Miami Student

Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Front Page

Elise Edwards, associate professor at Butler University speaks to students and faculty Monday afternoon at Laws Hall about the politics behind China's 2008 Olympic bid. She said despite China's history of human rights violations, it almost received the bid in 1993.

As athletes and spectators around the world prepare for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the potential political and financial repercussions are being discussed here at Miami University.

Elise Edwards, assistant professor of anthropology at Butler University in Indianapolis, and Marc Dollinger, professor of business administration at Indiana University, spoke to an audience of about 50 students and faculty Monday afternoon at Laws Hall.

"The (Olympic) games have always been political, ever since 1896," Edwards said. "People complain about Tibet but China says it's not about politics; it's about the athletes. Due to the apolitical façade the (International Olympic Committee) holds, they have sanctioned governments that are less than peace loving."

Edwards explained that China lost a bid for the Olympic Games in 1993 by only three votes, despite the tumultuous Tiananmen Square massacre a mere four years beforehand.

Edwards cited China as one example of politics not interfering with decisions by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the location of the Games.

"Since 2001, China has continually been found guilty of human rights violations," Edwards said. "National objectives trump international objectives in terms of the Olympic games. Clearly having a democracy or democratic tendencies is not a prerequisite for the games."

Edwards also noted that many of the human rights violations that speckle China's past have continued during the preparation for the summer games.

"The day laborers that have constructed the games have been abused," Edwards said. "The government admitted (that) six laborers have died in the construction."

For China, Edwards said the Beijing Games present an opportunity for China to present themselves to an international audience.

"The message at home (in China) is 'new Beijing, new Olympics," she said. "They want to project the image of a cultural China. They want to be the new leader in bringing peace to the East and West."

Continued...

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