>>>>One of the traditions for anyone hosting the games is the creation of separate protest areas. Well, they sure did that part, didn't they? Of course locking up old people for asking for a protest permit may not have been exactly what the Committee had in mind, but what the heck, the athletes had fun.
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>>>>China never should have been allowed to host the games. NEVER!
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>>>Why is that ?? Can you explain?
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>>A country that deserves as little respect and as much derision for their human rights offenses as China does should not be allowed to reap the rewards that are generated by hosting something as well loved as the Olympic games. They simply have not earned the right.
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>Not to deny China's human rights abuses, but what I look for is progress. By all accounts there is more freedom in China now than there ever has been, and most Chinese do want to be part of the wider world. No more large but mysterious nation off in its own world, literally behind a wall. Seeking the Olympics and putting in the work to make them a success is one of the ways they reached out a hand. Are they all the way there yet? No. Are they a model nation? No. (Then again, neither are we). I think it would have been incredibly foolish to slap that hand away. Likewise if we had taken their moment of national pride -- their coming out party, if you will -- as the time to chastise them for other issues. President Bush said as much in an interview with Bob Costas during the Olympics. He added that he expresses our concerns to the Chinese all the time, this just didn't seem like the time to do it. It was a rare pleasure to agree with him.
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>IMO the Olympics were a terrific step forward in China's relations with the rest of the world.

In order to host a 'nice looking' games, they evicted people from their homes to build games sites, jailed more people than ever in order to keep them out of the world's eyes during the games, and put old people to hard labour for daring to ask for a protest permit. The olympic games going to China only stepped up China's abuse of it's own citizens. it was a very bad idea.