As the ancient Olympic games were a religious celebration in honour of Zeus, the Roman emperors discouraged and eventually outlawed the old "pagan" religious practices after they formally adopted Christianity. The emperor Theodosius I legally abolished the games in 393 or 394 A.D.

Modern Olympic games had also fallen victim to erratic human behaviour. In 1980, the U.S. led a boycott of the Moscow Olympics to protest against the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In a tit-for-tat action, the now-defunct Soviet Union led a boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Now voices are heard in some countries calling for the boycott of the Beijing Olympics over Chinese rule inTibet. Actually, the suggestion of using the Olympics to put pressure on Beijing is not new. It began as early as 4 years ago soon after China won the right to hold the Olympic games. The first voice suggesting using the Olympic games to put pressure on China came from somebody in Taiwan. He suggested the time when the Olympic Games are held in China is also the best time for Taiwan to declare independence. To this, China responded that it is prepared at all times to safeguard its territorial integrity at all costs. Hence, one would not expect the Chinese government to yield to the current campaign to grant independence to Tibet.

Why are the Tibetan separatists become so active overnight? Why does the Tibetan unrest escalate so suddenly? Actually this is no coincidence. The present unrest in Tibet and worldwide demonstrations might have been planned as long as 4 years ago soon after the announcement that China had won the right to hold the Olympic games. The Dalai Lama had been very active last year as he went on a high-profile tour to Europe and America. It is not surprising that he was laying the groundwork of what is happening at present. He may have take a cue from the Myanmar unrest. In contrast to the usual Chinese crude way of dealing with the crisis, his plan is subtle, meticulous, systematic, well-planned and well-coordinated. However, other than putting China in a tight corner and causing international embarassment to the Chinese government, he will still fail to achieve his main objective in the end because of China’s usual uncompromising stance.

On the other hand, it is rather surprising that the Chinese authorities had apparently failed to see the risk of hosting the Olympic games which can be compared to a Trojan horse with the Dalai Lama and his fellow monks hidden inside ready to launch their international campaign against China. Perhaps China has underestimated its opponents and is over-confident that it can win the high-stake gamble. Or perhaps it had been blinded by the economic benefits of the games. Just like a wounded lion surrounded by a pack of wolves, its opponents are too many to be on guard against. Prior to the Tibetan unrest, there were calls to boycott the Beijing Olympics over China’s policies on Myanmar, Sudan and other parts of Africa. China’s power and influence over the regimes in Myanmar, Sudan and other African countries are intentionally overstated by its opponents. How can China yield effective influence over those independent regimes when it cannot even control a few monks inside its territory?

Of all the problems, the Tibetan problem has taken centre stage in the coming Olympics. It cannot be ruled out that the history of the Moscow Olympics boycott may be repeated in Beijing. Even if no country boycotts the games, some individuals may do so. Those athletes who don’t boycott the games may resort to antics like shouting slogans or wearing clothes with slogans supporting the Tibetan separatists.
It may not be difficult for Tibetan separatists’ supporters and sympathisers to attend the games as spectators to create trouble and unrest.

From now till the end of the year, the Tibetan separatists will do their best to escalate the unrest to attract international attention. The Olympic games will turn from a Trojan horse into a sacrificial lamb. The Olympic movement will end up as the main loser in the end as more countries realise that individuals and groups will not hesitate to use it as a political tool for their own ends.

As time goes on, less and less countries are willing to bid for the games. This is because no country in the world today is free from domestic problems. For instance, the Europe of today is different from the Europe that sent adventurers and explorers to the New World or round the Cape of Good Hope 500 years ago. Now it has a sizable proportion of immigrants whose thinking often clashes with its own people’s belief in the freedom of the press. The US racial problem can also be seen in the recent Democrat election. It cannot be guaranteed now that the Olympics games can be held smoothly in any Western country.

Furthermore, with the escalation in the costs of food, oil and building materials, the Olympics games will no longer be viewed as a lucrative venture. It may meet its second death eventually.

