Should the 2008 Olympics Be Held in Beijing, China?

Matthew L. 4-22-08 (14)

There have been a great many protests against the 2008 summer Olympics which is supposed to be carried out in Beijing, China. These are caused by many issues, a few which I will address in this paper.

One of the largest issues in question is China's disrespect for human rights. Because of the Olympics, they have made laws kicking people out of Beijing who do not have residency permits, people who are vagrants, people with mental illness, and beggars. This type of thing does not seem uncommon in this communistic country.

Even worse, they are also destroying citizen's homes to make way for tourists. The number of homes destroyed depends on who you talk to. Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions says 1.5 million fell to the dust. Beijing's Olympic Organizing Committee has a little bit different opinion saying 6,037 were cleared. People who's homes were destroyed would often protest (as you probably would), the result being a few years in jail. Do we want to support this type of thing?

Another problem includes Beijing's health issues. Among these are air pollution, which is not only bad for tourists, but could affect the athletes' abilities. On another note, we are lucky China is installing "seat toilets" because other countries don't like holes in the ground for a restroom (gross). Even China's drinking water and food is in question. This all doesn't sound too good to me.

Yet another issue comes from Tibet, who has been fighting for their freedom from China for many years. Seeing the Olympics as a chance to get help from the world, Tibet has protested the Olympics bitterly, even attempting to stop the torch. Should we support China when they support and do stuff like this?

Some think we shouldn't. A few politicians announced that they would not be attending the opening ceremony because of some of the aforementioned issues. President Bush didn't seem to be against supporting China when he said: "I view the Olympics as a sporting event." (as quoted in the Wikipedia Encyclopedia). But isn't it just a little bit more than that?

I believe that China should never have been able to host the Olympics in the first place and I will not support it now. Obviously the Olympics can not be stopped now and will not. However, before making your own opinion, please consider that Hillary Clinton thought that George Bush should boycott the Olympics, therefore she is against supporting Beijing. What could this mean?