Olympic Games 2008: Tibet

The Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Revd John Gladwin, intervened in a House of Lords debate on 19 March 2008 about the Olympic Games 2008: Tibet.

The Bishop’s question and the Government’s reply are reproduced below.

My Lords, does the Minister accept that the Dalai Lama has conducted himself over many years with great restraint and dignity on these issues, as I am sure everyone in this House would affirm? Does he further accept that, while we should honour and indeed encourage the conscience of individual athletes attending the Games, these are properly matters that belong with Her Majesty's Government and that—witness the 1936 Munich Games—it is the manner of people's participation that sometimes leaves a long-lasting record of the dignity of all cultures and people?

Lord Malloch-Brown (Minister of State, Foreign & Commonwealth Office) replied:

My Lords, the right reverend Prelate makes an extraordinarily important point. We expect our athletes to respect British values of courtesy and respect for the country where the Games are being held but also that supremely important value of speaking the truth as they see it and speaking openly of what they see. However, it is enormously dangerous to compare Beijing to the situation in 1936. China is a country that has come out in a dramatic way in recent years. It has engaged in the world in ways that have led not just to a reduction in the poverty of its people but to incremental improvements in its internal political freedom. We have all—China and the rest of the world—pursued a strategy of engaging; we have not wanted to isolate China and force it to turn back on itself. We should not forgo that strategy at this point. There should be pressure to cease from violence but no disengagement from China.

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