By: Gabriela Yareliz
The Beijing 2022 Olympics begin in February. World governments have taken weak stances on China, a power that has no problem killing its own people, en masse. As we play around with diplomatic incompetence, there is a continual genocide being perpetrated against religious minorities, which includes the Uyghurs “who are a Turkic ethnic minority that live in the province which is located in the Northwestern part of the People’s Republic of China.” (Source) The Chinese Communist Party has tried to use the justification of “national security,” but it’s clearly a cheap excuse. Nothing can excuse this. Right now, there are people in camps being forced into mass detention, medical experiments, mass rape, torture, forced labor, sterilization, organ harvesting, abortions, and death.
As I have seen the rest of the world’s failure to call out the Chinese Communist Party for its current genocide, I was reminded of the Berlin Games in 1936. The world participated in the games that helped fund and bolster Nazi Germany, which proceeded to murder 2/3s of Europe’s Jewish population. The German position for its actions and discrimination (which was already occuring during the Berlin Games) was of “national” interest as well. We often talk about what a mistake it was to participate in the Berlin Games, but if we felt that way, then wouldn’t we be behaving differently with China?
The world pours money, attention and support for countries that, to begin with, should not be hosting these games. They should be stripped of that privilege due to current political climate and wrongs against their own citizens. Our argument for participation continues to be, “there are athletes who train their whole lives for these games.” Look a genocide victim in the eye before they are killed and tell them that. It would be absurd, right?
It’s time the international community grow a backbone. It’s time to decide what matters more, and spoiler alert, it’s people. People matter more. Always.
I am disappointed in the United State’s participation in these games. It should pull out. Every self-respecting country that believes in the most basic human rights should pull out. NBC shouldn’t be broadcasting this pageantry. Instead, NBC would do well to actually report on what is actually happening inside of China’s borders. People are dying. Towns have been locked down and people are starving. There are clear human rights violations. We would do well to keep perpetrators accountable. Maybe that would make us reflect on the ways we are treating our own, as well. It seems that the world, instead of being horrified, is taking notes to follow. #boycott
GABRIELA YARELIZ 