Standing up to intimidation

Support is mounting for a campaign by Human Rights Without Frontiers International for a boycott of this summer’s Olympic Games, says Willy Fautré

Recent events in Tibet have focused attention on the issue of China and human rights - and rightly so. But there are there many other reasons why we say that MEPs and others should not attend the Beijing games in August. One such reason is the way China constantly threatens, intimidates and bullies Taiwan, its tiny neighbour across the Taiwan Straits.

In the last four years, the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have rejected accreditation requests from Taiwanese journalists wishing to cover the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) simply because they are from Taiwan. Before 2004, Taiwanese journalists were allowed to cover the WHA, but this right was withdrawn under pressure from Beijing. The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists has condemned this ban, while Reporters Without Borders has also voiced exasperation at this blatant breach of the freedom of expression of reporters committed by China outside its territory.

In spite of recent global threats to public health in Asia, including SARS and avian flu, China has not relaxed its efforts to ban Taiwan from the activities of the WHO, whose secretary-general is Margaret Chan from Hong Kong, and has thereby endangered the health of the Taiwanese population. Last September, Taiwan applied again for UN membership to the General Assembly in New York. However, the new secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, failed to transmit its bid to the GA and sent it back to Taipei despite Taiwan’s claims to have all the qualifications for UN membership.

Several delegates attempting to take part in a Taiwan-Africa summit on 9 September 2007 were blocked from doing so as a result of harassing tactics by China. In one case, Beijing pressured an unnamed African country to stop two leaders of a political party from attending the summit. That country charged the pair with sedition so that they could not go to Taipei. In another case, several delegates had already flown to Hong Kong but China barred them from proceeding to Taipei, while others had their visas revoked. The background of this ostracism practised by Beijing in the international arena is the will to deny any legitimacy to a separate and independent existence of Taiwan.

Because of China’s controversial role in the Darfur genocide, Steven Spielberg has quit as artistic adviser of the Olympics. Because of China’s support to Khartoum’s genocidal regime, eight Nobel Prize laureates, artists, movie celebrities, athletes, members of the European parliament and national parliaments have signed a petition. Because of China’s policy in Tibet, Prince Charles has decided not to go to the Olympics.

For all these reasons, and because of Beijing’s threatening policy towards Taiwan – over 800 missiles were stationed on the south-east coast of China facing the island – Human Rights Without Frontiers International calls upon heads of state, prime ministers, royal families, the heads of the European institutions, the members of the European parliament and of national parliaments to ignore any official invitation coming from Beijing to attend the Olympic Games in 2008.