Don't play politics in sports and Olympic is major sports event. Keep sports free from other international disturbance and conflicts because sports bring people from all region on a single platform. Let it go as it is.

The Olympics, biggest sports event on the earth, are designed to convince and inspire athletes, even from warring nations, can join in the sports with the spirit of friendly competition. It's a slippery slope when politics enters the Olympic arena.

This is all political drama nothing else. Corporate sponsors and persons like Spielberg have every right to do what they want, they can follow their consciences but there should be a way to do such kind of protest. Athletes can show the loudest statement through silent participation as 'Black Power' salutes by two US medal winner athletes in 1968 Mexico City Games and when Adolf Hitler was forced to watch Jesse Owens who won four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Games. There should be a way of protest and people shouldn't hurt the spirit of the game.

Yes, its wrong. Governments of different countries, boycotting the Olympics, are actually working to defeat the entire idea behind the mega sports event whose main motto is to boost international understanding in positive direction with the help of sporting culture.

Is it wise to use the games event like Olympics for political reasons? I think this is the worst way to protest against any country.

Those who are boycotting China are doing so because of their own personal intentions. Olympics is a great sports event and a tradition, and it should be kept away from the dirty circles of politics.

No doubt the situation in darfur is terrifying, but what is the point in connecting it to China’s role of hosting the Olympics? As far as Steven Spielberg’s decision is concerned, I can just laugh on this master filmmaker. I never expected such a thing from a responsible personality like him. Maybe he is too contented with filmmaking and is now trying to make his mark on other fronts, viz politics and global affairs. If this is the case, then there are better ways to air your concern and prove your mettle. Pulling out of the Olympics ceremony was in poor taste.

As for Haile Gebrselassie, well, even before competing in the event he has admitted defeat. He may give any excuse or for that matter even shell out facts about his health, but the truth remains that he is a LOSER! His decision to skip the marathon is similar to the claims made by auto industries regarding the capacity of any of its model — The performance is tested under specific and controlled atmosphere, and should not be mistaken for the model’s actual on-road performance. Similarly, if Haile is given a climate of his preference he is a winner, otherwise he is destined to lose.

The same goes for all those countries who have decided to base their training camps outside China.

They shold be banned from the Olympics!

China, go ahead. My best wishes are with you.

It is not less than shame if the Hollywood actors use its influence to put a political damper on Olympics. They should understand that several athletes have been training all their lives to take part in Olympics, their families have sacrificed for their success. People like Spielberg should know it clearly that the Russians didn’t leave Afghanistan due to US boycotting the Olympics. They left Afghanistan because they lost the battle.

One more point to ponder — Should Spielberg stop making films for Hollywood, just because the US role in Iraq is questioned by some people?

If other countries want to restrict China's role in Sudan, they should boycott the cheap consumer goods made in China. The idea of boycotting sports event happening in China is not good one.

Dalai Lama is not sabotaging the game. He has expressed his support for the Beijing Olympics by rejecting Chinese allegations that he was trying to sabotage the games. Chinese media is attacking Dalai Lama without any established evidence.

Dalai Lama is not opposing Beijing Olympics. He has consistently supported the right of China to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

Olympic corporate sponsors like Coke, Visa and McDonald's are also leaving Beijing Olympics and people would remember the 2008 Beijing Games as the 'Genocide Olympics'.

On the day when Spielberg resigned, nine Nobel laureates including Bishop Desmond Tutu and Elie Wiesel and twelve athletes wrote an open letter to Chinese President. They stated in the letter - 'Given the severity of the crisis in Darfur and the nature of the China-Sudan relationship, we are calling for more serious action by your government in support of the full, immediate and unimpeded deployment of UNAMID.' This is a serious problem for Chinese government.

No company, country or individual should withdraw from or boycott the Beijing Olympics. This is against the law of sports.

