China's Great Leap: Human Rights Watch on the Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges

Jacque Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee, responded to the protests over this year’s Olympic games. Speaking in Beijing today, he said he was saddened by the disruptions to the torch relay in Europe. He reminded athletes of the Olympic rule against political demonstrations at the Games.

Meanwhile both Democratic Presidential candidates Senators Clinton and Obama have now called on President Bush to consider boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing this August. But on Tuesday President Bush told EWTN Television, a Catholic TV network, that “Nobody needs to tell old George Bush that he needs to bring religious freedom to the doorstep of the Chinese, because I’ve done that now for—I’m on my eighth year doing it. I’ve talked about freedom of religion every time I visited with them. I’ve talked about Darfur. I’ve talked about Burma. I’ve talked about the Dalai Lama. I don’t need the Olympics to express my position.”

To discuss the politics around the upcoming Beijing Olympics we’re joined in our firehouse studio by Minky Worden. She is the Media Director of Human Rights Watch and the editor of a new book coming out this May from Seven Stories Press. Its called “China’s Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges.”

Minky Worden, Media Director of Human Rights Watch. She lived and worked in Hong Kong for six years, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an elected member of the Overseas Press Club"s Board of Governors. She is the editor of a new book coming out this May from Seven Stories Press. Its called “China’s Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges.”

Related Links

• Human Rights Watch: Beijing Olympics Special Feature