08/08/08

Does this date ring a bell?  It should; It is the first day of the Olympic Games in Beijing when sports enthusiast will be going to China, many for the first time in their lives.  The rest of us, if not glued to the box, will hardly fail to be aware of the event due to massive media coverage.

We are told that the Olympic Games are the embodiment of all that is noble – aspiration, achievement and egalitarianism – and despite the astronomical cost of staging these events, politicians assure us that the host countries will benefit from the opportunity to show the world what they do.

However, very little will be said of the human cost – peasants forced from their land, with no compensation and certainly no alternative housing or employment offered.

Even less will be said about the brutal slaughter of pet dogs by the Chinese authorities in their efforts to ‘clean up’ Beijing.  Dogs have been routinely clubbed to death in front of their distressed owners and those who have protested and tried to protect their beloved pets have been assaulted too.

So, when the Gold medals are awarded, take a little time to wonder how many dogs paid with their lives for this accolade.

China has a rich culture going back thousands of years and now looks set to achieving unprecedented levels of wealth and social improvement.  And yet Chinese officials actively sponsor systematic cruelty to animal, to say nothing of their fellow-humans.

Dissuading citizens from spitting in the streets and having weekly ‘queuing day’ to promote politeness is not enough – It would be laughable, were it not for the fact that China’s leaders think we shall be naïve enough to believe they have achieved any thing like the civilised behaviour we expect and demand in the 21st century.

There are numerous graphic accounts of the vicious cruelty meted out to animals for Chinese cuisine, so-called medicine and even aphrodisiacs.  China wishes to portray itself as a civilised country but, if it is to change our perception of its nature and culture, it is going to have to alter its behaviour toward all sentient beings radically.  The complete disregard for human rights cannot be tolerated nor can the wanton cruelty towards animals be deemed acceptable in the 21st century.

The rest of the world is watching; all the glitz and glamour of the opening ceremony will be seen as nothing more than a crude veneer over a society which, for all it’s potential, remains a medieval disgrace in the twenty-first century.  Shame on you, China!

Lynne Norrington