Olympic Flame Throwers

The Olympics story is always about political power, and it’s often about how much abuse of that power participating countries will put up with. When it comes to today’s China, the balance of power suggests the world will put up with just about anything. That scenario is about the Olympics, but it’s also related to a geopolitical shift that has been happening for a long time, and was accelerated over the past four years. Steven Lee Myers in the NYT: China Is Preparing for Another Olympics in Beijing, Like It or Not. “China is counting down to another Olympics in Beijing, this time the Winter Games next February. And it is facing mounting calls for a boycott over its rights abuses, from stripping Hong Kong of its promised democratic freedoms to the mass incarceration of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. The world, however, has changed since 2008. Virtually no one today believes that holding the Games will temper China’s behavior.”

+ The Guardian: 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar as it gears up for World Cup.