See the courage of this athlete, the Ethiopian runner, who suffers from asthma. He said that he would still participate in the 10,000 metres in Beijing Olympics. He said that the air pollution in China is a threat to his health and it would be difficult for him to run 26 miles in polluting condition but still he is decided to participate in the 10,000 m run. Who knows Spielberg?

Okay, if the world is adamant to mingle all things unsporty with the Olympics, go ahead, but even in that case those who are boycotting the event must remember that Olympics is the right opportunity to come together like the rings depicting the true spirit of the game. It should not be missed!

If Spielberg would have gone and had discussed issues he’s really concerned with the Chinese authority, the world would never have called him a coward.

If IOC unanimously selected China to host the event, why this entire hullabaloo? As far as Chinese oil interests in Sudan are concerned, I doubt anybody would have uttered a word if US would have been controlling the wells.

Another underlying fact, which we’re missing, is that US is afraid of certainly losing the crown this time in the Olympics as the Dragon is on full throttle!

Poor air quality? Come on! That's not fair enough reason to boycott such a big event. They came and participated in the Sydney Olympics. We must also reciprocate the gesture.

it will be very fair to boycott these games... china is just waiting for the world to congregate in beijing so that it can showcase chinese prowess and grandeur that will send a strong political signal to the rest of the world.

china is an aggressive bully... we must not give it an opportunity to show off. participating in the olympics would mean endorsing chinese brutality and inhuman policies.

Definitely. If political issues were so important then why was it awarded the bid to host the games in the first place? Now that cannot be undone, let's go ahead and have some fun in the games. After all, these is the only event that brings the world together.

It would be really exciting if all countries in the world participated. It doesn't matter where the Olympics are taking place. This is an event the world wait for every 4 years. We have had too many boycotts in the past due to politics. South Africa was banned from participating in sporting events due to apartheid. This leads to nothing.

The world must participate in the games and make it a grand success by competing hard, watching the events and cheering their sportsmen. Let's have something to cheer about. We have had some really depressing years between the last Olympics and now with war and terrorism all over.

Can anyone resist the temptation of going out and eating on a Chinese-owned Chinese restaurant? Is anyone willing to shell out buying expensive locally made Christmas lights over cheap Chinese lights? If you have enough dough to travel, can you miss out going to China that offers so many fascinating tourist experiences at dirt cheap prices?

The answer is NO. All the activities mentioned above contributes to the Chinese causes whatever they are. So why target the Olympics specifically. This is sheer nonsense.

Boycotting the Games would be like boycotting the sacrifices the poor Chinese people made, the hard work they put in etc. to make this event a success. They are innocent, oppressed and generally very good people. The Chinese Communist Party is the evil we must fight.

The world must pay tribute to the common Chinese by participating in the Games but in the same time make sure that the Chinese leadership is not given any credit. Major speeches by successful athletes, politicians of freedom loving nations must acknowledge the Chinese people's contribution but in the same breath should say that it is now high time that the Chinese leaders gave them their dues.

Big countries cannot afford to boycott the Beijing Olympics primarily because:

a) China will prove in this Olympics that it is the world's biggest sporting power. Hence, when one of these countries hosts the Olympics, China would boycott it retaliation depriving the event of some of the biggest names in sports.

b) In order to get out of slagging economies, countries are looking towards Asia esp China to bail them out. They cannot afford to antagonize the Chinese politically and boycotting the Beijing Olympics will do just that.

The best thing would be now to forget politics and enjoy the event.

Boycotting Olympics for political reason? Spielberg has gone mad I think and other personalities is eagerly looking for publicity so that they have started taking this route. Reasons are Darfur crisis, China's role in Darfur, air pollution in Beijing...what rubbish??

Such initiatives would kill the sporting culture of the world and every country would start boycotting other sports events because of their own reason...

It is extremely difficult and life-threatening for common people in China to say anything about human rights. Olympic organisations based in London or Lausanne can speak but they are also maintaining complete silence.

Boycotting events like Olympics is not a good idea. people shouldn't play politics in sports.

