Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1379-W988

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1379-W988

Release Date: May 15, 2021

发布日：2021年5月15日

Topic: The United States Should Lead the Boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：美国应该领导抵制北京奥运会 -- 魏京生

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

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The United States Should Lead the Boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing

-- Wei Jingsheng

There is only a little more than half a year before the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Western countries, especially the United States, are still hesitating to boycott it or not, while all human rights organizations are calling for boycotts. In such a good situation, the United States should play a leading role. Otherwise, it negates the tough policies against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of the latest two US administrations, and it will disappoint the whole world and further reduce the United States' global leadership.

Should we boycott the use of the Olympics for propaganda by totalitarian countries with abominable human rights? This is an ethical issue, not a matter of calculating benefits. The interests and difficulties of a small number of people cannot be used as reasons to abandon the basic moral position of mankind. The basic principles of a democratic country are all based on morality. Abandoning basic morality for small interests will make autocratic dictatorships all over the world laugh secretly. This is one of the reasons why democracy is declining globally.

Last time, before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, global human rights groups were influenced by donors and were unwilling to boycott the Beijing Olympics. Many friends in the pro-democracy movement and the Dalai Lama's government were also concerned about difficulties. Jiang Zemin's regime in China was very happy, as their big propaganda in foreign countries could naturally win a big victory. At that time the overseas Chinese democracy groups held a special meeting in Australia. At the meeting, many friends expressed concern about whether boycott by our Chinese democrats alone would offend others and be ineffective, when others would not boycott.

I proposed to vote twice. The first vote was about: As the other people are not Chinese, should we the Chinese, be responsible to our people? Should we make our own statement? The vote passed unanimously. The second vote was: Since we need to be responsible to our own people, we should launch a boycott campaign for human rights in China regardless of gains or losses. This was passed by the overwhelming majority of the votes. The few friends who held reservations worried: if we disagree with Western governments, they may reduce their support for Chinese democracy and treat us as troublemakers.

Afterwards, our Chinese pro-democracy friends from all over the world spoke up and persuaded foreign friends to join our boycott. The result was beyond the surprise of a minority of pro-democracy friends, as global human rights organizations joined the resistance in varying degrees. Politicians and scholars from various countries have also spoken out, either condemning the CCP for abusing human rights in china, or asking their own governments to boycott the Olympics Games in Beijing. The Tibetan friends behaved most prominently. They took the risk of going to prison and confronted the police. They even ventured out of the crowd and rushed to the Olympic torch parade.

Under this kind of pressure, President George W. Bush met with Chinese opposition people at the White House, including leaders of the Han, Tibetan, and Uyghur ethnic groups. Face to face, I criticized him and the US government's position. He said: You are right to criticize, and you know that I am in a dilemma. I will criticize the Chinese government's persecution of human rights publicly when I go to Beijing. I said that I hope he will not be surrounded by plainclothes police in Beijing so that the Chinese people will not really be able to hear his voice. As a result, President G. W. Bush changed his itinerary, made a special trip to Thailand to give a speech criticizing Beijing's human rights violations, then he flew to Beijing.

Although this wave of boycott movements cannot be said to have won a complete victory, it effectively weakened Jiang Zemin's large-scale external propaganda and greatly reduced its effectiveness. At the same time, it had also caused a wave of global criticism of the CCP, and ordinary people have also noticed the atrocities by the CCP. Meanwhile, it showed the moral stance of the United States and slowed down the decline of American leadership. So it should be said that it was a successful campaign.

That a small force of the overseas Chinese democratic movement can cause such a big setback to the Chinese Communist regime shows the power of moral stance. People have the same heart, and their hearts agree with the same morals. The moral stance of human rights, democracy and freedom can sometimes indeed overcome profit calculations, because it is related to the long-term interests of all people and outweighs the short-term interests of some people.

The old Chinese saying goes: The one who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. Only by standing under the common moral banner of all mankind can we gain the approval and support of all mankind. This has been the source of American global leadership for many years. Conversely, the main reason for the further loss of American leadership will be to care about the gains and losses of the immediate interests and abandon the common values of mankind.

(This English version is translated by Ciping HUANG, without any compensation. Wei Jingsheng and the Wei Jingsheng Foundation appreciate her decades of contribution, especially for allowing the use and distribution of her translations of these commentaries.)

