From The Washington Post
By E.J. Dionne Jr.

When you put the Olympics in the hands of a dictatorship, the results are predictable. Yet the Chinese government still found a way to surprise even its critics — not so much by behaving oppressively but by doing so in a foolish and entirely unnecessary way.

By revoking the visa of 2006 Olympian Joey Cheek at the very last moment because he had the nerve to speak out about Darfur and the Chinese government’s support for Sudan’s barbarous regime, Chinese authorities guaranteed that the opening of these Games would focus as much on politics as on sports. The burden now is not on China’s critics but on its government.

Supporters of China’s Olympic bid hoped that this month’s events would showcase how much the country has changed. Let’s stipulate many of the things they regularly assert: China is more prosperous and, in important senses, more free than it has been for generations. It is in the world’s interest, and in America’s interest, to deal peacefully with China and to acknowledge its growing power. We have business to do with China, in the most basic sense of that word, on global warming and also on many diplomatic questions. And, yes, China’s economic growth has been staggering.

But a dictatorship is still a dictatorship, a fact that so many who highlight China’s achievements try to discuss only in the most guarded tones because there is such fear of antagonizing the Chinese government. Yet the Chinese government seems to have no compunction about antagonizing those for whom liberty and human rights take priority over sports and making money.

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