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The Social Concerns Committee of Lake City (Michigan) United Methodist Church, led by Richard Renner, is spearheading an effort to boycott the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The Chinese Games are regularly referred to as the "Genocide Games," due to China's record of human rights atrocities at home, and their unyielding support of the brutal regimes in Burma and Sudan.
According to Renner, "We absolutely support our American athletes, and it is highly unlikely that the U.S. will completely boycott the Beijing Olympics. However, we urge our Representatives in Congress to support resolutions condemning China's human rights record. Further, we would like our President, George W. Bush, to reconsider his decision to attend the opening ceremonies. As leader of the free world, it would send a strong message of disapproval to the Chinese Communists if he were to decline their invitation to be an honored guest."
Since 1950, when the army of the People's Republic of China illegally invaded and occupied Tibet, the Chinese authorities have conducted a systematic campaign of genocide upon the Tibetan nation. Reliable estimates claim that as many as 1.2 million innocent Tibetans have been murdered. This crime of genocide has been condemned by the International Commission of Jurists, and is currently being investigated by Spain's High Court.
China is the number one diplomatic, economic and military ally of the brutal regime in Sudan. Armed with Chinese weapons, the Sudanese government has conducted a systematic campaign of genocide in the Darfur region. Since the conflict began in 2003, over 400,000 Darfuri civilians have been murdered, 2.8 million refugees have been driven from their homes, and 90 percent of ethnic Darfuri villages have been destroyed. On the U.N. Security Council, China has repeatedly threatened to use its veto to block resolutions imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on Sudan.
"It is unfortunate that the Beijing Olympics have become so politicized," said Renner. "However, it is the Chinese government that began the process, by continually using the games as a propaganda tool to promote their political and economic agenda. China wants to be recognized as a global power, perhaps even a superpower, and they are using the Olympics to achieve that recognition."
So far, people of conscience from all across Michigan have joined our campaign to boycott the "Genocide Games." However, we need your help, too. For more information contact Richard Renner at 231/229-2505, or rrenner@core.com.
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me."
- Pastor Martin Niemoller, decorated World War I U-boat Commander. Imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau Death Camps from 1938 to 1945 for his anti-Nazi activities.
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