The continuing Chinese efforts at suppressing Tibet have prompted a new Olympic boycott movement. Few suggest withdrawing from the Beijing Olympiad altogether, as that approach proved impotent in 1980 after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Instead, the boycott would involve only the opening ceremonies and hit the Chinese government where it can least afford it — in the face:

Moves to punish China over its handling of violence in Tibet gained momentum Tuesday, with a novel suggestion for a mini-boycott of the Beijing Olympics by VIPs at the opening ceremony.

Such a protest by world leaders would be a huge slap in the face for China’s Communist leadership.

France’s outspoken foreign minister, former humanitarian campaigner Bernard Kouchner, said the idea “is interesting.”

Kouchner said he wants to discuss it with other foreign ministers from the 27-nation European Union next week. His comments opened a crack in what until now had been solid opposition to a full boycott, a stance that Kouchner said remains the official government position.

The move could give the West a significant manner in which to protest the actions of the Chinese government in Tibet. The government wants to use the Games primarily as domestic propaganda. The withdrawal of world leaders and perhaps Western athletes from the opening ceremonies would rob them of the most significant asset from the Games, and their disappearance would reflect badly on the current leadership. It would be an embarrassment that could impact the entire usefulness of the Olympiad, for which the Chinese have paid dearly.

Jules Crittenden agrees:

Show up for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Not our fault or the athletes’ fault the IOC hopped in bed with a(nother) wretched dictatorship. Just shun the PRC’s big showcase commie extravaganza opening ceremony. They’d hate that. Big loss of face.

On the other hand, it may not make a lot of difference with the domestic audience. Beijing has already stoked up support for its actions in Tibet with a heavy dose of propaganda, and the snub may come off as arrogant interference:

The violent protests by Buddhist monks and other Tibetans that exploded in Lhasa on Friday, therefore, have generated widespread condemnation among the country’s majority Han Chinese. In street conversations, Internet discussions and academic forums, most Chinese have readily embraced the government’s contention that the violence resulted from a plot mounted by the Dalai Lama from his exile headquarters in India.

Against that background, the Communist Party has met with broad popular approval in vowing to crack down on the rioters — most of whose victims were Han Chinese — and in qualifying the “impudent” Dalai Lama as a “master terror maker” who has hoodwinked the West with his appeals for peace. While the rest of the world invokes the Beijing Olympics and advises restraint, Chinese specialists and the public have urged the government to move decisively — and gamble that the Olympics will not be spoiled.

Still, the West cannot allow themselves to be used by Beijing as tools for more of the same propaganda. If no reaction occurs at the Olympiad, the Chinese government will use the images of the Opening Games as a global endorsement of their Tibet policy. The only way to ensure that they don’t is to withdraw from the opening ceremonies and only engage in the competitions themselves.

It won’t change the Tibet policy overnight, and probably not at all. It will do two other things: it will keep the West from colluding with Beijing’s propaganda, and it will send a message to the IOC to choose its venues more carefully in the future.