@ Vikas

I completely agree with you. And I would like to go a step ahead by announcing that this is a well-planned strategy to crush China’s spirits because China is emerging as a strong threat to the sovereignty of the Lords (read US and allies).

Further, if the people on the other side of the debate think that boycotting the China Olympics is justified, then let me help them by giving some more fodder for their ill-brains. Allow me:-

1> Ban the US from playing baseball.

Reason - Because its satellite mission failed!

2> Ban Pakistan from playing cricket.

Reason - Because there is too much political unrest in the country!

3> Ban India also from playing cricket.

Reason - Because there is no control over the population!

4> Ban Brazil from playing football.

Reason - Because the Brazilians create too much hullabaloo during the carnival!

5> Ban the entire human race from further reproduction.

Reason - Because a new star was spotted just last month in the constellation!!

Now, if you have any doubts regarding the relevancy of the above given reasons and object over the proposed bans, then just shut your mouth and give your brain some much-needed rest, BECAUSE YOU ARE SUPPORTING THE SAME IDEOLOGY BY BOYCOTTING THE CHINA OLYMPICS!

I just want to put out these message: if you believe western propaganda and want to be a cold war fighter against China, you will not be welcome to China.

You might still have a right and be allowed to come to attend the Olympics I think, but go ahead with boycotting.

Yea, let me give you some more shocking CNN style news about China that you always want to hear: ”there are reports of 10 million, some say 100 million, of American Indians murdered by the Chinese authority, but could not be independantly verified.”

On topic:

Boycotting would be inappropriate. With this I do agree and would go so far as to toss out that such efforts would in fact harm any effort to get China to change it’s policy with regard to the Sudan or Tibet.

One, it takes away that stick we have to prod them with. They want to make a good impression with the Olympics after all.

And two, Xinhua is silencing any real data on Tibetian protests so the general Chinese public is not aware. Having a heavily concentrated group of hundreds of thousands of people from democracies and republics the world over, it will be very difficult to control any real information.
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Off topic, directed to Jjjj:

Your comparisons are not apt for but a fraction of American Natives were actually killed by European settlers, the rest by diseases European settlers brought with them and still didn’t understand.

More to the point that was hundreds of years ago. Most of it happened before the United States was even founded.

When the United States was founded, a number of East coast native tribes helped with the writing of the constitution no less!

Yes, Manifest Destiny was after. Yes many errors occured, let us not forget slavery too. But that’s all in the 19th century. Check your calendar, this is the 21st century. We’ve grown up and China hasn’t. Are we perfect? No, but we try.

Tibet, Sudan, this is today. This is *NOW*. China isn’t at a point where we’re considering any level of war, even cold - they’re but a small blip on our radar. Do you really want us to train more ICBMs on Beijing?

Yes, China’s military power may be rising, but we’re still the super power. Hell, Taiwan has more 4th generation fighters than China. You think China has chosen to continue dialogue with Taiwan by choice? Wow, and you claim we’re falling for proganda.

You don’t know what the word means.

China couldn’t retake Taiwan let alone take the United States on.

zai jian!

To Whilom,

Let’s do a little heated but civilized exchange.

Obviously I (pretending to be CNN) made the fake news. I don’t honestly know a lot of American history or American Indian history, probably not more than you know about China (judging that you know zai jian and Taiwan). If you are upset about the fake news, you understand how I feel about CNN.

”Yes many errors occured, let us not forget slavery too. But that’s all in the 19th century. Check your calendar, this is the 21st century. We’ve grown up and China hasn’t.”

Well, I guess you’d agree Iraq is another error, or maybe Vietnam or maybe a few other wars. I read more than 1M Iraqis died. I don’t know how reliable that information is. But this is really terrible. Again, I don’t know if you agree, CNN has the blood in its hand, both Iraqis and Americans.

”Do you really want us to train more ICBMs on Beijing?”

That is going too far. Maybe we’re neighbors or coworker. How do you know?