The New York Sun-By Jeremy Furchtgott
Leading American politicians are calling the 2022 Beijing Olympics the “Genocide Games” in highlighting China’s oppression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. This year’s concerns echo those about Tibetans in the leadup to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Remember, Tibetan protests and the Chinese government’s response back then gained widespread international attention, and there were calls to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
With the Olympics now back in Beijing 14 years later, the Tibetans seem to have been almost forgotten. What happened?
One barometer and driver of political discourse is coverage by the Drudge Report, and this illustrates the dramatic change between 2008 and 2022. The outlet provided more coverage of Tibet-related issues in 2008 than during the entirety of the past 10 years combined, while its coverage of Xinjiang-related issues has grown significantly in the past few years. Click here to read more.