Time to investigate the IOC.

There have been calls, from all over the world, to investigate the age of Chinese gymnasts at the Olympics. At first the International Olympic Committee (IOC) indicated that it would not investigate for it was satisfied by the passports it had seen. The clamour continued, the world was not happy. Finally, today, the IOC announced that it would investigate the issue.

That sounded just fine to me. At last, they would look into the matter. At last, something would be done. At last, the undoubtable truth would be uncovered. Imagine, then, my surprise (and yours, perhaps) when I learnt that, only a few hours after announcing the investigation, that it had been concluded - in favour of the Chinese: all was pronounced well and the girls were as old as stated. The reason given was strange: there was no "proof" that they were underage.

What, exactly, I wonder does "proof" mean? What is the level of evidence the IOC would accept - for there is certainly abundant evidence that these girls are underage. Firstly, there is their development - or lack of it - for even by Asian standards these girls look like kids. They don't even look as old as the age that is suspected of them. If I had been told that they were in primary school, I would believe it. Then there is the little matter of Chinese governmental websites having stated, in the past, that the girls were considerably younger than they would have had to have been, to now be 16. Last year, Xinhua, the Chinese government news agency, wrote of He Kexin as being 13 years old. In May, the China Daily, wrote of her being 14. Suddenly, she has undergone rapid ageing, living two years in just three months. Another magic feat is that documents have come into existence - such as a passport - that have a new opinion of her age.

Well a document is just a piece of paper with lies written on it - if that is what someone wants it to be. It is very easy to falsify a passport - all it needs is one single dishonest official or one single dishonest government. That is all. A piece of paper with the age 16 on it says nothing of the truth at all.

What would tell the truth is a bit of a background check on the girls. Where did they go to school? What do the teachers and students of that school say about the age of the girls? What do townspeople in their respective home towns say? Where are the yearbooks and dated photographs of the girls in particular school years? A life leaves traces of its passing. There will be an abundance of physical evidence in the world as to the true age of these girls. Unless, of course, there is a massive cover-up underway with the erasure of these girls' entire pasts. That, of course, is possible given China's revealed nature and strong interest in maintaining this apparent lie in the face of the world.

It would not be difficult to find all this information. Simply hiring a private detective agency in China would probably do the trick in a day or two. However, it is not really necessary to do that - for the Chinese government has told us the true ages of these girls on multiple occasions at earlier stages in their careers, on public websites. Caches of these now strangely missing webpages prove that three girls, at least, in the Chinese gymnastic team are underage, ACCORDING TO THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT ITSELF, in the past.

Investigators from various parts of the world have unearthed diverse evidence stating that these girls are underage. The IOC rules state that no-one under 16 can participate in an Olympics gymnastic competition. Anyone who is under 16 is ineligible for competition - and for the winning of medals. Gymnasts are supposed to take these rules seriously - and are stripped of their medals if found out. However, the IOC has chosen, in the case of the Chinese gymnasts, not to take its own rules seriously. The question is: why?

The IOC is ignoring much evidence that the athletes are underage. It prefers to accept that China, great wonderful honest China, would not lie to it. It is accepting the verbal declaration that the passports and related documents of these athletes state. It is ignoring the verbal declaration of Xinhua, (the Chinese version of Reuters) and various other Chinese organs, as being "unproven". So what makes one verbal declaration trustworthy and another not? Why is one Chinese government source trusted (the passport office) and another Chinese government source (Xinhua) not trusted? It seems, to an outsider, that it all comes down to money. The IOC makes money out of the Beijing Olympics. No doubt it makes a whole lot of money. That money pays their no doubt Olympic sized salaries. They are not going to investigate the behaviour of the source of that money. So, they choose blindness over sight, deafness over hearing and ignore the evidence that the rest of the world can see and hear so clearly.