Original link of the commentary broadcasted by Radio Free Asia:

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/weijingsheng/wjs-05142021173745.html

To hear Mr. Wei Jingsheng's related commentary, please visit:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/RFA/RFA2021/WeiJS210513onUSAleads.mp3

(Written and recorded on May 13, 2021. Broadcasted by Radio Free Asia on May 14, 2021.)

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article: A1379-W988

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1379-W988

Release Date: May 15, 2021

发布日：2021年5月15日

Topic: The United States Should Lead the Boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：美国应该领导抵制北京奥运会 -- 魏京生

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问：

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2021/report2021-5/WeiJS210515onUSAleadsA1379-W988.htm

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美国应该领导抵制北京奥运会

-- 魏京生

离北京冬奥会还有半年多的时间了。西方国家特别是美国还在犹豫是否要抵制的问题，而所有的人权组织都在呼吁抵制。在这样的大好形势下，美国应该起到领导作用，否则有悖于最近两届政府的对中共强硬的政策，也会让全世界失望，进一步降低美国的全球领导力。

应该不应该抵制人权恶劣的极权国家借奥运会做宣传呢？这是一个道德问题，不是一个算计利益的问题。不能以少数人的利益和困难做理由，放弃人类的基本道德立场。民主国家的基本原则，无不建立在道德基础之上。以小利益放弃基本道德，全世界专制独裁政权都在偷着笑。这是民主在全球衰退的原因之一。

上一次北京夏季奥运会的2008年之前，全球人权团体受到捐款方的影响，都不愿意抵制北京奥运会。民运里的很多朋友和达赖喇嘛政府也产生了畏难情绪。江泽民政府高兴得不行，大外宣可以顺理成章地大获全胜了。这时候海外民运在澳大利亚召开了特别会议，会上很多朋友表示在全球都不抵制的形势下，我们单独抵制会不会得罪大家，会不会没有效果等等担忧。

这时候我提议进行两次表决。第一次表决：人家都是外国人，我们作为中国人，是否需要对自己的人民负责，是否应该做出我们自己的表态。全票通过了。第二次表决：既然我们需要对得起自己的人民，是否应该不计得失地为中国的人权发动抵制运动？绝大多数票通过了。持保留意见的少数朋友担心：和西方政府有不同意见，可能会减少对中国民主的支持，把我们当成麻烦制造者。

之后分布在全球各国的民运朋友们纷纷发声，并说服外国朋友们加入抵制的行列。结果出乎少数派民运朋友们的意外，全球人权组织陆续不等地加入到抵制的行列。各国政治家和学者们也纷纷发声，或谴责中共无视人权，或要求自己的政府抵制北京奥运会。西藏的朋友们表现最为突出，他们甘冒蹲监狱的风险和警察对峙，甚至冒险冲出人群，冲向火炬游行的队伍。

在这种形势的压力下，小布什总统在白宫会见了中国的反对派人士，包括汉族、藏族和维吾尔族的领袖们。我当面批评了他和美国政府的立场。他说：你批评得很对，你也知道我有难处，我会在去北京期间公开批评中国政府迫害人权的行为。我说希望他不要在北京便衣警察的包围下，让中国老百姓听不到他的声音。结果他改变了行程，专程赴泰国发表了批评北京侵犯人权的讲话，然后再飞往北京。

这一波抵制运动虽然不能说大获全胜，但有效地削弱了江泽民政权的大外宣，使它效果大打折扣。同时也引起了一波全球批评中共的风潮，使普通百姓也注意到共产党的暴行。同时显示了美国的道德立场，减缓了美国领导力的衰落。应该说是一次成功的运动。

以小小的海外民运力量，都能给共产党造成这么大的挫折，这说明道德立场的强大力量。人同此心，心同此理。人权民主自由的道德立场，有时候确实能战胜利益算计。因为它关系到所有人的长远利益，胜过一部分人的短期利益。

古语说：得人心者得天下。只有站在全人类共同的道德旗帜下，才能获得全人类的认同和支持。这是多年来美国全球领导力的来源。反之，斤斤计较于眼前的利益得失，而放弃人类共同的价值观念，将是美国领导力进一步流失的主要原因。

(本评论的英文版本由黄慈萍翻译。魏京生和魏京生基金会感谢她数十年来有关的无偿贡献，特别是使用和发布此译文的许可。)

本篇评论在自由亚洲电台的原始链接：

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/pinglun/weijingsheng/wjs-05142021173745.html