[Manhattanboy]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I am completely opposed to genocide, regardless of which country it takes place in. I also don't think a country is defined just by the worst things that it does. Canada was still engaged in genocide at the time of the '88 games and when most of the posters on CP were growing up here, including me. That is horrific. I can recognize that is horrific and also recognize that there are many other sides to the country, many of which are wonderful. So, yeah, I think defining a country only by the worst things that it does isn't the right way to go. The world isn't just made up of good and evil, or good guys and bad guys. It's a messy, complex place where horror and beauty co-exist, overlap and intertwine. One of my heroes throughout my adult life has been Romeo Dallaire. He has called for Canada to boycott as a moral obligation, and I respect that. He is also someone who experienced a truly brutal genocide from the closest perspective, and still deeply loved the country where it took place and saw so much good there. He also struggled terribly with the haughty sense of superiority combined with actual moral disengagement with overseas realities that he saw in Canada after he returned.

Despite valid criticism and objection to some things that China is engaged in, the country has arguably also done more to improve the global average standard of living than any other country on earth over the last 20+ years. Chinese governance has been a major factor in that too, and continues to be a major factor in how China can continue contributing to the improvement of global quality of life in future.

Countries should be judged for the worst things they do, but they're not defined by those terrible things alone. I've been very critical of China on deserving issues as well, but I don't let those issues define everything about the country in my eyes. The world is not just black and white. The story of China as a modern world power is still far from finished being written.

Bull****.