculate and see but is just as inhumane.