By Loa Iok-sin
Staff Reporter
Human rights, environmental, pro-Tibet and pro-democracy groups protested in front of McDonald’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday, slamming the firm’s sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics and urging a boycott of all Olympic sponsors.
“I’m sorry, I only care about making money, not human rights,” protesters wearing Ronald McDonald masks said to passers-by and distributed flyers about human rights abuses in China and McDonald’s sponsorship of the Games.
“The Chinese government represses freedom of speech, of religion, of the press, and fails to defend the independence of its judiciary and laborers’ rights,” said Lin Fang-ju (林芳如), a member of the Taiwan Free Burma Network.
“It also violently cracks down on Tibetan demonstrators and supports authoritarian regimes in Myanmar and Sudan responsible for thousands of deaths,” he said.
The groups want McDonald’s to “release an open letter condemning China’s human rights abuses, and add human rights awareness education in children’s education services provided by Ronald McDonald House,” Lin said.
“If human rights abuses in China continue to worsen after the Games, McDonald’s should promise to halt sponsorship of any sports event held in China,” she said.
“A company should take some corporate social responsibility” and McDonald’s should do so by withdrawing its sponsorship of this particular Games,” said Robin Winkler, director of the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association.
“Otherwise, McDonald’s is in fact endorsing repression by the Chinese government,” he said.
Green Party Secretary-General Pan Han-sheng (潘翰聲), urged a boycott of all Olympic sponsors, including McDonald’s and convenience store chain 7-Eleven, as its parent company, Uni-President Enterprises Corporation is sponsoring the Games.
Meanwhile, initiated by the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Taiwan, Tibetans in Taiwan and their supporters marched in Taipei to protest the occupation of Tibet.
“Since China first cracked down on Tibetan demonstration against Chinese rule in March, more than 200 people have died and 6,000 are missing,” Taiwan Friends of Tibet chairwoman Chow Mei-li (周美里) told a crowd gathered at 228 Peace Park.
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