The IOC Becomes an Official Accomplice to the CCP in China

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If it was not already,  the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is now officially an accomplice to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and all of the Chinese government’s attempts to censor free speech and block personal freedoms in China. According to a report from Reuter's on Wednesday, "some International Olympic Committee officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites despite promises of unrestricted access, a senior IOC official admitted on Wednesday." Cut a deal? There was no deal. The IOC   'rolled over and played dead'  just like it has been doing since it bestowed the Olympics upon Beijing 8 years ago. The IOC leadership has proved itself once again to be spineless; it might as well be just another arm of the CCP. The IOC has brought shame upon itself as well as upon the Olympic Games with the way in which it has allowed Beijing to censor free speech.

I am also very disappointed with Beijing. I gave the CCP way too much credit. While I never thought that any recent "improvements"  in the area of human rights or censorship would endure past August in China, I at least thought that Beijing would have been able to do a better job of deceiving the world in the weeks leading up to the Olympic Games. I certainly expected that in these times, the CCP would put its best face forward. Not the case. Instead, knowing well that the IOC is too afraid to stand up to its Olympic policies, the Chinese government has unashamedly broken its promises to the Olympic attendants and to the world at large. Beijing does not make deals with anyone; the CCP does what it wants whatever it wants regardless of rules or  promises.

Beijing, which has constantly complained about its precious Games being politicized, is itself politicizing the Olympics every time it censors a website. By not allowing reporters to access sites like Amnesty International or the Chinese version of the BBC, the Chinese government is attempting to shield itself from international criticism and arbitrarily filter out political viewpoints that it deems harmful to its image. This action of censoring the Internet in Beijing is a powerful political statement. 

The IOC is undoubtedly going to defend itself by promising to "lobby" China to follow through on its earlier promises regarding uncensored Internet access. It is too late. There are also now reports that China plans to gather intelligence by monitoring Internet connections in hotel rooms across Beijing. What can the IOC do about this? Not much. It can whine and complain but considering how much it has already conceded to China, it is unlikely that Beijing will back down. After all, the IOC lost control of the 2008 Olympics long ago; Beijing has been 'running the show' for a long time.

Robert Vance is the senior editor at TeachAbroadChina.com