Joey Cheek, Ex-Olympic Speedskater, Has Visa Revoked By China

Former Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek had his visa revoked by Chinese authorities Wednesday, hours before he was set to travel to Beijing to promote his effort urging China to help make peace in the war-torn Darfur section of Sudan.

Cheek, the president and co-founder of a collection of Olympic athletes known as Team Darfur, was planning to spend about two weeks in China, when he received an unexpected call from authorities.

The 2006 American gold medalist said they told him they were denying him entrance into the country and were "not required to give a reason."

"I didn't see it coming," Cheek said. "I figured once they gave me a visa, I wouldn't imagine they wouldn't allow me to come in later. That was a big shock. I wasn't expecting to get a call the evening before I was leaving for Beijing."

White House press secretary Dana Perino said the U.S. would protest China's decision to deny the visa.

One of Cheek's key initiatives was urging the international community to persuade Sudan to observe the ancient tradition of the Olympic truce during the Beijing Games.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in fighting in the western Sudanese region since ethnic African tribesmen took up arms in 2003.

The Olympic truce dates to the ancient games in Greece, when fighting was halted to ensure athletes had safe passage to travel to and from the competitions. Attempts to revive the truce in modern times have met with only modest success, most notably in the Balkans during the 1992 and 1994 Games.

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Cheek said he has been upset by China's treatment of athletes involved in his cause and thinks the International Olympic Committee's rules that prohibit political protest go against the spirit of the games.

"I've been pretty unimpressed with the IOC's efforts in protecting athletes, for giving them any options," Cheek said.

IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the IOC was aware from press reports that Cheek had been denied a visa.

"Visa applications from non-accredited persons do not fall within the IOC's remit, and we are therefore not best placed to answer you on this question," Moreau said.

Jim Scherr, chief executive officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee, called Cheek a "great Olympic champion."

"We think that it is unfortunate," Scherr said. "But it's between this government and Joey as a private citizen."

Cheek said he has been greeted warmly on his previous trips to China.

"I don't begrudge them the Olympics, I think they'll do well with them," Cheek said. "But there are so many of their government's policies that I find repulsive, especially for athletes who have no intention but to help someone else."

He had planned to attend a United Nations Olympic celebration and some charity events but wasn't planning any big Team Darfur demonstrations. Now he's scrambling to figure out how to draw attention to his cause back home in Washington.

"Of course I would have liked to have been there, advocating for a peaceful resolution," he said. "But we'll figure something out."

Comments

[Coyote2]

B oycott W almart and H ome D epot and the cheap C hinese junk they sell. B oycott anything to do with the O lympics including broadcasts.

It is time to reduce our consumption anyways, and this is as good a time and a cause as any.

[NTO08]

The Chinese pulled a fast one on the Olympic committee...they had no intention of opening up the country to meet the standards committee had asked them to do...crackdowns, neighborhood watches to tattle on people, all the old tactics that will keep the country from ever modernizing in earnest...that being said, Bush is standing on shaky ground if he protests China's behavior. This is the problem Bush has now: zero credibility when criticizing other nations' civil liberty violations.

Severe penalties must ensue against China for this...UN sanctions, boycotts of their products, stiff trade tariffs slapped on them, you name it, they deserve it.

[Daly]

As long as we are a debtor nation with China owning the bulk of the debt nothing will change.
we are past boycotts in this instance, we need to make Iraq pay it's own bills exit as quickly as possible.

Start repairs in American our crumbling infastructure is in need of attention and that would provide jobs, done right the jobs will reduce our dependancy on war torn nations oil.

GOP convention is being held in state that had broken bridges; all interstates roadways are 50 years old time for an extreme makeover.

[mshazen]

I think both our governments have thngs to be ashamed of.

[truthynesslover]

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

[StealGeorgia]

"I didn't see it coming," Cheek said.

Hello? What part of "Communist Totalitarian Regime" did you miss when you were in highschool? Oh... that's right, you were probably a jock back then and weren't paying attention. (Do they even teach that anymore?)

Jeez. For those of you too young to remember the Cultural Revolution and Tienamin Square, here is your second chance to get a small taste. Pay attention to crap like this and you will have a small inking about what they (and McCain/Bush/Cheney btw) are all about.

Impeach Convict Imprison - it only takes a couple of weeks.

[Furby]

And for those of you too young to remember Tienamen Square, that happened almost two decades ago in 1989. It is possible that China has not been standing still for the past twenty years. Oh right, 1989 was the year the You Ess elected George Bush Senior as their president. I stand corrected, things can stand still can't they.

[Ides]

1) Give China the Olympics with the hope that increased focus would cause them to clean up their act.
2) Watch China go to extreme lengths, even making things five times worse, to pretend that they have cleaned up their act.
3) ???
4) Profit off human suffering.

[FuzzyLiberal]

The German government did not "block" Jesse Owens from competing in the Olympics in 1936, even though he was an African-American and Germany's government was controlled by the Nazis.

Yet the Chinese are blocking this athlete from competing because he has an opinion they do not wish to "see" expressed.

It's hard to believe that China is more repressive than Nazi Germany, but it appears to be the case.

[Agnim]

Americans have mass murdered hundreds of thousands of INNOCENT Iraqis UNPROVOKED!

Chinese have killed no one in Darfur!

So why would this rude idiot wanting to go disrupt order all the way over there in China, instead of focusing on America's more humongous sins at home over Iraq?
Ignorance, denial, colonialist-imperialist mentality, and ARROGANCE!

