SI.com - More Sports - Dutch lawmaker calls for Oly boycott - Tuesday February 19, 2008 9:44AM: "Voordewind also suggested setting up a venue in Beijing during the games where visitors can discuss human rights.Well, there is ONE place to eat Kosher food in Beijing. Perhaps that venue can be a place to chat about human rights.
He expected opposition from organizers, but said, 'If the Chinese are against the plan, that means they are against human rights.'
Voordewind has only just begun enlisting world support. Neither the Dutch government nor the Olympic Committee have backed him."
Did Dan Onorato or Luke Ravenstahl visit with this guy while in the Netherlands?
Perhaps I should.
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Dutch lawmaker calls for Oly boycott
Posted: Tuesday February 19, 2008 9:44AM; Updated: Tuesday February 19, 2008 9:44AM
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- A Dutch lawmaker is calling for an international boycott of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics to protest China's human rights record.
Joel Voordewind, a member of the Christian Union that is a junior member of the ruling Dutch coalition government, said Tuesday he wants governments around the world to support the boycott and lean on sponsors to use their financial clout with Beijing on the human rights issue.
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"It is possible to take part in the games but skip the party before hand," he said. "Such a ceremony is only intended to glorify the host, China."
Voordewind also suggested setting up a venue in Beijing during the games where visitors can discuss human rights.
He expected opposition from organizers, but said, "If the Chinese are against the plan, that means they are against human rights."
Voordewind has only just begun enlisting world support. Neither the Dutch government nor the Olympic Committee have backed him.
Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said the government regularly brings up human rights issues at meetings with Chinese officials and has no plans to support a boycott of the games or the opening ceremony.
Despite the negative reactions at home, Voordewind still hopes for a mass movement before the Olympics open next August.
"The Americans waited a long time until they boycotted the (Moscow) games," he said of the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympics to protest Russia's invasion of Afghanistan.
Critics say China has for years mistreated Tibetans, jailed dissidents and journalists on questionable charges and should be doing more to push the government in Sudan -- where China is a major buyer of oil -- into bringing an end to violence in Darfur. More than 200,000 people have died in the Sudanese province in a conflict between rebels and militias backed by government forces.
Last week, Hollywood director Steven Spielberg quit as an artistic adviser to Beijing, saying China was not doing enough to press Khartoum to end the conflict in Darfur.
"I hold much respect for Spielberg's decision and if an athlete doesn't want to go, I'll respect that, too. But the games will be a success, without a doubt," IOC president Jacques Rogge said in an interview published Tuesday in Spanish sports daily Marca. "The games are stronger than any one person."
Nobel laureates and former Olympic gold medalists added their voices on China's role in the humanitarian crisis by issuing an open letter.
Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, has said he will skip the Olympics, a move being linked to his support of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile since an uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.
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