While we are caught up in every inconsequential detail of the interesting presidential primaries currently under way in the US, much upheaval has recently taken place on the other side of the world.  China is getting ready for the 2008 Summer Olympics – an occasion during which it hopes to showcase the country’s impressive growth and modernization before the rest of the world. But just as host nations wish to use the Olympics to put development, efficiency and hospitality on display, the international gathering can also be a rare opportunity for oppressed groups to publicize their grievances before a world audience. This is particularly true for authoritarian regimes like China whose custom it is to not just oppress but also to suppress all news of that oppression. Every effort will be made by China to conceal and deny the less desirable aspects of Chinese society and politics when throngs of international visitors arrive for the summer games in August. Unfortunately for China, discontent of some of its citizenry has bubbled over even before the games have begun. The recent uprising in Tibet has confirmed what the world has suspected for decades – Tibetans in China comprise an unhappy minority population which has not fully reconciled to the loss of political and cultural sovereignty nearly fifty years ago to Chinese aggression.

BEIJING — Chinese leaders have blamed “splittists” led by the exiled Dalai Lama for spurring violent protests in Tibet and orchestrating a public relations sneak attack on the Communist Party as it gears up to host the Olympics Games this summer.

But to many Tibetans and their sympathizers, the weeklong uprising against Chinese rule in Lhasa reflects years of simmering resentment over Beijing’s interference in Buddhist religious rites, its tightened political control and the destruction of the environment across the Himalayan territory the Tibetans consider sacred. If there is a surprise, it may be that Beijing has managed to keep things stable for so long.

Since the last big anti-Chinese riots in Tibet two decades ago, Beijing has sought to smother Tibetan separatism by sparking economic development and by inserting itself into the metaphysics of Tibetan Buddhism. But an influx of Han Chinese migrants into Tibet, and a growing sense among Tibetans that China is irreparably altering their way of life, produced a backlash at the moment when Communist Party leaders most needed stability there, analysts say.

“Why did the unrest take off?” asked Liu Junning, a liberal political scientist in Beijing. “I think it has something to do with the long-term policy failure of the central authorities. They failed to earn the respect of the people there.”

Tibetans staged anti-Chinese protests in several parts of China on Monday ahead of a midnight deadline to surrender or face harsh consequences. Even in Beijing, Tibetan students held a sit-in to support demonstrators in Lhasa. Around the world there were sympathy protests outside Chinese diplomatic missions.

The protests in Tibet have perhaps had the loudest reverberations in India where the Dalai Lama heads the Tibetan government in exile and where the largest population of Tibetans outside Tibet live.  The Dalai Lama has accused China of carrying out "cultural genocide." The political upheaval in Tibet, for long the seat of uncertain peace and reluctant assimilation, has certainly caught the attention of the world. Less well publicized is the plight of migrant laborers in mainland China who have borne the majority of the burden of China’s booming modernization and urban growth on their backs. China is dependent on the same labor groups to accomplish the task of completing the construction work surrounding the Olympics.  The laborers, usually men who leave their families behind in villages to come to urban centers seeking work, face deplorable lives in the cities. Human Rights Watch reports that the migrant laborers live and work in dangerous conditions and are routinely bilked and mistreated by their employers.  They have little or no access to hygienic living quarters or medical care and are subjected to arbitrary fines and their wages often go unpaid. The conditions surrounding the construction of Olympics facilities are no exception – the laborers are being cheated and exploited as usual.    

Builders of the ‘New Beijing’ Cheated of Wages, Denied Essential Services

(New York, March 12, 2008) – Migrant construction workers building the “new Beijing” are routinely exploited by being denied proper wages, under dangerous conditions with neither accident insurance nor access to medical and other social services, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

The 61-page report, “One Year of My Blood,” documents the Chinese government’s failure to fulfill long-repeated promises to protect the rights of migrant construction workers, as well as to end deprivations caused by the discriminatory nature of China’s household registration (hukou) system. An estimated 1 million migrant construction workers, hailing from other parts of China, make up nearly 90 percent of Beijing’s construction workforce. These workers are the muscle behind completion of Olympic Games-related infrastructure and sporting venues. The Beijing Olympic Games begin on August 8, 2008. 

“The Chinese government is all talk and no action when it comes to delivering meaningful protection and social services for migrant construction workers,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Despite years of government rhetoric, employers still cheat migrant construction workers of hard-earned wages. And when it comes to basic social services, the government still discriminates against migrants.” 

The Human Rights Watch report documents how employers routinely force migrants to work, withhold wages for up to a year, then offer a lump sum payment which is considerably below the agreed wage rate and Beijing’s minimum wage rate. Some employers refuse to pay anything at all. 

Adding insult to injury, a dysfunctional government redress system prevents workers from claiming their legally protected rights – those who protest face threats of sometimes deadly violence. In July 2007, hoodlums hired as strike breakers murdered a migrant construction worker at a building site in Guangdong province where the striking workers had remained unpaid for months….

“It’s unacceptable for workers to risk death and injury merely for pursuing their legal right to fair wages paid punctually and in full,” Richardson said. “More empty government rhetoric will only guarantee more risks, more injuries, and more deaths,” Richardson said. 

The 2008 Olympic Games certainly have helped to spur the city’s construction boom. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which selected Beijing to host the games, should seek independent certification that all workers employed at Olympic construction sites are being paid lawfully and adequately, in a safe working environment and protected from other work-related abuses. The need for such certification is particularly urgent since the January 2008 admission by the Chinese government that six workers had died in workplace accidents at Olympics venues during the past three years.

“If the Olympic movement really prides itself on its dedication to ‘fundamental universal ethical principles,’ then the International Olympics Committee must ensure that workers who help build Beijing’s Olympic venues are at least treated fairly and in accordance with Chinese law, and the fundamental international human rights standards that China has assumed and promised its citizens to respect,” Richardson said. 

The full Human Rights Watch document here.

And what is China’s response to the HRW report?

When asked about the report ahead of its publication, China‘s Foreign Ministry questioned the credibility of Human Rights Watch.

"I believe that everybody is well aware that Human Rights Watch has some problem with its sight. It is biased. It has some problems with its eyes. It has weakness in seeing things properly," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters Tuesday.

A total boycott of the Beijing Olympics has not found widespread support among participating nations. Some are now suggesting that a mini-boycott of the opening ceremonies by international VIP guests may serve as a pointed signal of disapproval of China’s disregard for human rights.