The protests epitomized democracy and freedom in East Asia’s second-largest nation.

 suzukyさんがリツイート

オリンピックの開催に反対している人がいて、その存在を世界が普通に知ることができたことこそが、数ヶ月後に行われる冬季オリンピックとの最大の違いであり、少々開会式や閉会式がショボかろうが、その違いを世界に示せたことこそが重要。WP紙も社説ではっきりと明言。 https://t.co/427slV4Oo9

— 中山 俊宏 NAKAYAMA Toshihiro (@tnak0214) August 10, 2021

One of our favorite moments came during the Opening Ceremonies on July 23, but not because of the kitschy display before a handful of dignitaries and thousands of unoccupied seats. Rather, we admired the hundreds of Japanese protesters outside Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, peacefully expressing their view, apparently shared by a majority of their compatriots, that Japan’s government and the International Olympic Committee should not have pressed on with the Games amid a global pandemic. Agree or disagree, the protests — and the fact that official tolerance was never in question — epitomized democracy and freedom in East Asia’s second-largest nation.

No open dissent should be expected at the Olympic “movement’s” next scheduled gathering: the Winter Games in Beijing, which begin Feb. 4, 2022. That is not because China’s people are entirely satisfied with Communist Party rule. To the contrary, the ruling party is stifling discontent through ferocious repression.