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Don't Blame China, We're British

By Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson

Every so often I get a slew of emails asking me why asking me why I have not written on a particular topic or telling me that I should. But I have gotten so many relating to Britain's edict (since revoked?) to its Olympic athletes telling them to keep their mouths shut while in China I am beginning to wonder if they are part of some concerted email campaign. A number of these emails even accuse me of "remaining silent." I was going to remain silent on this because I do not see this as a China issue, and if it is a China issue, it is certainly nothing new. Readers of this blog do not need me to tell them about speaking out in China? This is mostly a British issue (I say mostly because I rather doubt this will be an issue at the upcoming Winter Olympics in beautiful Vancouver, BC). Is Britain making a mistake here? I certainly think so, but since this is a blog on Chinese law and business (with a bit of China miscellany thrown in from time to time), who am I to write about that? So enough with the emails already. PLEASE STOP! One of the emails was from Commentary Magazine, linking over to this fine post by Gordon Chang, entitled, "Britain's Olympic Kowtow." For those wanting to read more on this, check out the following: -- "China 1, UK 0," at Random Nuclear Strikes -- "Removing The Gag" at Right-Thinking from the Left Coast -- "Olympics, Politics, and Food," at Booker Rising -- "Athlete Defies the 'Gagging' Clause" at Iain Dale's Diary -- "It's not only Britain rolling over on Olympic restraint," at Precious Metal -- "No Politics in Beijing?" at Concurring Opinions -- "Back to the Future for UK Athletes," at Rhymes with Right

Full post as published by China Law Blog on February 12, 2008 (boomark / email).