In this month’s print edition of Atlanta Life, Jonathan Hassid, a Fulbright scholar conducting research on political aspects of the Chinese news media, and Dr. Baogang Guo, the President-elect of the Association of Chinese Political Studies, debate the human rights issues confronting China and how these issues will be handled by the press and citizenry during the Olympics (Point-Counterpoint, pgs. 10-13).
The Chinese government had promised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that it would open its doors to the world, allow foreign media complete freedom to report, and allow protests in designated areas during the games. While human rights organizations and the international community had hoped the Olympics would serve as a catalyst for democratic change in China, that desire has not come into fruition. In the weeks leading up to the opening ceremonies on August 8, several crackdowns were made on journalists and dissidents inside the country. Amnesty International (AI) issued a report detailing China’s failure to keep its promises of reform, and, in a twist of fate underscoring this point, the Chinese government blocked foreign journalists from accessing the AI report online.
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