Australians are sports-obsessed, and never more so than when the Olympic Games roll around every four years. But this year's Games have been the focus of misplaced idealism by opponents of Beijing's recent crackdown in Tibet, and what appears to be a case of Sinophobia by sporting officials.
The recent decision by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, at a relatively late stage, to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games and stay on to support athletes in their quest for medals, is a neat example of this misplaced idealism. Mr Rudd announced on June 19 that he had accepted his invitation from the Chinese government to attend the Games. How dare he, cried pro-Tibet advocates like the leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Brown.
Senator Brown accused Mr Rudd of being seduced by the 'sheer trade power and the dollar power and the money power and the political power of the Beijing bosses'. Senator Brown says Mr Rudd should have refused to attend unless China agreed, first, to meet the Dalai Lama. Paul Bourke, the head of the Australia-Tibet Council, a lobby group, says Mr Rudd is letting the Chinese off the hook over the ongoing dispute with the Tibetans, which has flared up again this year.
The response to Mr Rudd's critics is a simple one. It would not have made one iota of difference to the Chinese if Mr Rudd had boycotted the opening ceremony of the Games. There are some 80 world leaders attending this event, which is 20 more than attended the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000. These days, Australia's robust relationship with China allows the former to argue the case for greater respect for the aspirations of the Dalai Lama and his political supporters in the many bilateral opportunities that present themselves each year.
In fact, it was during a visit to Beijing in April this year that Mr Rudd won plaudits from Senator Brown and others firmly and very publicly telling China that Australia had significant concerns about human rights in Tibet. No doubt when Mr Rudd gets the chance he will do so again while he is in Beijing attending the Olympics.
In short, for Australian human rights campaigners, the best way to influence Beijing not only on Tibet, but also on China's appallingly liberal use of the death penalty and other human rights concerns, is for Mr Rudd and other influential Australians to be in Beijing in August instead of sulking at home.