Do Not Turn The Beijing Olympics Into A Copy Of The Nazi Olympics (08/11/2008) (Tsai Ing-wen, Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan, in China Times)
[in translation]
On August 1, 1935, Adolf Hitler presided over the opening ceremony of the Berlin Olympics and nationalistic fervor reached an acme among the German people. Since losing the First World War, the Germany people had never enjoyed such glory. In spite of numerous objections internationally, the Olympic Organizing Committee decided to award this most important international sports meet to Adolf Hitler's Germany. The supporters of the German cause argued that the status of Olympic host country will make Germany more democratic, free and peaceful.
The militarily belligerent Adolf Hitler indeed turned peaceful. During the Olympic period, the Nazis removed the prejudicial slogans and banners that banned Jews. Hitler wanted people to think that Germany was the best friend of the world. But history would show later that Hitler told a huge lie. While the Olympics were going on, Hitler was promoting peace on one hand and building concentration camps on the other hand. After the Olympics was over, Germany did not become more democratic and free. At the Wannseekonferenz, the "Final Solution of the Jewish Problem" was decided upon, and the Hitler regime went on to massacre several million Jews.
Nobody knows if there was a direct relationship between the Olympics and the Holocaust. But if the entire Nazi regime was founded upon a powerful nationalism, then the 1936 Berlin Olympics no doubt gave German nationalism a strong shot in the arm. Seventy-two years later on August 8, 2008, we once again saw the Olympics being hosted in a nation without human rights. The Chinese leader Hu Jintao pushed Chinese nationalism to an acme in the open ceremony à la Zhang Yimou. On television, the excited emotions of the Chinese people were exactly the same as those of the Germans in 1936.
In order to for the Olympics to go smoothly, the Chinese government began a courtesy campaign early on to let the world see that China is becoming more civilized. As opening day neared, the whole country went on alert. Protestors in Tibet and Xinjiang were put under surveillance, arrested and even murdered. Of course, these actions could not be made known to the Chinese people. The excited citizens of Beijing could not discern the high degree of alert. Around the Bird's Nest, there are armed police officers every five steps. The taxis are reportedly equipped with microphone monitors. The shops around the stadium are given the sacred duty of reporting to the police. Windows were ordered shut in tall buildings. At Tiananmen Square, it is not clear whether there are more undercover police or tourists. This is the inevitable result when a totalitarian government organizes the peaceful Olympics. As a nation with such a poor human rights record, China had to mobilize the entire national apparatus to destroy all opposing forces. In other words, this was a festival held under martial law. The nationwide celebration inside the stadium and the grim atmosphere outside provide a very acute and ironic contrast.
But from another angle, there are some countries in the world that cannot watch the exciting sports events of the Olympics in a relaxed manner in the comfort of their living rooms. Regrettably, Taiwan is such a country. We are not able to appear in the Olympics under the name of Taiwan. Our athletes have neither country flag nor title. During the opening ceremony, China changed the traditioanl order of entry of the countries and used the Chinese system instead. Thus, the team from Taiwan appeared under Zhong and "in the company" of Macau and Hong Kong. Later on, the whole world saw the important figures of our ruling political party sat, observed and took part in this historical change from the stands. They did not feel that there was anything inappropriate and they were treated as honored guests by the other side. Even when the Beijing government said that the Taiwan athletes have "home court advantage" in the mainland, they did not feel anything was wrong and in fact they thought that this was only natural.
There is a saying around the world that politics should not enter sports, which is without borders. But from the various actions of China against Taiwan during the Beijing Olympics, politics has never been farther away from sports. The success of the Berlin Olympics made Hitler even more dictatorial and brutal afterwards. This reminded me of the protest action organized by human rights organizations on Liberty Plaza on the evening of Lovers' Day. Compared to the grandiose Olympics opening ceremony, the number of persons present there was small. I was not surprised as I sat among the relatively small crowd. After all, the Olympics had the attention of everybody and it was like pouring cold water to talk about human rights and democracy. We cannot deny that China has ulterior purposes with respect to the Olympics. But we wish that China would pay more attention to human rights. The greatest duty of China towards the world is not a successful Olympics, but the respect and protection of human rights.
I am not against the Olympics. I don't oppose Taiwan participating and I cheer warmly for the athletes. But most of all I wish that someday the representatives from Taiwan can say out the name on their country during the award ceremony. All our citizens should think whether this dream of Taiwan is getting more and more remote after the Beijing Olympics?