The following is full text of an AFP/Washington Post “Eyewitness Account” from the Chinese city of Chengdu. It is taken from Singapore’s major newspaper Straits Times on March 18 under the headline “Tibetan youths on rampage, says tourist”.

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Enraged Tibetan youths embarked on a rampage of destruction against Chinese businesses in Lhasa that left parts of the once-fabled city in ruins, according to a tourist who witnessed the protests.

Mr Juan Carlos Alonso, 46, a Spaniard who had stayed on Beijing Street after arriving on Wednesday in the old quarter near some of Lhasa’s holiest shrines, recounted how he had seen first-hand Tibetan anger towards the Chinese boil over into violence.

“The purpose was to destroy everything on that main street, beginning with all the Chinese stores and restaurants,” he told AFP after arriving at Chengdu airport in neighbouring Sichuan province late on Sunday before catching a flight home.

“The restaurant owners and those Chinese on the street had to hide. They lowered the shutters, but the Tibetans kicked their way in, dragging people out, beating them with stones. There were knives, stones, machetes, butcher knifes – they were using everything that came to hand,” he said.

“Many Chinese were running for their lives.”

Mr Alonso estimated that he had seen at least 35 ethnic Chinese covered in blood, though he had not seen any dead.

Describing the masses of rioters as mainly Tibetan men in their late teens with only a few monks in the crowd, he said that in front of the Banakshol hotel where he had been staying, all the stores and restaurants had been ransacked.

“There are none left; they’ve all been burnt,” he said.

Mr Alonso said the tension between Tibetans and Chinese police had been palpable before the youths exploded with rage.

The unrest in Lhasa began on March 10, the 49th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising which led the Dalai Lama to flee into exile in India.

“I was not afraid,” said the tourist, who used to work in a German engineering firm.

“I knew they weren’t going after me. It would be one thing if they said ‘Get the Spaniard’, but the Tibetans were going after the Chinese.”

He added: “One girl – they grabbed her on the street and took her towards a door before kicking and stoning her. The girl was crying out for help.”

As vehicles, storefronts and restaurants burned late on Friday, the Chinese military rolled in with tanks and armoured vehicles. Mr Alonso said he knew it was time to escape.

“There was a time (Friday night) when shots were fired. Then on Saturday morning there were shots – several bursts of them.

“With every passing moment, there were more and more soldiers. We said, ‘We’re leaving’.”

As Mr Alonso and his friends cut through back streets swarming with heavily armed Chinese troops, the Spaniard said parts of the ancient city were already ruined.

Buildings and cars burned, while all manner of goods – rice, flour, meat, dresses, textiles, desks, chairs – littered the streets.

“At one point, one super aggressive Chinese military guy came up to us yelling,” Mr Alonso said.

“The guy grabbed his gun, shot ‘bang, bang, bang’ into the air. I thought to myself, ‘He’d better not drop his machine gun.’”

While the violent protests might have been long in the making due to what is seen as Chinese cultural invasion and economic domination, China’s majority Han Chinese do not share that perspective and have generally condemned the unrest.

Most Chinese see the Dalai Lama and his monks as obscurantist reactionaries trying to split the country and reverse the economic and social progress that China has brought to a backward and isolated land over the past 58 years.

In street conversions, Internet discussions and academic forums, most Chinese have readily embraced the government’s contention that the violence resulted from a plot mounted by the Dalai Lama from his exile headquarters in India.

“The riot in Lhasa was caused by the Dalai Lama,” said Professor Zhang Yun of the government-sponsored Chinese Centre for Tibetan Studies in Beijing.

“There is a lot of prejudice against the Chinese government. People believe all that stuff about the Dalai Lama, and that the Chinese government is all wrong. But actually, the reality is not like that.”

An Internet commentator who identified himself as Roomx said Buddhist monks had no more right than anybody else to torch shops and kill the Han Chinese businessmen inside.

“They are all Chinese citizens,” he added. “The monks who are connected to this conduct have to be arrested. Otherwise, it is not in conformity with rule by law.” (End text)