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A point was made earlier that the Olympic athlete, for the most part, does not care about what country they are competing in.
Therefore, it does not matter much for the athlete what flag they wave or what anthem they listen to when they win the gold medal.
Do you agree?
I would have to agree with that. Assuming that the citizenship requirement was not neccessary for the Olympic, there would be great number of athlete switching countries due to a better chance to make it to the international team. Not to say there aren’t some athletes who value patroitism, but there are also a significant number that do not.
[quote=“mr_boogie”]China won’t participate on the World Cup by theyr own fault.
However the participation of Iran is still being considered for political reasons.
And don’t forget that Yuguslavia was expelled of the Euro 2002 for political reasons and replaced by Denmark (who later won the competition).[/quote]
FYI, that was 1994.
[quote=“STOP_Ma”]
A point was made earlier that the Olympic athlete, for the most part, does not care about what country they are competing in.
Therefore, it does not matter much for the athlete what flag they wave or what anthem they listen to when they win the gold medal.
Do you agree?[/quote]
But if ever there was made-in-Follywood, heart on the sleeve-patriotistic stuff, Beijing pays witness to a Taiwanese Gold, hoists the ROC flag and ushers in a new peace…hey, it’s the Olympics, or as I now call them, “The Olym- :fume: heygretzkyusuck :fume: -pics”…
anything can happen…
That post gets the gold medal for the biggest load of bullshit. Don’t use such disingenious arguments.
Those regimes did not fall because of public scrutiny vis-a-vis the Olympics.
The USSR fell after its economy collapsed under the weight of a fifty-odd year arms race.
And Nazi Germany fell only after a six-year long war in which some fifty million people were killed, leaving much of the world a heap of smoking rubble.[/quote]
Thank you Dr Obvious, obviously the olympics isn’t the direct cause for the fall of these regimes, but lets use this thread as an example within itself; the Beijing 2008 Olympics has already sparked countless debates and articles highlighting its human rights, economics, and other problems such as overinvestment in the olympic community that they’re building. There wouldn’t be as much talk had Beijing not won 2008.
The same happened to Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, each time the Olympics comes, it brings a much more well-informed public opinion of the totalitarian nation.
So yes, it is kind of a good thing for Taiwan and a somewhat bad thing for Beijing.
There is always talk about the host nation no matter who they are. When USA was the host nation, similar talks by critics were leveled against the USA.
Did the USA fall because of these critics…OMG your guys are absolutely right the fall of the USA is happening as we speak. 
China is going to be the focus of attention this century, with or without the Olympics. It has 20% of the world’s population, and it looks like it will grow in largely the same trajectory that the rest of east Asia followed over the past 40 years. Mainland China will be like Taiwan or South Korea, but multiplied by 60.
So, boycott the Olympics, boycott Chinese goods, do whatever you feel like. It might make individuals feel better, but it doesn’t change anything in the global order.
I personally think that’s one thing that’ll be nice about the Olympics, actually. I fully anticipate tons of foreign activists flooding to Beijing for a chance to “talk to the Chinese people”. I think it’ll be a nice reality check when they stand face-to-face, on Tiananmen or at some train station, with a few million mainland Chinese who disagree.
I’m still not seeing how any important nation has an incentive to boycott. Taiwan could do it to appease TI’ers, but worldwide they’d only be news for a day. The U.S. would have to screw all its atheletes, their sponsors, the travel industry, and NBC, as well as pissing off China and setting negotiations and market access back several years. Europe --same story as U.S. I suppose Japan and China could always get ticked off at each other, but really how much political capital is it worth to Japan to stick it to china – probably not that much. So who else are you going to get on board here?
Who knows maybe one of those foriegners will be accidentally spit upon in Beijing.
I was very impressed by the dexterity and artform of flem projection most Beijinger acquired from a lifetime practice. Should make a demostration sport out of it for the Olympics. 
I think activists that focus on social/broad political issues, like the inevitable FLG + democracy activists calling for the end of the CPC + bear farming + dog eating will probably be treated respectfully by the “masses”.
I think anyone who really takes their activism too far (say, a TI activist) by attacking core tenets of Chinese identity will face worse than being spat on. A punch in the face is really very likely. Many Chinese, cultural stereotypes aside, aren’t really all that passive and averse to fighting; heck, the Taiwanese legislative yuan is testimony to that.
