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Dalai Lama Pleads for Peace While the World Considers Boycotting Olympics

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GG Staff | 03/18/2008 - 11:09 | Add new comment

The world weighs in on human rights issues in China and Tibet

After as many as 1000 protestors were rounded up in Tibet this morning, we're not exactly filled with the Olympic spirit. And if you have tickets to Olympic events, hotels or flights booked, you may be getting a little nervous the games are about to go up in smoke.

Tibet ChaosTibet in ChaosThe US Olympic Committee says boycotting the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing is out of the question. France's Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, doesn't see the issue in the same light and is urging other EU foreign ministers to reconsider their stance.

Kouchner told AP News yesterday that leaders should consider a boycott of the opening ceremonies, but that boycotting the entire games would be "unjust."

But if China doesn't find a way to put out the fires raging through Tibet, the Beijing Olympics will end in disappointment. The Dalia Lama has been feverishly appealing to his people to choose peace instead of violence, even though he says the Chinese are involved in "cultural genocide" of the Tibetan people.

YouTube and the Dalai Lama have been blocked in China, but you can see an up close clip of just how precarious the situation is right now.

The US boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest of Afghanistan's occupation, but Darryl Seibel of the US Olympic Committee says Beijing will not be a repeat performance.

How do you think events will unfold? Are you concerned the Olympics will be compromised or canceled because of violence in Tibet?

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