Olympic opening: unprecedented wave of d • Table.Briefings

With the opening ceremony this Friday, the most controversial Winter Olympics in history will begin in Beijing. While the members of the International Olympic Committee once again reassured each other that their decision was correct the day before, criticism and disapproval from all over the world are raining down on the Olympic Committee.

More than a dozen of the world’s leading industrialized and democratic governments have decided not to send government officials or diplomats to Beijing. Some of them are officially calling it a boycott. Others, including the Federal Republic of Germany, avoid the term but will still be absent from the Olympics. More than 250 international non-governmental organizations have signed a declaration calling on other countries to join a political boycott. It also calls on athletes „not to legitimize the government’s human rights violations.“

Olympic opening: unprecedented wave of disapproval

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