Excerpted from Toronto Star:
"Whether or not these Olympics will go off smoothly is still hanging in the air," says Sharon Hom, head of Human Rights in China, a New York-based group formed in March 1989, "during a moment of hope" she adds.
The challenge for China—less than five months before the August Games—is not just Tibet, she observes. Tibet has riveted the world, but a "volatile mix" of issues that includes degradation of the environment, the battle for free speech and the detention of petitioners.
"All of this is coming to a head," says Hom, who has spent years teaching in China.
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For more information on this issue:
- HRIC Campaign:
Incorporating Responsibility 2008 Take Action Campaign - HRIC Press Statement:
Five-Year Sentence of Olympics Critic Not Human Rights Progress - China Rights Forum No. 1, 2008:
One Slogan, Many Meanings: Bring Tibet to the 2008 Games - HRIC Press Advisory:
Petitioners Face Ongoing Abuse - HRIC Trends Bulletin:
Olympics and The Rule of Law: Lawyers in China - HRIC Press Advisory:
With Six-Month Olympic Countdown Looming, HRIC Calls on China to Release Chen Guangcheng - HRIC Press Advisory:
HRIC Launches 2008 Take Action Website and Calls on China to Release Shi Tao - China Rights Forum No. 4, 2007:
The Real Situation in Pre-Olympics China - Teng Biao and Hu Jia give their views about the situation on the ground in the countdown to the Olympics. - China Rights Forum No. 3, 2007:
2008 and Beyond - Articles, interviews, resource list, and campaign information focusing on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. - China Rights Forum No. 2, 2007:
Incorporating Responsibility 2008 - FAQ: Foreign Journalists Operating in China During the 2008 Beijing Olympics - Human Rights in China, China: Minority Exclusion, Marginalization and Rising Tensions, commissioned by Minority Rights Group International, 2007, http://www.hrichina.org/public/PDFs/MRG-HRIC.China.Report.pdf.