Mia Farrow: Nations Should Protest China At Olympics

BANGKOK, Thailand — Mia Farrow said Friday the world should use next month's Olympic Games as a platform to demand that China end its support for Myanmar's junta.

China is Myanmar's most important ally, providing economic, military and other aid while Western nations shun the military-ruled country because of its poor human rights record and failure to restore democracy.

China objects to Western criticisms of Myanmar's junta, saying conditions in the southeast Asian country have improved dramatically since a violent crackdown on peaceful protests in September last year.

The actress held a news conference in Bangkok after visiting the Myanmar-Thailand border with a delegation from the Nobel Women's Initiative, a group founded by female recipients of the Nobel Peace prize.

"If there is enough international pressure and if voices are raised loud enough, we can push China to change its position on Burma," Farrow told The Associated Press. Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.

Farrow also lamented President Bush's decision to attend the opening ceremonies, saying it was "a missed opportunity for the United States to stand strong by its own principles."

"A statement could have been made," she said.

In the run-up to the Olympics, Farrow has campaigned worldwide to urge China to help stop the killings in Sudan's western Darfur region. China has been one of Sudan's biggest trading partners and sells it weapons.

Reading from a statement, Farrow urged the United Nations and the international community to take action to protect women in Myanmar from sexual exploitation and abuse in areas hit by a deadly cyclone in May.

Comments

[watchingthings]

Stop and think Mia.......telling people to protest in China is liable to land them in jail and alot of trouble....you should have strongly protested them getting the olympics in the first place.....in the future, do your protesting to the Olympic comittee responsible for choosing where they will be held next, protest the cities you think shouldn't hold the Olympics. Be sure you have ligitamate reasons and make them clear to the world.

[NeverRepublican]

Hey Mia...why don't you protest America's OVER CONSUMPTION of RESOURCES???

How many items do you own that were manufactured in China????

America SUPPORTS China by importing TONS of goods from China...

And you want to make headlines by suggesting we ban the Olympics because they are being held in China?

Where were you in the past to protest the importing of goods from China????

Go Away...your a FEW YEARS too late...and your attempt to be in the spot light is comical. Could you get a little more original??

[Bendersky]

Thanks, Mia. People are already forgetting the recent massacre of the Tibetans who so bravely protested China's human rights. In this country the word "hero" has been so devalued that it has become almost meaningless. Those monks and other Tibetans are the true heroes.

[rzan]

Thank you Mia for being relentless in writing about human rights violations around the world. You have been this kind of person since you were first on the scene at a very young age. I do admire you for putting others first and for being a wonderful mom and example to your children.

[wagadog]

Maybe she could hire her buddies over at Blackwater to be the protesters' bodyguards...

[useyourbrain]

I think the nations of the world should protest Mia Farrow -- what she did to their son in poisoning him against his father was/is inexcusable. Child Abuse.

[OsamaBushLadin]

His father Woody Allen?!? Are you insane?

[rzan]

Woody Allen is the poisonous one. The young man is brilliant. He want to Columbia at 12 years of age and entered law school at 17. He is doing just fine without Woody.

[Felicty]

JESUS!

Talk about not aging well.

She looks like a chihuahua with a cheap wig.

[NoSillyName]

And looks are all that matter, right?

[Andman0121]

looks dont matter...but I seriously think she looks like a demon

[useyourbrain]

Give her a break -- for 45 years she looked like she was 20 -- it happens with people who always look good from their teens onwards -- Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and the little guy from Back to the future. At a certain point their youthful looks turn strange.

[LiberalBuzz]

Could not agree more, but large amounts of cash exchanged hands for China to get the Olympics because NO ONE in their right mind would give China the nod especially with the rotten air, the foul environment, the polluted water, hell the polluted everything AND THAT would have just been a good reason not to for health reasons even if China was not the worst human rights violator in the industrialized world.

BUT The Almighty Dollar is all that counts today, nothing else.

Just money.

And the love of money is indeed the root of all that is evil in this world.

[NoSillyName]

China owns the U.S.and probably other countries as well.

[useyourbrain]

I wonder how many athletes will collapse and die from the air. China gets a lot of attention to the glitz but not the fact of the displacement of poor and farmers to make the cities so huge and make the Olympics look great.

From what I hear, everyone smokes in China in restaurants, hotels, everywhere.

[NeverRepublican]

Try looking up what happened in Los Angeles '84...Lousey air quality is the hallmark of LA. ANd it wasn't much better then either...and smoking was allowed every back then...just a little fyi...are you like 20 years old?

[NeverRepublican]

Might want to check the carbon footprint of America per person compared to China's carbon footprint.

Again...America is worse.

[NeverRepublican]

That ment to say...in '84 people could smoke just about anywhere in America.

[HopeR]

I fully intend to boycott the Olympics. I refuse to watch this spectacle.

[LeBelAge]

I'm not watching, period. I would also like to boycott the sponsors in the future.

[rikki52b]

Of course Mr. Democracy for all nations (The Decider) will be there too. What a hypocrite.

[OhComeOnNow]

She is absolutely correct, but she will be dismissed because the almight dollar, yuen, euro speaks even louder.

China should never have been granted the Olympics.

[Checquoline]

She is right, you know.

[LeBelAge]

Its not just China's behavior that should be protested. The Olympics have become a symbol of corportatism, steriods and ripping off tax payers. They no longer represent what they were created for.

[CamJam]

So sad and true. You hit the nail on the head! Thank you!