i would definitely be for a boycott, especially after reading this post. it's immoral to degrade and repress people like that. you shouldn't be able to do that to another person.

I definately think we and everyone else should boycott. Besides some of the other reasons many of you have mentioned already- the mistreatment of it's people and environmental issues among other things-it is well known that China is funding the genocide in Darfur, the crackdowns in Burma (or Myanmar (sp?)) and Tibet. and besides, they're communist scum! Okay, maybe i went too far with that last comment, but in all seriousness, China is doing alotta shit they shouldn't be and its up to those who live in the generally free world to stand up against them. Unfortunately, due to the huge amount of debt the US owes China, i'm not really sure if we're really in the position to oppose them...but still, the point remains.

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It is the darkness that binds me, that kills me, that tortures and rapes me...and yet it is the only good thing I have.
~Shadow~

You know, I don't think I agree with a boycott. I disaprove of China's policies, but I do not believe using the Olympics - which is supposed to be a forum for various countries to put aside their differences and have sportsmanlike competition - is the forum to use.

If we want to send a message to China that we disagree with their policies - we should be boycotting goods made in China, not the Olympics. What good will it do to punish the athletes that have trained so hard to now taint their Olympic experience with controversy? Sure, countries act all outraged at the political, social, and economic conditions in China, but as long as we keep getting cheap imports, there's not much anyone is actually going to do. So, they'll use the Olympics as a platform - because they'll still get cheap crap made from practically slave labor - except we can punish the handful of athletes that have waited their whole life for this experience.

Furthermore, has anyone considered how much work has been done by the Chinese people to prepare for the Olympics? Suddenly having people say they are not coming would probably be a huge insult to the people whom we claim we are fighting for.

If we want to send a REAL message to China that we disagree with their policies - the Olympics is not the appropriate place to do it. what does the goverment care if some athletes don't show? They will care if we start placing heavier restrictions on trade.

I'm sick of all this "ooh China is such a horrible place" hype. It's easy for a bunch of idiots to scream and yeall and make signs and put out the Olympic flame in protest of their cause. But, surely if the really cared they could find a more effective way of supporting their cause and actually making a difference. I don't buy some lazy 1/2 assed attempt at protest that really accomplishes nothing.

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Scientist from Argentina discovered that people with insufficient brain and sexual activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse

I really don't think a country's atheletes should be removed (because the Olympics do concern people that have worked hard all their lives to compete in the most important events in the world), but I do think that in order to send a message to China, we could discourage our President from attending.

However, I also think that if we were to seriously take a stand against China, it would need to be subtle at this point. We're not in any position ourselves to call them immoral. The U.S. used to be the moral police, but we're not any more. We have to get back to setting our own example before going about telling other countries they're doing it wrong.

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I was listening to a radio show and they made the following comment - George W will not be absent from the Olympics for the simple reason Hillary Clinton demanded he be.

But, again, the Olympics is not the place for politics. George W not being there will only be seen as a sign of giant hypocrasy. Who is he to tell China they are in violation of human rights when it is American companies using dirt cheap overseas slave labor, I mean "outsourcing", to make a profit.

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Scientist from Argentina discovered that people with insufficient brain and sexual activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse

Bush is so ugh. That's kind of what I meant when I said that we don't really have a place or a right to be making such stands. But in theory, I support the stand, because I do oppose China's standards.

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I'm with Jo here, I don't really think anyone would boycott the Olympics anyway, and we can send a much clearer message to China by simply boycotting their products - this will make them sit up and listen, as I imagine they make a heck of alot of money off our countries as we stock many Chinese products. (and lets not go into the poor quality of them)

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I think the idea here is that the more trappings of freedom we can bring to their country, the more it will erode the hardline communist government. I think maybe the IOC saw it as a way to infuse free cultures into a totalitarian system - and I do think China is trying to clean up its act little at a time. I mean, they could've clamped down on Hong Kong and they've largely left it intact... they could've made an issue out of Taiwan and they're content just to rattle sabres once in a while... you have to remember that China has a very different mindset than the west. They're trying to adapt themselves to the global community but still retain their 1950's communist ideal, and over time it the government there will inevitably fail, just as the Soviets did. The best thing we can do for them is to support things like the olympics 100%, while making it known that we (the global community) take a dim view of some of their practices.

Remember also that China has been largely ignored in the latter half of the 20th century. After the Korean war, and Nixon's overtures with their government, they were largely relegated to 2nd place communist regime status while we focused all of our energy at the Soviets. Now that they're a world economic power and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, not to mention having a huge population base... and now we fear them.

What cracks me up about the whole situation is the notion that somehow the Chinese, who have a growing, burgeoning society, are some kind of great evil to be despised. Meanwhile, there are nations in the middle east who make China look like a childs' play in terms of human rights abuses, and we have to "understand" and coddle them. If we protest China, it's some great valiant righteous crusade against human rights abuses, but if you speak out against the treatment of women in persia and arabia, you're "closed-minded" and "anti-muslim".

Take a look sometime at the standard of living in China... it has been drastically improving since 1978 and continues to climb. China is the 3rd nation to independently send astronauts into space and is actively planning a moon mission. They have a burgeoning industrial economy. Instead of finding ways to demonize them into a new cold war, we should be trying to bring them into the global community.