For months, human rights activists in Los Angeles have been trying to drum up support for a boycott of the Beijing 2008 float scheduled to take part in the city’s famous New Year’s day Rose Parade. To no avail, according to the LA Times:
The lukewarm response underscores the increasingly close relationship Southern California shares with China. There may be no other time in which China has commanded as much influence and interest as it does today.
…”We haven’t talked about it,” said Cat Chao, host of a popular Mandarin-language talk show on KAZN-AM (1300), about the Olympics float. “The majority of Chinese think the Olympics is bigger than human rights and that human rights are already improving. They’d rather see China improve on issues like pollution.” [Full Text]
[Image: The Beijing 2008 Olympics Rose Parade float waits in an warehouse in Los Angeles, from the LA Times.]