莫讓北京奧運淪為納粹奧運的翻版
2008/8/10
【蔡英文】
一九三六年八月一日，希特勒在柏林主持奧林匹克運動會的開幕儀式，德國人民的情緒瞬間到達最高點。自第一次世界大戰戰敗之後，整個德國民族從來沒有這麼最光榮過。當時國際間不乏反對的聲浪，不過奧委會仍然決定把這個國際體壇最重要的賽事交給希特勒所領導的國家。支持給德國機會的人主張，奧運會的主辦國資格將會使德國更民主、自由、和平。
窮兵黷武的希特勒在那一陣子也突然變得愛好和平，在奧運期間，納粹在全國上下收起「禁止猶太人」的歧視性標語與招牌，希特勒要人們相信，德國是全世界的好朋友。不過，後來的歷史證明，希特勒向大家撒了一個漫天大謊。在奧運進行期間，希特勒一邊吹噓和平，一邊興建集中營，而且在奧運過後，德國也沒有比以前更民主自由，一九四二年的萬湖會議決定了「猶太人問題的最終解決方案」，就這樣希特勒政權屠殺了幾百萬的猶太人。
沒有人知道奧運會跟屠殺猶太人有無直接的關係，不過，如果整個納粹政權是建立在強大的民族主義上面，那麼一九三六年的柏林奧運無疑地為德國民族主義注入了一股前所未有的強心針。七十二年過後，二○○八年的八月八日，我們再一次目睹了奧運在沒有人權的國家中舉辦。中國領導人胡錦濤在張藝謀式的開幕儀式中，把中國民族主義推上了最高峰。從電視上看來，中國人民沸騰的情緒，跟一九三六年的德國人一模一樣。
為了要讓奧運順利進行，中國政權老早就開始推行禮儀運動，希望讓全世界的人看到中國文明化的程度已經大幅提昇。隨著開幕日期的逼近，舉國上下開始草木皆兵，西藏、新疆的抗議份子被管制、逮捕甚至殺害。當然，這些所為不會讓中國人民知道，所以，北京城中興奮的民眾當然也就讀不出政權的風聲鶴唳。鳥巢周邊五步一個武警崗哨，計程車據說被裝上監聽器，會場周邊的商店被賦予向警察通報的神聖任務，高樓大廈被命令不得開窗，天安門廣場上分不清楚便衣與遊客哪一種人比較多。這就是集權國家主辦和平奧運的必然結果，作為一個人權記錄如此不良的國家，它勢必得出動所有的國家機器來摧毀所有可能的反對勢力。換句話說，這是一個戒嚴下的慶典，會場內的舉國歡騰，與會場外的嚴厲肅殺，形成一股非常諷刺、非常尖銳的對比。
從另一個角度來看，全世界有一些國家，就是不能跟其他國家一樣，抱著輕鬆愉快的心情在家裡的客廳中欣賞奧運的精彩賽事。很遺憾地，台灣就是這樣的國家。我們不能以台灣的名字在奧運會中出現，我們的選手是一群沒有國旗，沒有國號的運動員。甚至，這一次的開幕儀式中，中國也改變了各個國家出場慣例，讓台灣的代表隊在「中」這個中文字的大旗下，與澳門、香港等地方「結伴」出場。然後，全世界都知道也都看到了，我們國家的執政黨要員們，坐在觀禮台上親眼目睹、共同參與這個歷史性的改變。他們覺得這一切沒什麼不妥，被對岸奉為上賓，即使北京官方說台灣的選手在大陸有「主場優勢」，他們亦渾然不覺有任何失當之處，甚至可能還覺得理所當然。
世界上流傳著一種說法，政治不應該介入體育，體育是無國界的。不過，從這次奧運會中中國對台灣的種種作為來看，政治從來沒有離體育這麼近過。希特勒在成功的奧運會後變得更加獨裁與野蠻，這讓我不禁想起情人節晚上在自由廣場人權團體所舉行的抗議活動。與奧運開幕儀式的盛大相比，當天現場的人數可以說是小巫見大巫。我坐在規模很小的人群裡面，心裡一點也不意外。畢竟，這是眾所矚目的運動賽事，在這種時候講政治、講人權、講民主，好像是在潑冷水。我們不否認中國對這次奧運會的用心，但我們更期待，中國對於人權能更用心。中國對這個世界最大的責任不是一個成功的奧運，而是對於人權的尊重與保護。
我不反對奧運，也不反對台灣參加，也熱切地希望給運動選手們加油打氣。不過，我最期待有一天台灣的代表隊能夠在頒獎典禮上大聲說出自己國家的名字。全體國民應該共同思考，台灣的這個夢想將因這次的京奧越來越近還是越來越遙遠？
[in translation]
On August 1, 1935, Adolf Hitler presided over the opening ceremony of the Berlin Olympics and nationalistic fervor reached an acme among the German people. Since losing the First World War, the Germany people had never enjoyed such glory. In spite of numerous objections internationally, the Olympic Organizing Committee decided to award this most important international sports meet to Adolf Hitler's Germany. The supporters of the German cause argued that the status of Olympic host country will make Germany more democratic, free and peaceful.
