Take action Tuesday, January 4

In one month, the Winter Olympic Games are set to take place in Beijing, China, home of the Chinese Communist Party. The fact that the International Olympic Committee, with its self-proclaimed goal of “… promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity,” entrusted the games to a regime actively committing genocide and other crimes against humanity, has turned the games into a dangerous propaganda tool for the CCP and forever tarnished the spirit of the games.

The CCP’s atrocious human rights record is on full display as current events continue to unfold now. Just days ago, police raided the office of pro-democracy Hong Kong news media Stand News and arrested its leaders in the latest wave of assaults on press freedom in Hong Kong.  Since June 2020, more than 150 people have been arrested under the new national security law aimed at suppressing dissent and tightening authoritarian control over Hong Kong. In East Turkestan, millions of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have suffered arbitrary imprisonment, rape, forced sterilization, torture, and forced labor. For decades, the CCP has systematically repressed, exploited, and threatened Tibetans and their identity and now a recent report has exposed that at least 78% of all Tibetan students ages six to 18 have been separated from their families and must live in colonial boarding schools. The CCP has committed atrocious crimes against its own citizens, from the Cultural Revolution to the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989 to the systematic crackdown on political dissidents to its blatant mishandling and cover-up of COVID-19 at the onset of the pandemic.

The Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in the face of the human rights abuses committed against Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hongkongers, and many others. The administration made clear that it “will not be contributing to the fanfare of the games.” While we commend the administration for its global leadership in taking this stance, we must also recognize that a diplomatic boycott is mainly symbolic. Symbolism alone will not amount to substantive pressure to force the Chinese Communist Party to change its course. For too long, the U.S. and its allies have naively fostered a hope that economic development and engagement with China will lead to democratization and respect for human rights. This hope has been proven to be false. More must be done to send a clear message that human rights are not negotiable.

We hereby demand corporations to not be complicit in enabling, validating, and glorifying a regime currently committing genocide.  Specifically:

• We call on NBCUniversal to not broadcast the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing
• We call on everyone to boycott the games by not watching NBC’s coverage of the games.  Do not contribute to NBC’s viewership and profit from its “proud sponsors”.
• We call on everyone in the Greater Boston area to join local activists in person on January 4 for a Day of Action:

Join local activists at these two Boston-area protests against the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing:

Tuesday, January 4th, 2022
3:00-5:00pm
NBC: Drop the Sponsorship!
189 B St, Needham Heights
https://goo.gl/maps/rNpcvGoeq4ZEp1nC8

7:00-9:00pm
Candlelight Vigil for Political Prisoners
Brattle Sq, Cambridge
https://goo.gl/maps/eZ7nzfyvk6D7NJXJ7

Chia-Chun Chung is a Taiwanese-American based in Malden, MA.