Will U.S. boycott China Games?

Human rights at issue for Summer 2008 Olympics.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep Joe Pitts is among seven House Republicans sponsoring a resolution calling for a boycott of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing because of China's poor human rights record.

The resolution was introduced Aug. 4, just before the lawmakers' summer recess. It asks the federal government to take steps to boycott the Olympics unless China stops human rights abuses and stops supporting the governments of Sudan, Burma, North Korea and others.

"(Hosting the Olympics) is a real big deal to China. This is an opportunity to pressure them to correct some of their policies on human rights violations," said Pitts, a Republican who represents Lancaster County.

Comparing the games in China to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi-era Berlin, the resolution says, "The integrity of the host country is of the utmost importance so as not to stain the participating athletes or the character of the Games."

The resolution lists multiple human rights abuses, including detention of political prisoners, China's military ties with Sudan and "forced abortion and sterilization to enforce its 'One Child' policy, as per family population control measures."

Pitts said torture, imprisonment of people on religious grounds and the violent suppression of demonstrations were particularly galling.

While Pitts said he was uncertain if the resolution would lead to an actual boycott, he added that it was important to use the publicity of the Olympic Games as an opportunity to call on China to change.

"I think this is the beginning of a process that is going to escalate." he said. "This will begin the talk, not only here in the Congress but around the world."

The Pitts-sponsored resolution is one of three House resolutions that call for a U.S. boycott of next year's Olympics. All were introduced just before Congress' August recess and criticize China's human rights record.

The United States last boycotted the Olympics in 1980, when it stayed home from the summer games in Moscow as a protest against the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.

By CHAD UMBLE Lancaster Online.com 16 August 2007