On the eve of the Olympics, many are boycotting China for their crimes. But are they really unique among world superpowers?
“I see you are travelling in China at the moment. So what about the ethics of that? :-)” read the cheeky comment on my previous article.
Despite my initial belief that it was raised only to diminish the article’s argument, the comment preyed on my mind.
As an online journalist I accept comment and opinion, some fair, some disapproving, and often, as it seemed here, both. I consider myself a responsible traveler so I panicked. Perhaps it was true.
Was I committing a heinous crime simply by visiting a culture that has fascinated me for years?
Not that I’m oblivious to China’s crimes against humanity and the world but I wanted to see for myself. That’s the beauty of travel; you can discover these things in situ. I wanted to read about the politics having been there, and experienced Chinese lives up close, in order to fully understand.
I decided that as a Westerner, to neglect the people of China (all billion of them) over the crimes of their country would be to commit a crime of misguided punishment and ultimately hypocrisy.
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