Olympic Crisis

IOC President Jacques Rogge is now saying the Chinese Olympics are in a "crisis." This is the first such comment from an IOC official. Here is what Rogge had to say about China's human rights obligation:

When Beijing was seeking the games, Rogge noted, Chinese officials said the Olympics would help advance social change, including human rights. He called that a "moral engagement" and stressed there was no "contractual promise whatsoever" on human rights in the official host city contract.

"I would definitely ask China to respect this moral engagement," Rogge said, in one of his most pointed comments on the subject.

Here is the Chinese response:

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman responded that IOC officials support adhering to the Olympic Charter and "not bringing any irrelevant political factors into the Beijing Olympics."

"I hope the IOC officials will continue to adhere to the principles set by the Olympic charter," Jiang Yu said.

Here is what the Olympic charter says:

"The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

Maybe the charter hasn't been translated into Chinese yet?

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