The following letter ended up in my inbox today from Huang Jinming of the Central Committee of the Social Democratic Party of China. Their website is under construction and there wasn’t much I could find out about them online. However, their letter lays out some principled, well-reasoned arguments, so I thought it was worth sharing.
For continued coverage and commentary on China, the Olympics and Human Rights, check out Human Rights Watch’s China Olympics website.
请ä¸è¦å‡ºå¸29届奥è¿å¼€å¹•å¼–è‡´ä¸–ç•Œå„æ°‘主国家首脑的公开信
作者:
ä¸å›½ç¤¾ä¼šæ°‘主党ä¸å¤®å§”员会尊敬的先生们ã€å¥³å£«ä»¬ï¼š
第29届å¤å£å¥¥è¿ä¼šå››ä¸ªæœˆåŽå°†åœ¨åŒ—京举行。我们获悉世界上的民主国家ä¸ï¼Œæœ‰çš„国家领导人拟定出å¸29届奥è¿ä¼šçš„开幕å¼ï¼Œå¦‚美国布什总统ç‰ï¼›æœ‰çš„æ‹Ÿå®šä¸å‡ºå¸ï¼Œå¦‚åŠ æ‹¿å¤§å“ˆç€æ€»ç†ç‰ã€‚我们谨敦促所有民主国家的领导人都ä¸è¦å‡ºå¸29届奥è¿ä¼šçš„开幕å¼ã€‚
本æ¥ï¼Œä½œä¸ºä¸å›½äººå¯¹å¥¥è¿ä¼šèƒ½åœ¨ä¸å›½çš„国土上举行是有ç€ç”±è¡·çš„å–œæ‚¦ã€‚å¯æ˜¯æˆ‘们åˆä¸èƒ½ä¸çœ‹åˆ°ä¸¾åŠžå¥¥è¿å·²è¢«ä¸å›½å…±äº§å…šæ”¿åºœé«˜åº¦æ”¿æ²»åŒ–ã€‚å®ƒå€¾å…¨å›½ä¹‹åŠ›æ¥ä¸¾åŠžå¥¥è¿ï¼Œä»…ä¸ºå¥¥è¿æ”¹å–„北京空气一项就投入了150亿美元,这本身就是政治行为。ä¸å›½å…±äº§å…šæ˜¯æƒ³é€šè¿‡ä¸¾åŠžå¥¥è¿æ¥ç²‰é¥°çŽ°å®žï¼Œæ¥ä¸ºå®ƒå……满暴力ã€è°Žè¨€ã€è´ªè…çš„æ”¿æƒæ¶‚脂抹粉,以欺骗世界舆论,延ç»å…¶ä¸€å…šä¸“政的政治结构。
虽然我们深刻地洞察这一点,但我们考虑到è¿åŠ¨å‘˜ä»¬ç»è¿‡å‡ 年的刻苦è®ç»ƒéƒ½å¸Œæœ›åœ¨è¿åŠ¨ä¼šä¸Šæ˜¾ç¤ºè‡ªå·±çš„æˆç»©ï¼›è€ƒè™‘到一些ä¸å›½æ°‘众以在自己的国家举办奥è¿ä¸ºè£ï¼›è€ƒè™‘到更多的ä¸å›½æ°‘ä¼—å°†è§‚çœ‹å¥¥è¿æ¯”赛作为é‡è¦çš„娱ä¹é¡¹ç›®ï¼Œæ•…æ¤ï¼Œæˆ‘们ä¸ä¸»å¼ 抵制奥è¿ï¼Œæˆ‘们愿æ„看到奥è¿å¦‚期举行。愿æ„看到ä¸å›½è¿åŠ¨å‘˜å¤šèŽ·å¥–ç‰Œã€‚
ä½†æ˜¯ï¼Œä½ ä»¬ä½œä¸ºå›½å®¶é¢†å¯¼äººå‡ºå¸å¥¥è¿å¼€å¹•å¼å°±æœ‰ç€ä¸ä¸€èˆ¬çš„æ„ä¹‰ã€‚å¼€å¹•å¼ä¸åŒäºŽä¸€èˆ¬çš„æ¯”èµ›é¡¹ç›®ï¼Œé«˜å±‚æ”¿æ²»äººç‰©äº‘é›†çš„å¼€å¹•å¼æ˜Žæ˜¾å¸¦æœ‰æ”¿æ²»æ„å‘³ã€‚ä½ ä»¬å‡ºå¸å¼€å¹•å¼å¯ä»¥è¯ 译为对ä¸å…±æ”¿æƒçš„认åŒã€æ”¯æŒã€‚作为民主国家的领导人去支æŒä¸€ä¸ªä¸“åˆ¶æ”¿æƒæ˜Žæ˜¾æ˜¯ä¸æ°å½“的。我们诚æ³åœ°å¸Œæœ›ä½ 们都ä¸è¦åŽ»å‡ºå¸å¥¥è¿å¼€å¹•å¼ã€‚å¦‚æžœä½ ä»¬å¯¹æŸäº›ä½“育è¿åŠ¨é¡¹ç›®ç¡®å®žçˆ±å¥½çš„è¯ï¼Œä½ 们å¯ä»¥ä¸“项地去观看那些比赛。
æ•¬è¯·ä½ ä»¬èƒ½è®¤çœŸè€ƒè™‘æˆ‘ä»¬çš„æ„è§ï¼Œå¹¶ä½œå‡ºæœ‰åˆ©äºŽä¸å›½æ°‘主事业的æ£ç¡®çš„æŠ‰æ‹©ã€‚
顺致崇高的敬æ„ï¼ä¸å›½ç¤¾ä¼šæ°‘主党ä¸å¤®å§”员会
2008年4月15日Please Do Not Attend the Opening Ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games
—A letter to Leaders of Democratic NationsRespected Ladies and Gentlemen:
The 29th Summer Olympic Games will be taking place in Beijing about four months from now. We learn that some leaders of Western democracies, such as the president of the United States, have planned to attend its opening ceremony; others, such as the premier of Canada, have decided not to. We, members of the Central Committee of the Social Democratic Party of China, urge all of you not to attend the opening ceremony.
