Team Darfur athletes' visas to China revoked

The Chinese government revoked Joey Cheek's visa on Tuesday, preventing him from attending the Beijing Games. The Chinese government does not give reasons for denying or revoking visas.  We also learned that Team Darfur decathlete Chris Boyles' visa was revoked on Monday. 

The move was condemned by the Bush administration and a White House official said on Wednesday that the U.S. embassy in Beijing will ask that the decision be reversed.

The story has received widespread media attention and coverage: The New York Times, ESPN, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, and the Washington Post's Sports Section. 

In a statement, Senator Feingold of Wisconsin, who introduced the Senate Resolution calling for an Olympic Truce for Darfur, said:

“China’s decision to revoke Joey Cheek’s visa undermines the spirit of the Olympic Games and China’s role as host. As a world leader deeply engaged in Africa, and as host of the Olympic Games, China has a responsibility and an opportunity to help bring peace to Darfur. I call on the Chinese government to use the Olympic Games to push for an end to the conflicts in Sudan and I call on President Bush to raise this issue specifically with the Chinese government during his visit.”

Senator Durbin of Illinois said:

“The Chinese government has not provided any justification for revoking Mr. Cheek’s visa and I am concerned that this decision was a result of Mr. Cheek’s efforts to end the conflict in Darfur,” Durbin wrote. “Prohibiting Mr. Cheek from attending the 2008 Olympic Games and supporting fellow athletes undermines the Olympic principles of fair play and respect for all athletes that China has pledged to uphold. I strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to revoke Mr. Cheek’s visa and allow him to attend the 2008 Olympic Games.”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi released the following statement calling on President Bush to secure Joey Cheek entry to Beijing:

“In the coming days, President Bush will arrive in Beijing. I call on President Bush to secure the entry of Joey Cheek and other U.S. citizens who have been barred from attending the Olympics because of their beliefs, advocacy for the people of Darfur and human rights in China and Tibet. It is essential that President Bush show leadership in promoting democracy, freedom, and human rights during his visit to China.

The Olympic Charter states that ‘Any form of discrimination with regard to a country of a person on the grounds of race, religion, politics, gender, or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.’ The International Olympic Committee is tolerating clear violations of both the Olympic ideals and the commitments the Chinese government made in order to host the Olympic Games."

Senator and Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain of Arizona released this statement to the McCain Report:

I am very disappointed by Beijing’s decision to revoke the visa of 2006 Olympic gold medalist Joey Cheek, a move that will effectively bar him from attending this year’s games. Mr. Cheek is the co-founder of Team Darfur, an organization that draws attention to the plight of children in the Darfur region of Sudan, and he was the U.S. flag bearer at the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Turin Olympics. Today’s news, together with reports that Beijing will also bar Team Darfur’s other co-founder, Brad Greiner, is not in keeping with China’s pledge to hold an open games. Significantly, Team Darfur never advocated a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, and yet their leaders have seen their visas revoked nevertheless.

I hope that Chinese officials will reverse this misguided decision. The world is paying close attention to the way in which Beijing conducts the Olympics as they begin. Its relationship to the government in Sudan – including weapons sales to that government – is a matter of legitimate concern to all who care about human rights and ending genocide. The hope that China would host the Games with openness is greatly diminished by this action.

Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama of Illinois released this statement:

Joey Cheek has been a courageous and leading voice for international action to stop the genocide in Darfur. China’s decision to revoke his visa is deeply disturbing, and contradicts Beijing’s promises to run an open Olympic Games. Many of the strongest voices on Darfur have come from grassroots organizations like Team Darfur, and these voices must not be silenced.  The United States must continue to demand that China bring pressure to bear on Khartoum to stop the genocide in Darfur.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney said in an interview with Boston.com:

"I hope the Chinese government is able to reconsider this," Romney said in a phone interview between flights in Washington. "Joey Cheek is by no means an out-of-control radical. He's a very serious, sober, responsible individual, and his support for human rights certainly can't be in any way a detraction from the games."

Romney, who ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, is reminding Beijing that he had personally helped China bid for the 2008 games. "The Chinese officials know of my involvement in the past and will hopefully give consideration to my request, perhaps on a personal basis." The revocation of Cheek's visa, Romney added, was "out of the Olympic spirit."

The White House has also responded. Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary, made the following statement aboard Air Force One on Aug. 6:

"We were disturbed to learn that the Chinese had refused his visa. We are taking the matter very seriously. We have sent in our embassy in Beijing to démarche the Chinese. That is where we go in and we say we are concerned about this, and we want you to reconsider your actions. So we would hope that they would change their mind. And I'll hopefully have more for you later, but we had to also wait for Washington to wake up to take any further action."

And on Aug. 7:

As I said yesterday, we démarched our Ambassador in Beijing to express our concern and complaint, and to ask that the Chinese reconsider this. I don't have an update, though. It's slower than we would like, but -- and they're actually running out of time to be able to rectify it, but we continue to press them.

Release from Team Darfur:

TEAM DARFUR

For Immediate Release Contact: Emma Mackinnon 202.302.6920

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Team Darfur’s Joey Cheek

Banned From Olympics

China Revokes Visa for 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist

Day Before He Would Have Traveled to Games

The Chinese embassy in Washington, DC today revoked the visa of Olympic Gold Medalist (2006 Winter Games, speed skating) and Team Darfur co-founder Joey Cheek to travel to Beijing for the Olympic Games. The Chinese government official who called Cheek stated simply that he was “not required to give a reason” for revoking visas. Cheek had planned to attend the Games to support the 72-plus athletes who will be competing in Beijing who have signed onto Team Darfur. Those athletes, along with hundreds of other former Olympians, have pledged to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, and what China and the international community can do to stop it.

“I am saddened not to be able to attend the Games. The Olympic Games represent something powerful: that people can come together from around the world and do things that no one thought were possible. However, the denial of my visa is a part of a systemic effort by the Chinese government to coerce and threaten athletes who are speaking out on behalf of the innocent people of Darfur. Team Darfur’s main efforts have been to advocate for an Olympic Truce for Darfur, and to raise awareness about the crisis and ask for lasting peace on behalf of the children of Darfur.

“The Olympic Truce captures the spirit of the Olympics: around the Games, the world should come together to work for peace and speak out against conflict. The Chinese government’s efforts to suppress athletes, even those who are competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, who speak about essential human rights issues, is a violation of that core Olympic spirit.

“I still remained convinced of the great role the Olympics can play as a force for promoting peace around the world, including in still raging crisis in Darfur. Yet, despite the fact that I’ve always spoken positively of the Olympic ideal, and never called for a boycott or asked an athlete to break an IOC rule, my visa was revoked less than 24 hours before my scheduled departure.”

Cheek is a US citizen and won the gold medal in speed skating for the US at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

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