Activists press China with 'Genocide Olympics' label

Actress-activist Mia Farrow is leading a 'shaming campaign' to tie Beijing's support for Sudan to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

from the June 26, 2007 edition

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The National Basketball Association was not far behind. Led by Cleveland Cavaliers forward Ira Newble – who, on the road with the Cavs in March, had read a profile of Reeves in the newspaper — various players across the league united to create a "Dream Team of Conscience." The group soon released its own open letter to the Government of China and the International Olympic Committee:

"We, as basketball players in the NBA and as potential athletes in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, cannot look on with indifference to the massive human suffering and destruction that continue in the Darfur region of Sudan."

Meanwhile, at a press conference last week, the Save Darfur coalition, together with Reeves, Farrow, Newble, and others announced the launch of a series of further actions to shame China, including a faux Olympic torch relay through countries that define the history of genocide. The relay will start on Aug. 8, 2007 on the Darfur-Chad border and travel through Rwanda, Armenia, Bosnia, Germany, and Cambodia. The relay will end in Hong Kong and will coincide with mass rallies at Chinese embassies around the world.

China, in response, has denounced these efforts to link the games with its foreign policy, saying such a campaign runs counter to the Olympic spirit.

"There are a handful of people who are trying to politicize the Olympic Games," Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told reporters, stressing that the Games are a time to celebrate friendly ties between nations. "This is against the spirit of the Games. It also runs counter to the aspirations of all the people in the world."

But protestations aside, it seems someone in Beijing is listening. Shortly after Farrow's op-ed appeared, China appointed a special envoy to Darfur and reportedly stepped up efforts to persuade Khartoum to accept international peacekeepers in Darfur.

Pressure over the Olympics could help cause a shift from China's noninterference policy, says Reeves. "To date, what we've seen are largely cosmetic efforts, trying to 'respond to Darfur' on the cheap ... but as shame and dismay intensify, as the pain grows, we'll see a good deal more than cosmetics."

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