The militarily belligerent Adolf Hitler indeed turned peaceful. During the Olympic period, the Nazis removed the prejudicial slogans and banners that banned Jews. Hitler wanted people to think that Germany was the best friend of the world. But history would show later that Hitler told a huge lie. While the Olympics were going on, Hitler was promoting peace on one hand and building concentration camps on the other hand. After the Olympics was over, Germany did not become more democratic and free. At the Wannseekonferenz, the "Final Solution of the Jewish Problem" was decided upon, and the Hitler regime went on to massacre several million Jews.
Nobody knows if there was a direct relationship between the Olympics and the Holocaust. But if the entire Nazi regime was founded upon a powerful nationalism, then the 1936 Berlin Olympics no doubt gave German nationalism a strong shot in the arm. Seventy-two years later on August 8, 2008, we once again saw the Olympics being hosted in a nation without human rights. The Chinese leader Hu Jintao pushed Chinese nationalism to an acme in the open ceremony à la Zhang Yimou. On television, the excited emotions of the Chinese people were exactly the same as those of the Germans in 1936.
In order to for the Olympics to go smoothly, the Chinese government began a courtesy campaign early on to let the world see that China is becoming more civilized. As opening day neared, the whole country went on alert. Protestors in Tibet and Xinjiang were put under surveillance, arrested and even murdered. Of course, these actions could not be made known to the Chinese people. The excited citizens of Beijing could not discern the high degree of alert. Around the Bird's Nest, there are armed police officers every five steps. The taxis are reportedly equipped with microphone monitors. The shops around the stadium are given the sacred duty of reporting to the police. Windows were ordered shut in tall buildings. At Tiananmen Square, it is not clear whether there are more undercover police or tourists. This is the inevitable result when a totalitarian government organizes the peaceful Olympics. As a nation with such a poor human rights record, China had to mobilize the entire national apparatus to destroy all opposing forces. In other words, this was a festival held under martial law. The nationwide celebration inside the stadium and the grim atmosphere outside provide a very acute and ironic contrast.
But from another angle, there are some countries in the world that cannot watch the exciting sports events of the Olympics in a relaxed manner in the comfort of their living rooms. Regrettably, Taiwan is such a country. We are not able to appear in the Olympics under the name of Taiwan. Our athletes have neither country flag nor title. During the opening ceremony, China changed the traditioanl order of entry of the countries and used the Chinese system instead. Thus, the team from Taiwan appeared under Zhong and "in the company" of Macau and Hong Kong. Later on, the whole world saw the important figures of our ruling political party sat, observed and took part in this historical change from the stands. They did not feel that there was anything inappropriate and they were treated as honored guests by the other side. Even when the Beijing government said that the Taiwan athletes have "home court advantage" in the mainland, they did not feel anything was wrong and in fact they thought that this was only natural.
There is a saying around the world that politics should not enter sports, which is without borders. But from the various actions of China against Taiwan during the Beijing Olympics, politics has never been farther away from sports. The success of the Berlin Olympics made Hitler even more dictatorial and brutal afterwards. This reminded me of the protest action organized by human rights organizations on Liberty Plaza on the evening of Lovers' Day. Compared to the grandiose Olympics opening ceremony, the number of persons present there was small. I was not surprised as I sat among the relatively small crowd. After all, the Olympics had the attention of everybody and it was like pouring cold water to talk about human rights and democracy. We cannot deny that China has ulterior purposes with respect to the Olympics. But we wish that China would pay more attention to human rights. The greatest duty of China towards the world is not a successful Olympics, but the respect and protection of human rights.
I am not against the Olympics. I don't oppose Taiwan participating and I cheer warmly for the athletes. But most of all I wish that someday the representatives from Taiwan can say out the name on their country during the award ceremony. All our citizens should think whether this dream of Taiwan is getting more and more remote after the Beijing Olympics?
