France debates partial boycott of Beijing Olympics
March 19, 2008
China’s recent crackdowns in Tibet have launched a discussions in France about a French boycott of the Olympic Games in Beijing
Many in France are calling for a full or partial boycott of the Olympics in protest against Chinese human rights violations in Tibet, of which recent events are only the latest in a long-held policy in Beijing of religious and political oppression.
Almost 100 have been reported killed in China’s tough crackdown on protesters in Tibet, though China says the number is much lower.
The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders has called for governments around the world to sit out the highly symbolic ceremony during which the Olympic flame is lighted.
Axel Poniatowski, President of the Foreign Affairs Commission in the French Parliament (Assemble Nationale) is proposing that the participation of France in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics be severely limited, and that international investigations be opened into the Chinese crackdown in Tibet.
Bernard Kouchner, France’s Foreign Affairs Minister, is opposed to a French boycott of the Olympics, saying that the French should not try to be “more Tibetan than the Dalai Lama.” (The Dalai Lama is himself said to be opposed to a boycott of the Olympic Games in China by France or any other country.) He recalled the less-than-effective boycott of the 1980 Games in the then-Soviet Union and called the idea of France boycotting the Games in Beijing “unrealistic.” At the same time, he felt that discussing some sort of protest action by France short of a boycott was “not a bad idea” considering recent events in Tibet, but felt it should be part of a wider, united European statement, rather than that of France alone. He said Tuesday that the European Union should consider punishing China’s crackdown in Tibet with a boycott of the opening ceremony, and that France would take part in discussions about how to handle the Beijing Olympics with other European countries next week.
Kouchner, a former human rights activist and co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, urged Beijing on Tuesday to give journalists access to Tibet so that the number of people killed and wounded in clashes could be determined.
He also expressed hope that the Dalai Lama, a “man of peace” would be heard. The Dalai Lama has even suggested he might resign if the unrest gets worse. The Chinese government has accused him of instigating the riots that have been so violently put down by Chinese police in Tibet.
Different alternatives to a total boycott of the Olympics are being discussed, such as the aforementioned limits to French participation in the opening or closing ceremonies, or in the wearing of armbands in the colors of Tibet by French athletes.
For its part, Beijing says that any boycott of the Olympic Games by France or any other country would only punish the athletes.
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