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Mar 18

Written by: Diana West
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 4:54 PM 

The Drudge Report is headlining the evening with this:

Calls Mount for Olympic Ceremony Boycott.

A "Ceremony" boycott? The AP reports:

Moves to punish China over its handling of violence in Tibet gained momentum Tuesday, with a novel suggestion for a mini-boycott of the Beijing Olympics by VIPs at the opening ceremony.

A mini-boycott? How adorable. And how suitable for standing on--tiptoeing on--a mini-principle.

The story goes on to describe French,  Dutch and IOC receptivity to the mini-notion.

IOC executive board member and marketing chief Gerhard Heiberg said Olympics officials can't lecture China but does raise human rights and other issues in its regular, private contacts with the Chinese.

(I'd love to see that.)

"We still maintain that the Olympics are mainly a sports event and we do not want to get involved in a sovereign state's domestic and foreign policy," the Norwegian said in an interview. (Figures.)

"Formally we keep out of this, but of course, behind the scenes there can be silent diplomacy, trying to explain how things could hurt the success of the games. This is also important."
Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders came out in favor Tuesday of an opening ceremony boycott by heads of state and government, and royalty. The president of the EU Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, also said politicians should consider staying away from the ceremony if the violence continues.




"Calling for a complete boycott of the Olympic games is not a good solution. The aim is not to deprive athletes of the world's biggest sports event or to deprive the public of the spectacle," said Reporters Without Borders. "But it would be outrageous not to firmly demonstrate one's disagreement with the Chinese government's policies."

At least a little.

 

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