Human rights and China’s Olympics
As part of its efforts to secure the Olympic Games, China has promised to improve its record on human rights. The country has reformed its laws on the death penalty and allows greater freedom to foreign journalists.
However, the human rights group Amnesty International believes these changes have been overshadowed by a hard-line crackdown on other forms of peaceful dissent. It claims China is using the games to suppress dissent in the name of stability, citing the increased use of detention without trial and tightening control of the media and internet.
The Olympic Games will be held in Beijing in August 2008. Western missionary groups will be seeking to use the occasion to bring the gospel to competitors, spectators and the Chinese people.