莫讓北京奧運淪為納粹奧運的翻版
2008/8/10
【蔡英文】
一九三六年八月一日，希特勒在柏林主持奧林匹克運動會的開幕儀式，德國人民的情緒瞬間到達最高點。自第一次世界大戰戰敗之後，整個德國民族從來沒有這麼最光榮過。當時國際間不乏反對的聲浪，不過奧委會仍然決定把這個國際體壇最重要的賽事交給希特勒所領導的國家。支持給德國機會的人主張，奧運會的主辦國資格將會使德國更民主、自由、和平。
窮兵黷武的希特勒在那一陣子也突然變得愛好和平，在奧運期間，納粹在全國上下收起「禁止猶太人」的歧視性標語與招牌，希特勒要人們相信，德國是全世界的好朋友。不過，後來的歷史證明，希特勒向大家撒了一個漫天大謊。在奧運進行期間，希特勒一邊吹噓和平，一邊興建集中營，而且在奧運過後，德國也沒有比以前更民主自由，一九四二年的萬湖會議決定了「猶太人問題的最終解決方案」，就這樣希特勒政權屠殺了幾百萬的猶太人。
沒有人知道奧運會跟屠殺猶太人有無直接的關係，不過，如果整個納粹政權是建立在強大的民族主義上面，那麼一九三六年的柏林奧運無疑地為德國民族主義注入了一股前所未有的強心針。七十二年過後，二○○八年的八月八日，我們再一次目睹了奧運在沒有人權的國家中舉辦。中國領導人胡錦濤在張藝謀式的開幕儀式中，把中國民族主義推上了最高峰。從電視上看來，中國人民沸騰的情緒，跟一九三六年的德國人一模一樣。
為了要讓奧運順利進行，中國政權老早就開始推行禮儀運動，希望讓全世界的人看到中國文明化的程度已經大幅提昇。隨著開幕日期的逼近，舉國上下開始草木皆兵，西藏、新疆的抗議份子被管制、逮捕甚至殺害。當然，這些所為不會讓中國人民知道，所以，北京城中興奮的民眾當然也就讀不出政權的風聲鶴唳。鳥巢周邊五步一個武警崗哨，計程車據說被裝上監聽器，會場周邊的商店被賦予向警察通報的神聖任務，高樓大廈被命令不得開窗，天安門廣場上分不清楚便衣與遊客哪一種人比較多。這就是集權國家主辦和平奧運的必然結果，作為一個人權記錄如此不良的國家，它勢必得出動所有的國家機器來摧毀所有可能的反對勢力。換句話說，這是一個戒嚴下的慶典，會場內的舉國歡騰，與會場外的嚴厲肅殺，形成一股非常諷刺、非常尖銳的對比。
從另一個角度來看，全世界有一些國家，就是不能跟其他國家一樣，抱著輕鬆愉快的心情在家裡的客廳中欣賞奧運的精彩賽事。很遺憾地，台灣就是這樣的國家。我們不能以台灣的名字在奧運會中出現，我們的選手是一群沒有國旗，沒有國號的運動員。甚至，這一次的開幕儀式中，中國也改變了各個國家出場慣例，讓台灣的代表隊在「中」這個中文字的大旗下，與澳門、香港等地方「結伴」出場。然後，全世界都知道也都看到了，我們國家的執政黨要員們，坐在觀禮台上親眼目睹、共同參與這個歷史性的改變。他們覺得這一切沒什麼不妥，被對岸奉為上賓，即使北京官方說台灣的選手在大陸有「主場優勢」，他們亦渾然不覺有任何失當之處，甚至可能還覺得理所當然。
世界上流傳著一種說法，政治不應該介入體育，體育是無國界的。不過，從這次奧運會中中國對台灣的種種作為來看，政治從來沒有離體育這麼近過。希特勒在成功的奧運會後變得更加獨裁與野蠻，這讓我不禁想起情人節晚上在自由廣場人權團體所舉行的抗議活動。與奧運開幕儀式的盛大相比，當天現場的人數可以說是小巫見大巫。我坐在規模很小的人群裡面，心裡一點也不意外。畢竟，這是眾所矚目的運動賽事，在這種時候講政治、講人權、講民主，好像是在潑冷水。我們不否認中國對這次奧運會的用心，但我們更期待，中國對於人權能更用心。中國對這個世界最大的責任不是一個成功的奧運，而是對於人權的尊重與保護。
我不反對奧運，也不反對台灣參加，也熱切地希望給運動選手們加油打氣。不過，我最期待有一天台灣的代表隊能夠在頒獎典禮上大聲說出自己國家的名字。全體國民應該共同思考，台灣的這個夢想將因這次的京奧越來越近還是越來越遙遠？
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