China: It's Ok to Hold Olympic Protests, As Long as It's in the Gulag

This story both angers and delights me at the same time. It angers me because of how disgraceful it is that the Chinese government is abusing its people despite promises not to. It delights me because it has definitively proved the people who opposed an Olympic boycott wrong. During the Olympics, the Chinese government set up special "protest areas" and required those wanting to hold a protest during the games to register. Of course, any person with half a brain would know that this was just a dragnet to capture political dissidents. However, us fools in the West bought it hook, line, and sinker as a sign that the Chinese government was finally opening up and granting its people more basic human rights.

So here's the story, two women in their 70s have been arrested and sentenced to force labour and "re-education" after registering for a protest. Wu Dianyuan, 79, and her neighbour Wang Xiuying, 77 were arrested after registering to hold a protest during the Olympics. The protest would have been over the two women being forced out of their homes, which are to be demolished for redevelopment. They have not been sent to prison yet according to the story but are currently under watch. Given their age, it is unlikely they would be made to do forced labour. One of the women was said to be blind and almost disabled.

Of the 77 applicants who applied to hold protests, none were accepted and so far, no protests have been held in the designated areas. As I said, China has utterly failed to hide their true intentions from the world, yet there are still plenty of people who think that we, as the West, can put pressure on them with simple words. This Olympics should have been boycotted. Now, this is a terrible story and some would like to chop up to a one off, but it's the stuff we don't know about that's more disturbing. I believe it is time to take a much harsher approach with the Chinese government by slapping them with economic sanctions until they can get their act together and start practising what they preach. Taiwan also needs to be made a full UN member and recognized as the independent nation that it is. The coddling of this savage government by the West needs to stop. China has little to offer us and the sooner they realize that, the better. If they want to keep doing business with us, they will need to get their house in order. If we truly are superpowers, we need to start acting like it. We need some world leader get the courage to finally tell the People's Republic that what they're doing is wrong, and then follow through on threats.

Source: CNEWS