This is quite simply a must read.
This, too, is quite insightful. Doesn’t take a pro or con stand, but looks at the new political importance of the Olympic Games and how the current talks of boycotts differ from those we heard in 1980 and 1994.
Update: And another must-read.
1 By DOR
If I’m not mistaken, the last time China sought to (nonmilitarily) interfer in another nation’s affairs was, oh, about 1975.
Place by the name of Cambodia or Kampuchea or something like that.
Didn’t turn out all that well, if I recall correctly, and they were asked not to do it again.
How soon we forget . . .
April 9, 2008 @ 2:05 pm | Comment
2 By nanheyangrouchuan
Then there was the 1979 war with Vietnam and various naval clashes over the Spratley Islands.
And every North Korean that is starved or tortured to death adds more blood to China’s hands.
April 9, 2008 @ 3:44 pm | Comment
3 By Turtlewind
DOR, if you’re saying olympic boycotts count as “interfering in another country’s affairs”, surely the Chinese boycott of the 1980 games deserves a mention?
April 9, 2008 @ 4:00 pm | Comment
4 By Lime
The first article begs the question just what would the PRC have to do before the free world should intervene? Perhaps Tibet is the wrong battle to choose; they’ve been occupying it for going sixty years without much fuss from us, and even without the riots we should really have been able to guess that the average Tibetan wouldn’t be totally happy with the situation. But what if there was another Tiananmen tomorrow, or if Xie Changting had won the ROC elections and the PRC started testing missiles in the Taiwan Strait again? Would Bush and our other leaders snubbing of the opening ceremonies be acceptable then?
April 10, 2008 @ 1:48 am | Comment
5 By Lime
http://tinyurl.com/5mbr7o
Hah! Brown is doing a half-assed waffle on his committment to attend the Olympics, Bush is looking shakey.
Maybe Hilary just saw which way the wind was blowing before anybody else, eh?
Stephen Harper’s out too.
April 10, 2008 @ 6:50 am | Comment
6 By ecodelta
Obama is joining the fray too!
April 10, 2008 @ 9:55 am | Comment