Dawa Kyab

Awarding the 2022 Winter Olympics to Beijing remains ascontroversial as awarding the 2008 summer Games to the Chinese capital, withthe difference that this time a large number of democratic countries haveannounced a diplomatic boycott of the global sporting event.

 Several hundred Tibetansalongwith their allies staged protests worldwide as well as in front of theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC), headquarter in Lausanne, Switzerlandaccusing the IOC of complicity in “atrocities” committed on ethnic minoritiesin the People’s Republic of China.

“Beijing Olympics, Genocide Games”, “Tibet is burning” and “Longlive Dalai Lama” were some of the slogans the protesters raised. The placards carried by theprotesters included calls such as “Save Tibet” and “No More Bloody Games,” USCongressman Tom Suozzi, joined a protest rally in front of Chinese consulate inNew York, wherein he said Tibetans should continue their struggle for theircountry.

Reuters (Feb 4) cited British freestyle skier Gus Kenworthyquestioning China’s suitability to stage the 2022 Winter Olympics and urgingthe IOC not to allow countries that have “appalling human rights stances” tohost the Games. China should never have been allowed to host these games. Shameon CCP and IOC said Students for a free Tibet. Buchung D Sonam , a Tibetanactivist from Europe stated that if you are neutral in situations of injusticeyou have chosen the side of the oppressor.

At a rally Giovanni Vassallo, President of Bay Area friends ofTibet described (Feb 3) Chinese Winter Olympics 2022 as a sports event ofgenocide. He stated that we will continue to ask the world not to turn a blindeye to the incredible destruction that has happened to the lands and people ofTibet, East Turkistan as well as followers of Falun gong and Chinese democracygroups.

Another activist Te Nam from Europe stated (Feb 4) that as theWinter Olympics opens today in Beijing, I think about this day in July 2001when the IOC announced in Moscow that China would host the 2008 Olympics. TheTibetan youth Congress and other Tibetan groups in Moscow took out protest andwere detained by Russian police. I remember waiting with some of my colleaguesin Dharamshala -with two statements ready to be sent -hoping against allexpectations that China would not be a host. Almost 14 years have passed sincethe 2008 Olympics in Beijing .during these intermediate years, the Chineseregime has committed serious and widespread violations of human rights inTibet. Since 2008 in Tibet, we still do not know the exact number of peopleimprisoned for protesting in 2008. Many are still in prison. Hundreds ofTibetan writers, singers and community leaders have been arrested ordisappeared. Repression in Tibet due to general strengthening of restrictionson Buddhism and Tibetan language and forced assimilation. So once the OlympicGames spotlight goes off, I wonder what will happen to the people colonised byChina

The United States was the first country to announce diplomaticboycott of the Olympics, followed by countries like the UK, Canada andAustralia among others. On February 6, The Speaker of the US Houseof Representatives Nancy Pelosi testified before the Congressional-ExecutiveCommission on China (CECC) on the ongoing Beijing Olympics and criticized thehost for its human rights abuses in Tibet, East Turkestan, Southern Mongolia,Hong Kong, among others. Pelosi said that the IOC aided by corporate sponsorsturned a blind eye to the actions of the host country. “If we do not speakout against the human rights violations in China because of commercial interestwe lose all moral authority to speak out against human rights violationsanywhere,” she further remarked.

Earlier, during an on line discussion with Xi Jinping, USPresident Biden raised (Nov 16, 2021) concerns about the PRC’s practices inXinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, as well as human rights more broadly.”Separately, Sikyong Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)accused (Nov 26, 2021) China of implementing a ‘One nation, one party, onelanguage, one culture’ policy in occupied Tibet and stated that Tibetans as apeople and culture was being subjected to a slow death.

Same points were highlighted in January 2022, by NBA player EnesKanter who expressed strong resentment over the Beijing winter Olympic 2022highlighting that Tibet belongs to Tibetans and that under the Chinese ruleTibetans are denied the right to learn Tibetan language and barred from freemovement.

While countries are participating in Beijing Olympics they do nottrust Chinese authorities (Chinese surveillance), some have even advised theirathletes to not carry their personal electronic devices to Beijing. Followingthe start of Beijing Olympics, restrictions on travel are being intensified infew areas of Tibet including Lhasa, it’s capital. Temples and monasteries aswell as tourist places in Tibet are being closed down on. Bodies like IOC arecompromising the moral values by ignoring the human rights issue.