August 23, 2006 Wednesday

China is running out of time to improve its human-rights record before the world arrives for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The countries preparing to send teams to Beijing must now decide whether China's sins are relevant to the games. If they are relevant, those countries must decide what they're going to do about that.

The first question is easy to answer. The Olympic movement presents itself as a humanitarian force. Its Charter reads: "The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

It would be ugly hypocrisy for Canadian athletes to march smiling and silent under that banner in a country that imprisons, tortures and executes political prisoners, and that restricts religion and expression.

Does that mean the athletes shouldn't go at all? Some activists think so. A coalition of human-rights groups, including Olympic Watch and Reporters Without Borders, is calling on national Olympic committees to stage protests at the Games or even boycott.

Ottawa Rabbi Reuven Bulka, an advocate for organ donation, says he will call for a boycott if China doesn't put a stop to the practice of harvesting organs from executed Falun Gong practitioners. China denies that's happening, but a recent Canadian report presented compelling circumstantial evidence.

A total boycott is one option on the table, albeit an unlikely one. It's not clear a boycott would further democracy in China. Indeed, there's an argument that the Beijing Olympics could help break down the barriers between China and the rest of the world. China will not -- we hope -- be able to control world media the way it controls its own media. The Chinese people will see the way foreign media operate, they will speak with foreign athletes, and they will demand change from their government. At least, that's the theory.

In practice, China's government might keep the Chinese people far from visiting delegations and media. The regime might even be willing to make its own people suffer so it can present a beautiful face to the world: There are reports already of evictions without compensation in Beijing. If the Olympic idea is truly about more than medals and merchandising, participating countries must find a way to use the event for the benefit of the Chinese people.

That means people such as Rabbi Bulka should keep using the Games as a pressure point. The federal government should too. Athletes should make statements before and during the Games to show their disapproval of China's practices.

Dictatorships thrive on denial. China wants the world to pretend that everything's fine, that Taiwan and Tibet are happy members of the Chinese family, that Falun Gong really is an evil cult whose members deserve to be imprisoned, that the government has a duty to censor websites and newspapers and punish independent journalists.

Canada is under no obligation to pretend any such thing. Trade is important, as is the chance for our athletes to compete in global events. But truth and freedom are even more important. If Canada participates in the Beijing Games, it must use its participation as a platform.