Olympics of Oppression

"Olympic Crackdown" [February 25-March 3] was a welcome assessment of the political lay of the land in China as the 2008 Summer Olympics draw near.

Unfortunately, the outlook remains bleak for victims of the authoritarian state within China, as well as victims of Beijing's irresponsible foreign policies without. Beijing's actions, such its undermining of the U.N. mission to Darfur (which it only reluctantly consented to), belie its often lofty rhetoric and give onlookers a sense of the true nature of China's government. Spectators worldwide should be careful to take in the glimmering pageantry of this year's Summer Olympics the same way one breathes in a lung-full of Beijing's notoriously polluted air: with a healthy dose of caution.

Eddy Tsai
Director, Press Division
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States
Washington

The world's chilling silence concerning China's human rights abuses mocks the spirit of the Olympics and casts foreboding shadows over the future of the Chinese people. As a powerful counterforce, may the torch of freedom be carried courageously from the cobblestones of Tiananmen Square to the towering mountains of western China during this Olympic year and beyond.

Dave Morse
Port Hueneme, Calif.

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