As Chinese, we are sincerely happy to see the Olympic Games take place in China. However, we cannot ignore the fact that hosting the Olympic Games has been highly politicized by the communist government of China. On the one hand, the Chinese government makes an all out effort to host the Olympic Games and takes advantage of this opportunity to promote nationalism. On the other hand, it does not keep its promise to improve human rights in China. Its goal is to whitewash reality, to cover up the regime’s brutality, lies, and corruption, and to deceive the world community. Its real intention is the legitimization and continuation of the current political structure, the one party dictatorship. Therefore, its actions are highly political.
We do not advocate boycotting the 29th Summer Olympic Games even though we see through the Chinese government’s intention. We understand that all athletes want to show their accomplishments achieved after many, many years of hard practices. We understand that most Chinese feel honored to have the Olympic Games held the first time in their country. We understand that the Chinese view the Olympic Games as the most important sports event, and they want to see them in their own land. For all these reasons, we would like to see the Summer Olympic Games take place as scheduled, and we hope Chinese athletes will win a lot of medals.
Nonetheless, we want to point out that, unlike sports games, the opening ceremony featuring the presence of high ranking political leaders is a highly political event. As leaders of nations, your attendance will have political implications. The presence of leaders of democracies at the opening ceremony may be interpreted as approval and support for the Chinese communist regime. It is obviously inappropriate for democratic leaders to support an autocratic regime. We sincerely call on all of you not to attend the opening ceremony. You may certainly go and see your favorite items if you really like sports games, but please do not attend the opening ceremony.
We respectfully request all of you to consider this suggestion and make the right choice to support the cause of China’s democratization.
With best regards,
The Central Committee of the Social Democratic Party of China
2008.4.15