Winter Olympic Games in China Spurs Talk of Boycotts
I admit to being conflicted here, though I might be persuaded by compelling arguments and evidence.
On one hand, the Olympic Games should be non-political. Most of us probably agree with this. But the fact is and history clearly shows, the Olympics have *always* been politicized — by everyone….from the host nation–to the participating countries–to the corporate and mass media selloff to the highest bidder–to the shameless jingoism that characterizes most events.
The most blatant recent examples of comprehensive Olympic boycotts were the 1980 Moscow games by the USA (in retrospect a huge miscalculation that produced no benefit) and the 1984 Los Angeles games (which was the USSR and most Soviet Bloc nations’ retaliation for four years earlier).
Now, the Biden Administration has just announced a “diplomatic boycott” of the Winter games, which is more symbolic than anything substantial. Does anyone really care if US officials show up in China? Thing is, this is viewed as a serious insult by the Chinese, so it matters. This could reverberate way beyond sports if things escalate/deteriorate.
I’m generally in favor of measures to advance human rights, especially in nations where U.S. actions might produce some positive benefit. I’m also glad to see the U.S. stand up for human rights, though the application of our protest and official actions are embarrassingly inconsistent. Nevertheless, it’s difficult to see how *anything* the U.S. does as a diplomatic gesture will matter here. I’ll also point out China’s economy is way too way big now and far too important to our own comforts for the U.S. to instigate any serious breaks/boycotts/interruptions when it comes to trade.
I’m interested in thoughts — on politicizing the Olympic Games and China’s position as the host nation should anyone care to share an opinion.
