Chinese Olympics success may hurt Chinese people
MSNBC has a nice post up this AM talking about exactly what I feared and believed would happen (post here and here) with China hosting the Olympics - the bevy of worldwide leaders who attended when combined with all the positive spin may actually lead to the leaders of China believing that they can ignore pressure to improve freedoms and human rights because world leaders remained silent on these matters. That gave the Chinese government the power and view that they can stay their current course and even toughen their stances without any real fear of economic or political reprisals.
“Not a single world leader who attended the Games or members of the International Olympic Committee seized the opportunity to challenge the Chinese government’s behavior in any meaningful way,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. “Will anyone wonder, after the games are over, why the Chinese government remains intransigent about human rights?”