The idea of having all countries boycott anything Chinese and cut all the ties with China is naive, stupid, and masturbatory.
China has many problems that definitely need to be addressed. Isolating/alienating/antagonizing simply isn’t the cure for all. Engaging, instead, is the way to go and is what most countries are doing. If you were to isolate countries, you would end up having only a handful countries “not isolated”.
That post gets the gold medal for the biggest load of bullshit. Don’t use such disingenious arguments.
Those regimes did not fall because of public scrutiny vis-a-vis the Olympics.
The USSR fell after its economy collapsed under the weight of a fifty-odd year arms race.
And Nazi Germany fell only after a six-year long war in which some fifty million people were killed, leaving much of the world a heap of smoking rubble.[/quote]
Thank you Dr Obvious, obviously the olympics isn’t the direct cause for the fall of these regimes, but lets use this thread as an example within itself; the Beijing 2008 Olympics has already sparked countless debates and articles highlighting its human rights, economics, and other problems such as overinvestment in the olympic community that they’re building. There wouldn’t be as much talk had Beijing not won 2008.
The same happened to Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, each time the Olympics comes, it brings a much more well-informed public opinion of the totalitarian nation.
So yes, it is kind of a good thing for Taiwan and a somewhat bad thing for Beijing.[/quote]
Just out of curiosity, when do you think China will collapse? a couple of years after the Olympics?
[quote=“ludahai”][quote=“mr_boogie”]China won’t participate on the World Cup by theyr own fault.
However the participation of Iran is still being considered for political reasons.
And don’t forget that Yuguslavia was expelled of the Euro 2002 for political reasons and replaced by Denmark (who later won the competition).[/quote]
FYI, that was 1994.[/quote]
Yes you are right… My head was on the WC… my mistake…
I have secret information…
despite the controversy over the 5th Friendly, the Tibetan one…
just before the 2008 Olympics, China will unveil the 6th Friendlies… a Taiwan dog remade to look like space aliens, consistent with the other mascots:
NINI SAYS: BZZT! WE WELCOME THE TAIWAN DOG! BZZZ! WE COME IN PEACE! WE DO NOT PLAN TO INVADE YOU!
Thousands of menacing UFO’s fly overhead
I think the first one, Beibei, looks quite silly.
The Monkey King, which was proposed, would be a much better choice, for my liking anyways.
[quote=“ludahai”][quote=“mr_boogie”]China won’t participate on the World Cup by theyr own fault.
However the participation of Iran is still being considered for political reasons.
And don’t forget that Yuguslavia was expelled of the Euro 2002 for political reasons and replaced by Denmark (who later won the competition).[/quote]
FYI, that was 1994.[/quote]
FYI, in 1994 was the World Cup in the States. Danmark win the Euro 1992 which was in Sweden. Euro and Worldcup are every 4 years with 2 years between them.
Thought you are a former soccer player. 
[quote=“ShrimpCrackers”]I have secret information…
despite the controversy over the 5th Friendly, the Tibetan one…
just before the 2008 Olympics, China will unveil the 6th Friendlies… a Taiwan dog remade to look like space aliens, consistent with the other mascots:
NINI SAYS: BZZT! WE WELCOME THE TAIWAN DOG! BZZZ! WE COME IN PEACE! WE DO NOT PLAN TO INVADE YOU!
Thousands of menacing UFO’s fly overhead
[/quote]
HOLY COW! Why do we need more than 1 mascot in heavens name !!??
Because of 1 reason… MONEY. Once again, this proves that Olympics are nothing more than politics and … BIG BUCKS turn over.
How long will it take before your children will start collecting those copy-cat POKEMONS or Chinese Tele-tubbies . How many marketing campaigns will be implemented by COKE, Mc Donalds, 7-11 and oll others wanting a piece of the cake? I am boycotting these figures as from now on.
And what about Royalties on using these monsters? Smart move, but it ain’t nothing about sports anymore for sure… shame.
[quote=“mingshah”]
FYI, in 1994 was the World Cup in the States. Danmark win the Euro 1992 which was in Sweden. Euro and Worldcup are every 4 years with 2 years between them.
Thought you are a former soccer player. 
[/quote]
oh boy oh boy, was THAT a good day!!!
the danish tinster