List of World Leaders Who Will Not Attend the Beijing Olympics Grows.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, yesterday became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics in Beijing.

As pressure built for concerted western protests to China over the crackdown in Tibet, EU leaders prepared to discuss the crisis for the first time today, amid a rift over whether to boycott the Olympics.

The disclosure that Germany is to stay away from the games' opening ceremonies in August could encourage President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to join in a gesture of defiance and complicate Gordon Brown's determination to attend the Olympics.

Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott on Thursday and he was promptly joined by President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, who had previously promised to travel to Beijing.

James: I'm pleased that major players on the world stage are voicing their displeasure with China's image before the Olympic games in Beijing. I opposed the decision to award China the Olympics in the first place, however, it is not possible to put that genie back in the bottle. That being said, It is important to remind the world that the Chinese government does not totally live up to the Olympic spirit of peace in how it rules its people nor the repressive governments that it supports (Burma, Sudan and Vietnam to name but a few).

As Buddhists we have a responsibility to be loving and compassionate but sometimes that requires speaking about uncomfortable things, sometimes it means disagreeing with people such as is the case with the Chinese governments' abuses of power.

Guess what two major corporations are sponsoring the Beijing Olympics? Two companies that are about as American as you get--McDonalds and Coca-Cola. Yet the message that they are sending by making money off the brutal Chinese regime is very much against the American ideals of freedom and human rights. It's a perfect example of how greed can lead us to rationalize anything--even our very principles.

I just sent an email to McDonalds and Coca-Cola asking them politely to think about their actions in supporting the dictatorial Chinese government through corporate sponsorship. If you would like to email them as well, just click on their company names listed above and the link will take you right to the email forms.UPDATE: I woke up this morning to sadly see the Olympic torch in a staged event at Tienanmen Square in Beijing China. Of course Tienanmen Square was the sight in 1989 of horrible violence meant to end a peaceful protest where some claims put the number of dead at 2-3,000. In sad irony the translation of the name Tienanmen means, Gate of Heavenly Peace.

So it was disheartening to see the Olympic torch which represents the goodwill amongst all people of the world displayed on that plaza of bloodshed. Goodwill is often defined as the disposition of kindness and compassion. Tienanmen Square does not represent compassion nor kindness to the people killed, beaten and illegally arrested for simply marching for basic freedom.

There are many people in China today who live in constant fear of their dictatorial government and I doubt that they experience much kindness and compassion coming from such a brutal leadership.

And as mentioned above the Chinese government that is running the over-sight of the Olympic games in Beijing supports the brutal Burmese government who beat, killed and illegally arrested hundreds of its own people in last years peaceful demonstrations for freedom.

~Peace to all beings~

China Off America's List of Worst Human Rights Abusers.

In an almost unnoticed and sad development, the United States of America has removed China from its list of the world's worst human rights abusers. This is particularly troubling given that China just recently broke up a second day of peaceful protest marching by 500-600 monks in Tibet with tear gas and arrests. Today saw a third day of growing protests and in response the Chinese military has sealed off monasteries, reports say that these have been the largest protests in nearly two decades. These protests marked the 49th anniversary of an uprising of against Chinese rule. Some reports say that gunfire could be heard.The heart beat of Tibet is the heart beat of all peace loving people. I have such admiration and respect for these monks and lay people who have mastered their fears and risen peacefully to stand up to the powerful waves of suffering battering them day after day. One molecule of water is no watch in breaking and wearing down a wall but hundreds, thousands and millions of molecules linked together in Oneness of concentration have the power to bit by bit erode away the strongest barriers to freedom. May we be apart of that wave. This is what Gandhi understood as talked about in my previous post.

Let us stand tall and show Tibetans everywhere that we stand firm together with them to peacefully affect change in their beautiful and sacred land. Let us take a few moments in our meditations to contemplate how we can not only free the Tibetans but also free the Chinese military and government from their anger as well as resistance toward change. We must stand up in solidarity with our Tibetan brothers and sisters in order to show the Chinese dictatorship that the practices of violence and force are not effective in realizing true unity and oneness.

They must understand that you can not force people to agree with your opinions and policies because you believe that you know what is best for them--such actions only create more suffering for the very people that you sought to free. That being said, may we also have love toward the Chinese government officials because they are caught up in the shackles of suffering from fear, frustration and anger. Speaking of anger, may we not allow anger toward the Chinese government overtake our minds to prevent resorting to violence ourselves.
The removing of China from the worst human rights abusers list is also disturbing given China's support of the Burmese dictatorship which killed and illegally jailed citizens (many of them monks) for peacefully protesting their brutal regime last year. As well as China's support of the Sudanese government in Africa which has been linked to the genocide in Darfur.China should not be removed from this list of the worst human rights abusers until (at the very least) they grant Tibet independence and grant full freedom to the Chinese people. As well as the political freedom of the Chinese people themselves. They must be constantly reminded that oppressing the Tibetan people and violating human rights within China proper is not acceptable. Maintaining this position as well as not rewarding them with the Olympics are forms of peaceful protests that convey opposition and disagreement without anger and using violence. The Great Bodhisattva Gandhi showed that this kind of campaign is indeed effective in over-coming even the most powerful and oppressive systems of government.The Dalai Lama has urged peaceful protests during the Beijing Olympics. Many Tibetans feel that the decision to award the games to China is at odds with the goal of the Olympic movement, which is to build a peaceful and better world. Campaigners fear Beijing will use the Olympics to inaccurately present China as a free and open society to the outside world.I fear that many Buddhists take pacifism too far. I hear from some folks who say that being involved in political protests just upset ones peacefulness. Yet how can we enjoy our peacefulness and freedom to worship as we desire when not all in this world have that same chance? Is not the Engaged Buddhism that Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of part of practicing the Bodhisattva vows to not rest until all people achieve freedom and liberation from suffering? This is not simply some mystical, other worldly ability limited to the somewhat mythical being Avalokiteshvara. It is my belief that the essence of the Avalokiteshvara story is a tool to teach us that our peace is everyones' peace and that our suffering is everyones' suffering.

I agree that it is not wise to worry night and day about politics, violence, hatred and fear but neither is isolating ourselves. Isolation and inaction is ignoring to a degree the suffering of others and is in my opinion less skillful action. If we earnestly believe in inter-being then we must not remain silent on political issues such as these. This is partly the symbolism of the Tibetan endless knot picture above and to the left--The mutual dependence of religious doctrine and secular affairs.

It is not less skillful to be involved in Democratic politics, it is an imperfect tool at times but the best that we have to do our best to bring the greatest peace and freedom possible to as many sentient beings as possible.

UPDATE: Philip Ryan over at the excellent Tricycle Editor's Blog is reporting that Chinese media has confirmed 10 dead during new protests in Tibet. However, supporters of the protests and of the Dalai Lama put the number at 80.

~Peace to all beings~