I have tried to remain optimistic about the Olympic games being held in Beijing, China. Despite their repeated human rights violations, the policy towards Tibet, the horrible oversght on manufacturing quality in their exportable goods (melamine [poison] in the dog food, contaminated heparin, etc…). I had hoped that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) knew what they were doing when they decided to have the games there.

The promises of unrestricted web access to reporters and to clean up the air quality may not have been as sincere as we had hoped. It appears the IOC has made a deal with china that allows internet censorship after all, and the air quality reports are mixed at best.

Beijing organizers now say censorship will not stop journalists doing their jobs in reporting the games. This is a far cry from the original agreement of no censorship. Sadly, experience has shown us that there is no such thing as a little censorship. Amnesty international has several pages as well as a new site related to China’s policies (these sites appear to be unreachable from China).

I found a nicely relevant quote from William Pesek. “There are many ways the IOC is doing that [tarnishing the Olympic games' spirit] on its own. One is how it failed to pressure China to improve human rights and allow free-press coverage. Another is how the games have become less about universal brotherhood, athleticism, grace and sportsmanship than money. The spirit that the IOC talks about has been lost in crass commercialism.”

I am left wondering why the IOC chose Beijing for the games. I sincerely hope it wasn’t becsause they were well paid. I am trying to remain optimistic, but will probably just ignore the games this year as this news doesn’t really fit with what I always considered the spirit of the Olympic games.

UPDATE: Aug. 2, 2008

The Guardian is reporting that the Chinese government will unblock some sites including: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the BBC. Websites with information on Falun Gong, Chinese dissidents, the Tibetan government, and many others are still blocked.