>
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/120746255519...
>
> Dismal pre-Olympic record in China
> Sunday, April 06, 2008
> The Olympic torch came to Beijing last week, an important moment of
> symbolism in an international event chock full of ceremonial
> trappings. But even amidst the pomp of the torch bearer running into
> Tiananmen Square, other telling markers of Chinese society can't be
> overlooked. They include the brutal repression of peaceful protesters
> in Tibet, a gagged press and a generally dismal human rights record on
> the part of the country's communist government.
>
> The Olympics have always occurred in the context of international
> relations and internal politics. Countries boycott. Winners make
> political statements on the medal stand. Simple contests become
> freighted with implications beyond sport, such as the 1980 "Miracle on
> Ice" hockey game between the United States and the U.S.S.R.
>
> Where the language of symbolic gestures is so well understood, then, ...
