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EDITORIAL: Polite silence no longer acceptable

The British Olympic Association (BOA) was forced into an embarrassing backflip this week after news emerged that athletes taking part in August's Beijing Olympics were being required to sign a pledge promising not to criticize host China over its human rights record.

After originally promising to leave athletes who spoke out against the Chinese government out of its squad, it will be interesting to see whether the BOA sticks to its promise to review its final athlete's agreement, especially now that a potential member of the squad -- top badminton player Richard Vaughan -- has spoken out against "Chinese inaction" against the ongoing violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Vaughan put the cat among the pigeons on Tuesday when he accused the Chinese government, a major sponsor of the regime in Khartoum, of doing little to stop the killing in the region, saying it was "very difficult to keep a polite silence about a conflict that continues to cost so many lives."

The controversy comes as human rights groups step up pressure over the Chinese government's failure to live up to promises it made when it bid to host the games in 2001.

Vaughan's comments are guaranteed to hit a raw nerve because China has already made several pre-emptive strikes in an attempt to head off criticism, saying it opposes the "politicizing of the Olympic Games." Indeed, Beijing is especially sensitive about endeavors that link its hosting of the Olympics with its support for the Sudanese government, something director Steven Spielberg did on Tuesday when he withdrew from his role as artistic adviser to the Games.

But the notion that the Beijing Games are anything other than a political vehicle for the Chinese Communist Party is laughable in itself. The idea that the Olympics would act as a force for political change and that hosting the Games would somehow help to bring down the authoritarian regime as it did in the build-up to the 1988 Games in Seoul has turned out to be pie in the sky, especially when one considers countries such as the UK, New Zealand and Belgium were or are willing to gag their athletes on Beijing's behalf.

The BOA's kowtowing to China comes in sharp contrast to comments made by UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Tuesday in a speech at Oxford University, where he told the audience that errors made in the pursuit of the "War on Terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan must not discourage British efforts to foster democracy -- by military means if necessary.

Miliband went on to say that China should recognize "that democracy is not a threat to stability but a way to guarantee it," adding democracy was the "best long-term defense against global terrorism and conflict."

Pity Miliband didn't talk like this when he entertained Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎) back in December, when instead of taking the Chinese to task for their continuing human rights abuses, aggressive arms build-up and lack of democracy, he chose to slam Taiwan for its plans to hold a referendum on expressing the will of its people to join the UN.

One can only hope the British government will follow the BOA in its abrupt U-turn so that Taiwan can look forward to support from London instead of scorn as it strives to shore up the nation's defenses.
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