Now the government must show us what dialogue with China on human rights factik means.

Debate

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In the coming weeks , the Olympics will take place in a country where over a million Uighurs are interned in concentration camps because of their faith and ethnicity, where the Communist Party has suffocated the last remaining democracy in Hong Kong and where the host nation threatens neighboring Taiwan with invasion.

The Olympic organizer has also not gone out of his way to threaten the athletes with sanctions if they were to speak out about human rights and democracy.

Countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom , Canada and Denmark have opted for a diplomatic boycott of the Games. They have taken a clear stand against the “sports laundering” of gross human rights violations.

Although the contagion situation has led to Norwegian political representation being minimal, both Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt and Minister of Culture Anette Trettebergstuen have said that Norway wants to engage in human rights dialogue, rather than participate in a diplomatic boycott.

With such a position also comes a responsibility to the wise Chinese authorities, the victims of the regime’s human rights violations and the Norwegian people what this diag actually entails and leads to.

In recent weeks , we have seen NRK Brennpunkt’s documentary about how the previous government bowed to, and sent an ignorant Norwegian sports federation in front of it, to normalize relations with China. At a time when both the United States and the EU, but also small countries such as Lithuania are clearly challenging China, we are still waiting on which line Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre will take.

China has unfortunately gone from bad to worse since the last time the Labor Party and the Center Party ruled Norway. This requires a new approach from the Norwegian authorities.

There are few countries in the world today that pose a greater threat to human rights and democracy than China. It is a country that has gone in an increasingly authoritarian, if not totalitarian, direction since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. Any criticism of the regime is brutally cracked down on, which also affected doctors like oh coronavirus.

The scope and depth of surveillance has been taken to a level never before seen anywhere. Combined with a points system socialite that rewards those who live up to government expectations and punish deviations by depriving citizens of fundamental rights, Xi Jinping has created a society similar to what George Orwell envisioned .

It is easy to be dazzled by China’s economic growth, but we must not forget slave labor and inhumane working conditions for millions of Chinese, and the exploitation of natural resources and people in countries like the Congo. There is also a part that can be carried away by China’s production of renewable energy, but disregards the fact that China is among the foremost in building more coal power plants .

Internationally, China’s influence through, among other things, the Belt and Road Initiative and massive investments in infrastructure and extraction of raw materials. In international institutions, China is gaining more and more influence, which also makes it very difficult for the UN to address human rights violations in authoritarian countries. At the same time, we see a disturbing development where critics outside China also risk persecution.

In Norway, Uighurs with Norwegian citizenship have told about how they, and their family members in China, are threatened in Norway if they express themselves Criticism of the concentration camps in Xinjiang.

It is impossible for a Norwegian government not to relate to China. Many Norwegian companies will and should continue to operate in or trade with the country. Norwegian students and researchers will benefit from collaboration.

If the climax is resolved and poverty is fought, China must join. However, this must never be an excuse for not criticizing China’s growing threat to human rights and democracy inside and outside China.

The Olympics is an event that has great propaganda value for China. China has stated that Norwegian citizens who participate will be punished if they criticize the Chinese authorities during the games .

This is incompatible with values ​​that are fundamental both for our society and for the sports movement. In light of this, it would be right to follow other countries in a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in Beijing.

choose dialogue when the risk of contributing to “sports laundering” and legitimation of human rights violations is significant, therefore commits all the more.