As the Chinese people and the peoples of the rest of the world are eagerly awaiting the Beijing Olympic Games, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering made some extremely irresponsible remarks instigating a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.

According to media reports, Poettering has said European countries should not rule out boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games for the Chinese government's moves in Tibet.

It is known to all that the Lhasa riots were separatist acts of violence carefully planned and premeditatedly provoked. The beatings, acts of vandalism, lootings and arsons conducted by a handful of people have gravely breached human rights, and endangered public security and public order. These are indisputable facts which have been substantiated by witness accounts from local residents as well as from foreign tourists.

The moves taken by the Chinese government in accordance with the law to restore order in Lhasa and other areas are exactly the necessary and legitimate measures which have won understanding andsupport from more than 100 countries in the world.

As the president of the European Parliament, Poettering should know what law and order means. In a modern society, all governments in the world are duty-bound to stop violence and crimes, protect citizens' safety and maintain public order.

When the French government took action to restore order on the Paris outskirts where large-scale riots flared up, Poettering and those who echoed his advocacy did not seem to have pointed an accusing finger at what French authorities did. But when it comes to the case of China, they departed from their normal practice and unscrupulously attacked the Chinese government's lawful actions to restore public order in Tibet, labeling what China did as "human rights violations" and "suppressing the religion."

As Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao comments, some of France's political elites denounced the rioters coming from ethnic minorities as "scums," whereas those rioters in Tibet have been lavishly praised by some Western media as "democracy and freedom fighters," a practice which smacks of a double standard.

As the president of the European Parliament, Poettering should know what democracy is for. The Olympic movement is one which enjoys the broadest possible participation of peoples from all over the world, and giving Beijing the mandate to host the 2008 Olympic Games is the outcome of democratic decision-making at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and embodies the democratic will of the vast majority of countries in the world. Threatening to boycott the Beijing Olympic Games is in essence refusing the IOC's democratic decision, in defiance of the will of the international community.

As the president of the European Parliament, Poettering should also know more about the will of the people than many others do. The Olympic Games are a grand gathering of the world's people and the Olympic spirit of peace and of friendship also enjoys the support of peoples from all over the world. Governments in the world support the Beijing Olympics, their peoples are looking forward to the Games and athletes from various countries are making all efforts to prepare themselves for the Beijing Olympic Games.

The sacred flame of the Olympics has been greeted by Greek people with smiles, songs and dances, acclamations and happy tears since it was lit on March 24. In the European cities of London and Paris, governments and local citizens have been making careful preparations for the arrival of the Olympic flame. All these reflect the popular will in European countries. As Europe and the rest of the world are looking forward to the arrival of the sacred flame with great enthusiasm, Poettering has gone so far as to threaten a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, then wouldn't it be going against the common aspirations of the world's people?

Poettering's words and deeds, as a matter of fact, reflect the political bias by some people in the West against China. Such irresponsible statements and behavior are internationally unpopular and seriously hurt the feelings of the 1.3 billion Chinese people. Any rational persons would refrain from risking antagonizing one-fourth of the world's population.

Those hostile towards China and clinging to a Cold War mentality, and who turn a blind eye to China's stability, development and prosperity and seem always ready to make a point of nit-picking over and discrediting China, have done all this only to reveal their ignorance and arrogance.

Together with peoples of the rest of the world, the Chinese people will never be shaken in their determination to make the Beijing Olympic Games a great success. The clamor by a handful of people will, after all, come to no good.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2008)