Word: darfurs
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That's not to say the government hasn't taken aggressive measures to crack down on domestic dissent. Strict visa policies have kept many activists out of the country, most notably former U.S. Olympic speed skater Joey Cheek, who has worked internationally to stop the bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region. Among the many interest groups that have criticized Beijing's policies, overseas Tibetan rights activists have been the busiest protest group during the Games. They've held at least five demonstrations in high-profile spots around the city, and each time they have been detained and deported. "What...
...Which also means that for one night, he became the most visible, and influential, Sudanese man in the world. And in the run-up to these Olympics, China has faced fierce criticism for its support of the Sudanese government, which has sponsored atrocities in the Darfur region. Before war tore the Sudan apart, Lomong says he loved his native country. "I was the happiest kid in the Sudan," says Lomong. Will he take the moment to stand up for those Lost Boys left behind, the ones still coping with war, starvation, and death back home in Africa? Will he call...
...modern Olympics, politics was not far away. Protesters of everything from China's role in Darfur to the continuing repression of Tibet had tried to use the Games to highlight their causes. But long ago, loose talk of an Olympic boycott had fizzled. On opening night, sitting in the splendor of the Bird's Nest Stadium, were two men who have at times been among China's most vocal Western critics: George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. They knew this was China's moment. Back in the Middle Kingdom's heyday, dignitaries from elsewhere in the world would...
...after displaying signs calling for religious freedom in China. Then came the news that Beijing had barred entry to former U.S. Olympian Joey Cheek, a speed skater and prominent critic of China's closeness to the Sudanese regime blamed for the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in Darfur. (The Cheek incident didn't stop the U.S. team from choosing a prominent member of a group of athletes who lobby on Darfur to carry the delegation's flag in the opening ceremony.) Another controversy erupted when four members of the U.S. cycling team arrived at Beijing's international airport...
...image hit is likely to cost China more than any activism Cheek would have done during the Games. Although he's the co-founder of Team Darfur, an international coalition of athletes pushing for reform in the Sudan, he's not exactly rabble-rouser. In our interview, Cheek said he was not planning any organized protests, and he had yet to set up any meetings with government officials. He's extremely sensitive to the fact that many Olympic athletes have trained their whole lives for this brief shining moment, and if taking up the Darfur cause is a distraction...