Link Olympics to Tibet suppression

Re “Tibetans defy crackdown,” March 17

I hate to say it, but with China’s killing of monks and other protesters in Tibet, I think we have to boycott the Olympics. While it is a terrible thing for the athletes, it is immoral for us to in any way appear to support, endorse or accept China’s inhuman behavior. It illustrates quite clearly that the International Olympic Committee’s selection of a politically borderline site was unwise.

David Reisner

Los Angeles

China cannot earn respect from the international community while repressing basic rights in Tibet, Xinjiang and elsewhere and denying freedom of the press. Hold the Olympics, wave flags, talk of a peaceful rise and autonomous regions, but games, pageantry and Orwellian rhetoric cannot mask the reality of brutality.

China’s central government will earn respect when its actions adhere more closely to the urgings of the Dalai Lama when he says, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

William E. Cooper

President Emeritus

University of Richmond

Richmond, Va.

Previous boycotts in Olympic countries have not proved effective as a political statement. Nor do I advocate that the U.S. boycott the Chinese Olympics in protest to the crackdown in Tibet.

But I do not have to support the games. My TV will be tuned to a different station.

Scott Temple

Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.

Re “10 reported dead in Tibet rioting,” March 15

I don’t get it: When Tibet people and monks rebel against the Chinese and want their homeland back, you call them fighters for freedom. When Palestinians want their homeland back, you call them terrorists. Is that a double standard?

Mike Mlikotin

Los Angeles