Made in China

The Olympic Games is not a political event, nor is politics the purview of the International Olympic Committee. That makes the IOC a bad choice to target with protests regarding China on human rights issues.

But how, when China has made this international Olympic torch run about how glorious and wonderful they are, can one just let it pass by without saying anything?

I was fairly disappointed when China was awarded the games for 2008. I assumed that a country like China would never be asked to host the Olympics. I do think that there was some hope at the time that the Olympics would be a turning point for the Chinese people; instead these past months leading up to the beginning of the torch run has seen them suffer some unbelievable brutality.

While the government of China expresses it's "disgust" with the protests occurring along their torch route, protesters promise to meet the relay everywhere it goes on it's way to Beijing. They do this for the people of China, the people of Tibet, even the people of Darfur.

However, I am not sure China actually cares. Sure, who wouldn't want to manage this public relations scenario a little better? No one likes it when someone rains on their parade. But for China, politically, economically, this protest changes nothing - and as long as Canada remains in the top three of China's export markets, a fat lot of good us being upset about anything will do.

Matter of fact, as long as Canadians continue merrily to buy products that say "Made in China" we might as well cede the futility of our protest.