With the 2008 Olympics drawing closer, a tone of controversy has swept over the pre-games ceremonies. The uproar is over the location of the games: Beijing, China.

From the troubled torch relay in Paris and London to its appearance in San Francisco on Wednesday, protestors have been lining the streets in attempts to disrupt the torch’s relay journey to Beijing.

Many of these activists have been arrested for their actions, but they knowingly sacrifice their freedom in order to raise awareness about China’s transgressions.

It is a great honor for a country to be chosen to host the Olympics. In light of recent developments in China’s ongoing occupation of Tibet, along with China’s blatant disregard for the environment through vast industrialization, critics of China’s actions feel it is necessary to voice their concerns during the publicity brought about by the ceremonies.

The Olympics are a time when countries from all over the world participate in games organized under one common principle, unity. But the time has come for those countries to join together, not over athletics, but to stand up for something just.

Protesters wishing to make a statement to the world have used the Olympics as a medium time and time again. Most notable were the actions of African-American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the 1968 Summer Games in which they raised one fist in the air in protest during the medal ceremony as a sign of the civil rights movement in America at the time.

For decades China has been one of the world’s largest polluters and its environmental impact is growing at an alarming rate. It is only recently that the major world power has begun to seriously regulate its pollution, due to pressure from the Olympic Committee.

The conditions have gotten so bad that athletes are not even going out into the city for fear of harmful amounts of smog in the air. Most marathon runners have stated that they will not even enter China until immediately before their events. Protestors have been speaking out against China’s pollution for years, but it has taken a major threat to China’s chances of holding the Olympics to force a change.

This action shows the great power that the Games have on a host country that is eager to show to the world its rising wealth and diplomatic power.

It is crucial that at a time of unrest in Tibet, a country occupied and tormented by the communist Chinese government, as well as during the genocide in Darfur, an issue in which China has had no involvement, that the activists take a stand and bring attention to the issues at hand.

The interests of all people, no matter their race, social class or occupation, have been piqued by the heavy protests. “If China is an emerging power, it also has an emerging responsibility to use its unique position to end the genocide in Darfur,” said Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry’s Icecream. “China will never be successful in using the Olympics as a fig leaf to polish its image while the genocide in Darfur creates a bloody stain on its reputation.”

Not only are the Olympics and the events surrounding them a great chance to gain support for a cause from people around the world, the bad press directed at China may force them to finally promote change.

Rarely is there an event like the Olympics that attracts such worldwide attention for an extended period of time. People must speak out now while China’s image is in the international spotlight, because it is obvious that China would not take notice otherwise.

With the spotlight focused so intensely on China, it is absolutely imperative to take a stand now and let the voice of the people be heard by whatever means necessary.