Former Olympian, Activist Debate Beijing Boycott

by Robert Siegel, National Public Radio
March 28, 2008

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89195074&sourceCode=RSS&sc=emaf

The linked-to radio debate on NPR on Mar 28th was evidently carried in all 50 American states and heard by about 14 million listeners. Twenty minutes was cut to about eight. In hindsight, David wishes that he'd been gentler with the IOC rep, but the emails received from various parts of the US have been almost all very supportive.

Listen Now
[7 min 50 sec]

NPR Program - All Things Considered, March 28, 2008 � With China's recent crackdown on Tibet and neighboring provinces following protests in the Tibetan capital, Beijing's record on human rights is once again in the spotlight. As host nation for this year's Summer Olympics, China is facing international condemnation and a potential boycott of the opening ceremonies.

Debating such a boycott are an International Olympic Committee member and a human rights activist.

International Olympic Committee member Anita DeFrantz � a U.S. rower who missed the 1980 Moscow games because of the U.S. boycott in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan � is opposed to a boycott. She says the games have forced China to be more open and drawn attention to its human rights record.

David Kilgour, a Canadian human rights lawyer and former member of parliament, says the games never should have been given to China. He supports a boycott of the opening ceremonies.