[ohmercy]

rude idiot?

You mean a citizen who dedicated himself to alleviating suffering of millions in a forgotten and ignored part of the world?

You sound like a frozen ideologue of the mob mentality with lirttle in the way of objectivity and critical thinking skills.

How would requesting aid from the world, the Chinese to help with Darfgur be disruptive unless one was looking to be disrupted and reactionary?

How do you know this person does not also take action about Iraq? I have found that those who are committed activists in one cause often spend time helping in others.

I've also found that those who attack and criticize are generally louts who do so because they prefer hating on others to actually accomplishing something by dedicating their own lives to something other than their own self indulgence.

so what are you doing for the Iraqi's?

Been arrested lately for civil disobedience or passive resistance?
Taken to the streets about FISA, Anthrax, Forged documents?

anything?

[Northernview]

I have no reason to suspect that Mr. Cheek is motivated by anything but the best intentions and that bringing peace to Darfur is a noble cause. I do think, however, that if Mr. Cheek was lobbying his own government to cease all fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq during the Olympics, his actions wouldn't be regarded as quite so hypocritical by the Chinese. That having been said, do you honestly think the US would even remotely entertain such a suggestion? The violence of war doesn't come with an on/off switch.

[missjulz]

I've never understood people with such a dogmatic perspective on protest. What you are essentially saying is that if you are an american you cannot protest against anything other than american government actions? That does not make any sense. Protest it all I say! Every anti-human action EVERYWHERE.

I applaud this so called "rude idiot". It's a shame that protest has gotten such a bad rap these past few decades, relegated to rudeness indeed. That's just silly. Protest REQUIRES "rudeness" or disruption or making the powers that be uncomfortable.

We need protest, it is not only a right that helps guarantee other rights. Protest is an obligation. Pay some homage to people who got their heads's kicked in during labor protests that paved the way for you to only have to work a limited number of hours of work each week or get overtime pay. Applaud those rude idiots who helped dismantle child labor in this country during our last century. Instead you choose to denigrate these activities to some social breach of rudeness. How ignorant.

[Daly]

China and Chinese have killed in Darfur - just did not use weapons. Silence kills, exploiting another country to your benefit kills.

You have nothing to be proud of in fact with the power that China now has they have stealthily worked in the Middle East too again causing destruction.

We can make improvements on being an ignorant nation, lets start with keeping all college spots for ourselves, colonialist-imperialist mentality - like Tibet? Arrogance YES something both China and America are guilty of what's your buying Africa one country at a time?

[lovethesinner]

China: tyrants with money.

For this we can thank Nixon's visit, Reagan's economics, and Clinton's triangulation.

America: politicians with needs.

[Furby]

Turn off the politics and let the athletes be the stars of this show. Boycott if you must, but let us (the majority) enjoy the Olympics for what they should be, an apolitical environment that brings the world together for two weeks every two years. Is that too much to ask?

[StealGeorgia]

Let the Olympics die. It's pointlessly political and has been since the the first Greek version. Screw the athletes. Saving the world with sports has seen its day.

[hlhicks]

I so agree with you because you know the swimming relay is sooo much more important than genocide. Who cares about human rights abuses when we can see the dream team flatten australia?

[Furby]

51 weeks a year not enough for you to talk your political head off? OK take all 52, just keep it down, we're watching the Olympics and we don't get to do that very often. But you're certainly not alone, misery soooooo loves company.

[houseofglass]

He is a gold medalist and can't go to the olympics.

[hypnus]

Joey isn't mad at the Chinese. He's decided to turn the other cheek.

[ohmercy]

;-)
cute

[marymansour]

The Olympic committee chose this location - go figure.

[RatgurlSD]

Yeah, I've been wondering about that. I could've sworn that Paris was in the running for the Olympic Games site 2008 (or was it 2012?). There are so many better countries that are willing to host the games.... why did the IOC choose Beijing?

[Schallvain]

$$$$

[Daly]

US constantly dogs France, and no doubt had something to do with this; we owe China and need to pay them off , Not until then will we be in a position to speak out besides we have spent near 8 years running about having fits and breaking every world rule so we are in no position to cry foul.

[nuglet304]

duh!

[bwaynester]

i would love to take a poll. are you going to watch these olympics? anyone i have asked has said no. vote now.

[Meggie]

NO. I am going to find Amanda Beard's poster tho. I'm curious about the protests and peaceful things that get past this group of security/spy freaks.

[Furby]

You go Meggie.

[hypnus]

Only if the athletes are naked. I’m a traditionalist.

[dbg2]

I was but not now ... have you seen any of the fluff reports on the today show ... the whole olympic show will be same stuff

[StealGeorgia]

Not unless there is some cute chic I catch while flipping channels. Then maybe... but probably not.

[nuglet304]

we have some pretty amazing athletes heading to these olympics, why shouldn't we watch to support them? not completely unlike the hate the war/support the troops dilemma so many of us have been forced to accept. don't watch if you don't want to, but they're gonna happen anyway.

[Meggie]

Good try to bring about positive changes Joey Cheek.
Telling that Mr. Cheek got his visa revoked and Mr. Bush did not. So much for which is the better, scarier & more influential "protester"
Also disturbing that IOC thought it was a good idea for participating athletes to have to disavow membership in peaceful organizations in order to participate.