Poster: A snowHead
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Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith has called for a boycott of China's 2022 Winter Olympics, and in a recent Daily Express (!) poll 90% of the 3,537 readers who responded agreed with a boycott: Brits demand BOYCOTT of China's Winter Olympics in poll - ‘Whole world should pull out!’.
I have to say I remain dubious about the benefits of such sporting event boycotts, whilst the Chinese Government is certainly reprehensible in its attitude to human rights, dissidents and ethnic minorities I think Western countries' disapproval of China's current behaviour can be better expressed in other ways. An Olympics boycott of course falls particularly heavily on the athletes who have trained for years in their sport and for whom taking part in an Olympics will be a highlight of their sporting careers.
Thoughts?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Alastair Pink, I think for major events like the Olympics, if it is on then people should go. Politics mixing in sport is always a bad thing. It is also a good stage for people to make their point in other ways off course.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You'd be a brave athlete making any political statement in the Chinese Olympics. The organisers of these events need to stop letting their brand be abused by rogue nations for ethics-washing purposes. The only way they'll learn is through boycotts.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Well, this is the argument for having the summer Olympics based permanently in Greece, the country of its origin - to avoid all the sordid issues of politics and commercialisation. However, I'm not sure how this would work in terms of the Winter Olympics, seeing they weren't an element of the original Games. Personally, I don't think boycotts do anything at all to 'teach' the host countries anything, and smacks of hypocrisy when at the same time, we're happy to trade with countries with abhorrent human rights records, putting jobs before principles.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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