Nobody — shamefully — boycotted Berlin 1936. Let’s do so for Beijing

In 1936, the Berlin Olympics turned into a display of Nazi propaganda.

Seventy-two years on, the world is again granting unrivalled recognition and prestige to another murderous dictatorship. And nobody in sport wants to talk about it

DROP by your local bookshop and you will find that China is this year’s publishing sensation. Titles such as Getting Rich First: Life in a Changing China; China Shakes the World; China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Economy; and China Inc: The Relentless Rise of the Next Great Superpower all tell of an Asian giant on the verge of global pre-eminence.

We are familiar with the statistics but they are no less staggering for that: a population nearly three times that of the EU; the world’s fourth largest economy; an army of more than seven million people. China’s potential is enormous and, next year, the Beijing Olympics will be a heaven-sent opportunity to showcase her economic and geopolitical muscle.

Now think closer to home. A year from now, the Olympics will be over and, if past performance is any guide, and with luck, the Irish team will have brought home the customary single bronze or silver medal. No doubt it will have been well earned, the product of years of intensive training and expert coaching. But it will have come at a very high price, not just in toil, sweat and tears — but blood as well.

Next year’s Games have been controversial ever since they were awarded to Beijing in 2001. The memories of the 1989 massacre on Tiananmen Square were still too fresh for the decision to pass without comment. Yet, as one senior Olympic official put it recently, “What’s in the past is in the past.” How convenient.

Can anyone honestly say that the Chinese regime has mended its ways in the past six years, let alone submit itself to a democratic election? Take a look at the reports produced for last year alone by Amnesty International and Freedom House. An increased number of lawyers and journalists, including representatives of the New York Times and Singapore’s Straits Times were harassed, detained and/or jailed. Nothing to do with sport.

Thousands of people were imprisoned for their faith. Members of the Falun Gong movement were assigned to administrative detention for their beliefs, and continued to be at high risk of torture. What’s the connection with the decathlon?

More than 1,000 Chinese were executed as punishment for not just murder but economic and non-violent crimes. Yes, but it doesn’t stop them building great facilities, does it? Migrants from rural areas were deprived of the most basic rights. A long way from the Olympic pool, I guess.

Academic freedom is restricted. Universities must support official Communist Party ideology, and many scholars practise self-censorship in the interests of personal safety. Yes, but will the US clinch the relay race again?

Severe repression of the Uighur people in Xinjiang continues, and freedom of expression and religion continue to be severely restricted in Tibet. Chinese border patrol guards shoot and kill Tibetans attempting to escape. Not very nice but does it have any bearing on the men’s 1500m?

The dictators continue to crack down on the internet and monitor personal communications. China regularly blocks websites it deems politically threatening and detains those responsible for posting supposedly objectionable content. International radio and television broadcasts are still jammed. But RTÉ can still broadcast the Games, right?

Chinese companies continued in 2006 to export arms to countries where they were likely to be used to repress their own citizens, including Sudan and Burma. In the Darfur region alone, 250,000 people have been killed and another 2.5 million displaced while China buys two-thirds of Sudan’s oil. Really, this is about sport, not politics.

Compulsory abortion or sterilisation by officials enforcing family-planning regulations still occurs. Is this of any relevance to the men competing in the weightlifting competition?

The Chinese judiciary is the creature of the Communist Party and directs verdicts and sentences, particularly in politically sensitive cases. Freedom of assembly is severely restricted. Chinese workers are not allowed to form independent trade unions. Important, no doubt, but will the women’s javelin record be broken?

Torture and ill-treatment remain widespread. Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be held in hard-labour camps across China, at risk of torture.

In May 2006, the Beijing city authorities announced their intention to extend their use of “re-education facilities” to clean up the city’s image ahead of the Olympics. But what about the pretty lanterns at the opening ceremony? Above all, what about those medals? The price paid for those bloody medals is not one sports administrators are keen to acknowledge.

Speaking recently, Pat Hickey, the president of the Irish Olympic Committee (and the European Olympic Committee, no less), cast an approving eye over plans for the 29th Olympiad. “I am sure these Games will be the best ever, in fact, as never before,” he said. Warming to his theme, he told a newspaper: “They will be fantastic and it will be something very positive for that country.”

Very positive for the people of China or very positive for the Chinese dictatorship? What is certain is that, as far as most Olympic officials are concerned, metal discs on bits of ribbon seem to count for more than fundamental human rights. As Simon Clegg, chief executive of the British Olympic Association, sees it: “We are an apolitical organisation… our focus is on performance.”

YET the echoes of the Berlin Games in 1936 remain. Some hesitated then — yet, ultimately, shamefully, not one country chose to boycott those Games.

The Berlin Olympics went ahead and turned into a display of Nazi propaganda. Hitler exploited the occasion while Jews were being lined up for the concentration camps. The international community bestowed priceless recognition and prestige on the National Socialist regime.

Seventy-two years on, the world is again granting unrivalled recognition and prestige to another murderous dictatorship. And nobody in sport wants to talk about it.

Nobody wants to upset the Chinese. Western democracies choose not to undermine their business dealings. African dictators don’t want to endanger the support they receive from China. The neutral countries, as in 1936, just don’t care.

In 1939, the world paid the price for the legitimacy it granted the Third Reich; today, there is still a year to withhold that same legitimacy from China.

Will anyone take a stand? No civilised country has any business sending a team to Beijing. Assuming Pat Hickey will not relent, perhaps he can tell us this: what will happen to a member of the Irish team who makes any form of public protest in Beijing about the human rights violations we are encouraged to ignore? Will they be thrown off the squad? The Irish Olympic Committee represents this country. Irish people are entitled to some answers.