In my lifetime, I have never seen so much negative publicity surrounding the Olympic games. Not a day passes that I don't hear something about Free Tibet protesters trying to disrupt the passing of the Olympic torch on its journey around the world, or about some president boycotting the opening ceremonies. As a Chinese-American who has lived in China and visited it many times, it makes me sick to hear this news and angers me of how little “the other side of the story” we are exposed to.

The Olympics is a symbol of peace and unity between the continents of the world. It is about athletes and spectators coming together from many different countries to better understand each other's cultures while competing for a chance at glory. China has been awarded the honor of holding the 2008 Summer Olympics and as a proud country with a history of 5000 years, this is the first time China has been given the chance to show the world who they are. Don't judge it before you have experienced what life is really like there.

Human rights are a big issue, but the strides that China has made since the 1960's have been tremendous compared to any country's progress in such a time frame around the world. I'll admit that the censoring of media coverage to foreign media in China and the censoring of some Internet sites to Chinese citizens is not a positive aspect of China, but to boycott the Olympics because of this is absolutely ridiculous!

If the US were to boycott the Olympics completely, that means the athletes who have been training day in and day out for the past 4 years might lose their only chance to compete with the best athletes of their sport in the world. Talk about loss of human rights. It would not matter what the athlete's opinions on the political issues would be, they would not be able to compete for their country even if they wanted to.

As seen on the recent media coverage about political issues surrounding China and the Olympics, the news that we see and hear about in the United States is not without bias as well. The only Tibetans that have been on TV, on the Internet, in the media are the ones protesting to Free Tibet. What about the other 2 million Tibetans who actually live in Tibet? What’s their say in the future of Tibet?

Before unification with China, Tibetan society was based on a caste system. Women were property, slaves remained slaves with little chance of rising any higher. Since it became an active part of China again in 1951, China has tried to abolish old Tibetan ways of suppression and invested millions of dollars to build railroads through Tibet to connect it to rest of the country and improve its economy.

The Tibetan Youth Congress is a worldwide organization of Tibetans, most of whom have never even set foot in Tibet. They were the ones who started the rebellion. They were the ones who did not care about the people their protesters killed when they burned Han shops to the ground with people still inside, when they pillaged the streets shouting for their freedom while ending the freedom and lives of others.

 Five teenage girls of Han descent were shopping one day in the streets of Tibet The next thing they knew, the shop was engulfed in flames set by protesters. Only one survived. (Tibetan and Han are different minority groups in China. Han is what the majority of the people in China are.)

The Chinese army had to step in to control what they were doing. If Texans decided one day to become a country again, would the US government just smile and wish us good luck? What happened when the southern states tried to secede? Abraham Lincoln wanted to keep the United States unified. Why should we deny the Chinese government of the same goal?

China is a beautiful country, with history and conflicts just like any other. It is a country of change, of progression, but most of all of unification. They want their country to be united and rule in peace, just like any other country. There are internal conflicts, but let China work them out. You didn't see the world join in on the US civil war did you?

Don't deny athletes the opportunity to compete in a once in a lifetime experience. Don't deny China of its right to rule their country their own way. Don't deny the torchbearers their privilege to run through streets without people trying to snatch the torch away. And most of all, don't deny yourself the opportunity to go to the Olympics. See what China is really like, and judge for yourself what China really represents.

Stuck, trapped, torn