China Law Blog

No need to post my comment. I am not a lawyer but have run into your blog by happenstance. Have been reading it for a couple of weeks now and can see why it's given abundant accolades. Would like to say bravo for you position given to the BBCs World News. Diplomatic steps need to be made to safe guard our world economy and safety. Agree whole heartedly with your view. Thank you for sharing it with the world.

Of course, George Bush did not go to the opening ceremony of the Athens games - I wonder if this was to show his opposition to the Greek government's policies on the Cyprus issue, the Macedonia issue, the Ionian islands dispute etc.? Or was it just that he had something better to do?

The fact that this should be a point on which people place such great importance shows the degree to which these games have become the political property of the CCP. Gordon Brown will not attend, but then he probably never intended to as he is going to be at the closing ceremony for the hand-over to London. Given that there might be fall-out from not going Bush has to go, but he probably would not have gone otherwise.

Dan-
I wholeheartedly agree with your stance on Bush attending the Opening Ceremony. To expound on what you already said, I think the real issue should not be whether or not Bush SHOULD go to the ceremony, but whether it would actually accomplish anything if he didn't. What many Westerners (especially us Americans) don't realize is that our methods of taking a stand for our beliefs are not necessarily applicable towards people in foreign countries with foreign cultures. My own feeling is that if Bush were not to attend the ceremonies, all it would accomplish is to put more fuel on the fire of anti-Americanism which has been brewing in China of late.

I also wholeheartedly agree. Having read Chinalawblog for about two years now, I'm now under the impression that this site has a monopoly on all rational thoughts regarding China. That impression seems especially strong during this Olympic sensationalism taking the world by storm (and your noted yet tactful restraint from posting too much recently).

I can basically be classified as "Pro-China" for exactly the reasons you've listed in this post. Having said that, I've also been disturbed to read the translated selections from Global Voices on the recent "flesh-search" backlash.

Having said all that, Dan, why don't you sponsor an online debate between officials from both sides of this issue? I'm thinking of something along the lines of what the Federalist Society displays on its pages - arguments are written, submitted, approved and posted. A limitation of this debate/debacle by such means would force reasoned arguments and you would have editorial license to send back outright incendiary statements for revision.

By focusing these arguments, this site would maintain its monopoly on the China mystery. The media might even follow your lead as they often do. If anyone can, it's you Dan. Or Steve perhaps.

i ve visited this site for many times and i think you have a very good insight of China. actually this is in great need during this period when many western media are actually filled with biased and unfriendly stuffs regarding China. no wonder now we can find a website named "anti-cnn", in a bid to correct untrue stories forged by CNN and other media. As a chinese, i know how this nationalism burst out. many chinese are really disappointed at western media's irresponsible attacks against china and lots of westerner's misunderstanding about china caused by the media. unlike many wersterns' viewpoints, this has nothing to do with CCP's "brainwash". it just resulted from each chinese citizen's need to protect his/her motherland's reputation. as a matter of fact, not only those "brainwashed" mainland chinese, but also many chinese overseas--some even has anti-CCP views--showed their object to the independence of T1bet, and their rage agaisnt western media's lies. in fact, we don't hate westerners, what we hate is the biased news and misunderstanding. however, i am sure with more and more westerners visiting China and China becoming more open to the world, this misunderstanding will to a large extent be removed. i can ensure you most chinese love peace and are very easy to make friends with. i also wish with this blog, more and more westerners will become to understand china in a more objective way.

@Chineselawyer - The conclusion that a boycott of the olympic opening ceremony would be a bad idea can be reached through a simple cost/benefit analysis of the reward (practically nothing) and the cost (making China more angry).

It does not require the recognition that there is any justification whatsoever for moves such as, for example, the proposed boycott of Carrefour - a boycott which I have not been able to find one consistent reason for. It does not require that one recognise that there is any justice whatsoever in the position that the people behind anti-CNN take. It does not require you to see eye-to-eye with the Chinese government and many of those who are supporting of the olympics outside of China would be offended by the thought that it did. It certainly does not require you to agree that western media is 'lying', misleading, or attempting to 'slander' the Chinese state by portraying it as a communist dictatorship - especially as that is clearly what it is, as is plain to anyone who has ever lived in China.

Last but not least - opposing a boycott does not mean opposing protests against the CCP and its policies which use the platform offered by the olympics.

At any rate - no major western leader other than Mrs Merkel (who, so she says, did not plan to attend anyway) has actually stated yet that they will not be attending the olympics. Sarkozy has stated that he may consider not attending if the CCP government does not show greater willingness to reach "an end to violence against the population and the release of political prisoners, light to be shed on the events in Tibet and the opening of dialogue with the Dalai Lama." Can you tell me what is wrong with these proposals? The fact that he has nothing to offer in return is the problem, not the program itself.