By Brian Johnson - 3rd August 2008
“Each athlete can, in their own way, give a signal. No official should prevent that”
Hans-Gert Pöttering
Parliament’s president Hans-Gert Pöttering has called on athletes attending the Beijing Olympics to use the games to protest against human rights violations in Tibet.
Writing in the German weekend newspaper Bild am Sonntag on August 3, Pöttering said “I would like to encourage the athletes, both men and women, to look at things as they are, and not to turn away.”
“Each athlete can, in their own way, give a signal. No official should prevent that,” said Pöttering, adding that “it is our duty not to forget the people of Tibet, who are fighting for their cultural survival.”
Pöttering, who strongly criticised the slow pace of talks between the Chinese government and Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, wants to keep the plight of the Tibetans high on the political agenda and has called for World leaders to boycott the games.
“If there continues to be no signals of compromise, I see boycott measures as justified,” said Pöttering earlier this year.
Although overtly political protests by athletes at the Olympic Games are rare, Pöttering will be hoping that at least some competitors mirror the action of US sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the 1668 Olympics in Mexico City.
The two African-American athletes gave, in what would become one of the twentieth century’s most memorable images, the Black Power salute as they stood on the winners’ podium.
Criticism of China’s clampdown in Tibet as well as a growing media and political row in Germany over Beijing reneging on promises to provide foreign journalists attending the games with unfettered internet access saw the country’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier publicly condemn the Chinese authorities, just days before the games begin.
“I don’t understand why the Chinese government once again limited internet access and sparked international scepticism,” said Steinmeier over the weekend.
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