That’s what many asked me in the last weeks since I got the accreditation for the games as photographer. I see their view in that and I think it’s a good question to be asked but very difficult to answer.
Imagine you are working/training hard for years not really different if you take it from the role as sportsperson of photographer to get the accreditation.
Maybe one difference have to be clarified I can do the best pictures during the games but I will never get a medal.
But let’s go back to the boycott, so you are asking now to give this up? I guess it’s much easier to ask then to decide. Since weeks discussions are hot about this subject, the press is overloaded with comments criticizing the government of China.
In the last years I travelled quite a lot in Asia and I had to learn that China has always being a strong or dominant country not only now. All this travel experiences in the Asian continent had one very important outcome the exchange of points of view and discussions about cultural differences.
I don’t know how much impact I had on the young Burmese student talking with him about our direct democracy we have in Switzerland compared to their political system, or more then 10 years ago the young man who showed me the temples in Cambodia by talking about education.
You can call me dreamer and say you won’t be able to change anything, but when I look back in my life there has always been a person who touched a certain subject in a discussion and I started to change things.
Yesterday watching the news in TV we saw young Chinese demonstrating in front of a French food shop, why? They believe that we are wrong.
If we, the western culture really believe that we have a different opinion about how the Chinese government should run his country I think it’s the wrong way to stay at home, we don’t have to go there and start a revolution but the right argumnet may lead in to some thinking wich may help.
Not sure how much opportunities all the participants in the Olympic games may get to run this discussion in a constructive way but if we have a chance I think we should do it and wy should we not express our point of view?
The Olympic committee made a decision some time ago when they have chosen China as Olympic host, I strongly believe that the members of the Olympic committee knew about the cultural differences and I also believe that a certain financial impact played a strong role, now this decision is taken and let’s do the best out of it.
A bit more as a year ago I had the chance to visit Myanmar, mostly as a backpacker and photographer taking pictures and dealing directly with the local people, haven’t spend and a large amount of money there for our point of view but some Burmese made good deals with me. Today after the revolution end of last year there are only a few tourist in this country, and who is really paying the bill? Not the government but the population.
So let’s go .
