Should Irish Olympic Team Boycott Next Years Games?

[Kf]

None of the above reasons merit potentially destroying existing and future trade agreements with China. Remember China is going to be the world's biggest economy.

China may become the world biggest economy or it maybe become the world oldest country and growth will reverse, or it may implode with the pressure from a resitive and ambitous middle class and a isolated and repressed rural population. Either which way we should have miminal dealings with this regime until such a time they reform the country and introduce such universal rights such a freedom of speech and assembly.

On the boycott I don't agree as it is too late and the chinese problems are more chronic than critical. A boycott can begin at home. And Beijing shouldn't be awarded with the Twinning with Dublin City as proposed in a motion on DCC from FF, FG and Labour.

[JCSkinner]

Tibet, North Korea, Sudan, Taiwan, Turkestan, China itself...
There are plenty of reasons to boycott Beijing. burma is just another one on the pile

For once, I'm in agreement with you.

http://skinflicks.blogspot.com/2007/09/ ... grees.html

[Gaius Baltar]

I think its quite simple.

China is financing and supporting a huge genocide that has killed almost half a million people, with countless more raped or maimed. Furthermore China is doing its utmost to prevent any international action to protect the people of Darfur.

If the Chinese government were afraid of a large-scale boycott of the Olympics they'd have no choice but to act so as to appease public opinion. It would be a disaster for them if the Olympics were disrupted, as they have plowed billions of dollars into it so far.

Perhaps the attempted boycott would not work, and the Chinese would ignore it -still, when hundreds of thousands of innocent lives are at stake we have to give it a try.