Will you be watching the Olympic Games?

Will you be watching the Olympic Games from Beijing this year?

Many people are boycotting the games in protest of what they see as China’s appalling human rights record.

I must admit that I’m not a big Olympics watcher usually but I’m even less enthused than normal this time around.

I’m certainly not thrilled by the way that politics has been dragged into the equation for the Olympic Games once again but I also realise that no matter where the games are held, someone will be trying to score political points. There isn’t a place on this globe that doesn’t cause questions to be asked about certain behaviours or lack of action on some topic.

No one country has it completely right and so if we wanted to we could find reasons to boycott every sporting event, no matter where it’s held around the world.

While I won’t be watching too much of the games I might just sneak a peak when Cadel Evans jumps on his bike.

Amnesty International is hoping to make the most of the event and use the attention on the Olympics to hold China accountable for its human rights record. They have a comprehensive explanation of their concerns and actions on their site under the title Human rights in China and the Beijing Olympics. They also have a seperate site called The China Debate dedicated to debating the issues where they encourage people from around the world to discuss the

What about you? Will you be watching? Do you think that not watching will achieve anything? Do you think that we should just forget about the politics and focus on the sporting contest? Does holding the games in China help us to shine a spotlight on what’s going on there or do you think that once the carnival leaves town it’ll be business as usual?



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