It is time, therefore, not to just ask the IOC to investigate the age of these questionable athletes, but to ask that the IOC ITSELF BE INVESTIGATED. Is there wrongdoing and collusion at the IOC? Are the IOC truly aware that the gymnasts are underage, but choose to ignore the issue? Why won't the IOC do the simplest of things to verify the ages of these children, themselves? The IOC has great resources and influence. It would not be difficult for them to find concrete sources other than the assurances of their hosts - after all, the rest of the world has had no trouble doing so. The funny thing is that the age verification sources outside of the official ones, all state that these girls are underage. Perhaps that is why the IOC chooses not to look at them: it doesn't want to face up to the situation.

The IOC is being foolish. It fears to embarrass China. It seems to lack the courage to face China. That is the charitable interpretation. The less charitable interpretation is that the IOC, itself, is directly involved in covering this matter up, by giving its assurances that all is OK, when much evidence says that it is not.

The IOC has put its long-term reputation on the line over this. People have long memories. They will not easily forget the multiple lies and deceits that China has brazenly told the world these past couple of weeks. The world will continue to suspect the Chinese gymnasts of being underage. Furthermore, and to the detriment of the IOC, the world will remember how the IOC responded. The reputation of the IOC could be forever lessened by this lack of action on their part. The IOC risks a lot more than embarrassing China. The IOC risks tarnishing the Olympics, itself. For the IOC is showing, quite clearly, that it doesn't care all that much about cheating, at the Olympics, it doesn't care about fairness, it doesn't care about honesty. It doesn't actually care about the Olympic spirit at all. All the IOC cares about is the IOC.

An external body should be appointed, with no connection to the IOC, to investigate two things: the age of the Chinese gymnasts through thorough background checking - and whether the IOC is colluding, in any way, with covering up their ages.

Should it be proven that the gymnasts are underage, the entire upper management of the IOC should go, for not investigating it, thoroughly. Should it be proven that they were in collusion over the matter, then some form of further punishment should be put in place.

The Olympics represent the best of the human spirit. Today, however, they appear to be run by people who do not share in that spirit. It is time to take a good, long look at the IOC, and all its key players. In fact, this is more important than even the age of the athletes that they are so keen not to question.

Is it time to say goodbye to Jacques Rogge? (Interesting name, that...)

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

The importance of telling the truth.

The Beijing Olympics 2008 will long be remembered. However, I rather feel it is going to be remembered for the wrong things. The Beijing Olympics will be remembered for what it was not: truthful.

Firstly, we learnt that the "fireworks" on the opening night, were little more than a computer operator's imagination. Now, we have learnt that the girl who "sang" the opening ceremony was just a pretty replacement for the girl who actually sang. The Beijing Olympics 2008 is becoming known not for its spectacle, but for its lies and deceptions.

It seems clear that the Communist party Politburo wishes to present an image of a perfect China to the world. China is to be a country where fireworks obey their every command and explode in perfect dashes of colour. China is to be a country where the best singers in the land also happen to be the prettiest. China is a country which wins more medals than anyone else (it remains to be seen whether and how that one will be achieved.)

Sadly, China is not what China wishes to appear to be. China is a large, repressed, overly-controlled state in which the individual suffers a curtailment of basic freedoms. It is not a state to be admired or envied. It is something else, something darker. China is a model which the rest of the world should learn from - in a negative sense - that is, it is a lesson in how not to be.

We all know what China is (unless we are believers in propaganda, without thinking about it). However, it is instructive to take a look at what China has prevented itself from being seen to be.

What if China had allowed the actual 7 year old girl singer to sing at the Olympics? What effect would it have had on world opinion and the view of China if they had allowed the "buck-toothed" young girl to sing? Think about it for a moment.

I don't know your understanding - but I know this: the view of China would have been ENHANCED had they allowed the actual singer to sing in the stadium. Now, why do I say that China's reputation would have been better with a buck-toothed singer than with a pretty little model-like girl? Well, it is simple. Had China shown the buck-toothed girl with the wonderful voice, they would have been sending a global message that China values talent above superficial issues such as appearance. They would have been telling the world that China is a deep nation, with deep values, not swayed by trivialities. They would have sent a message that China had matured as a nation and was not moved by inconsequentialities. However, what they did instead was hide the girl whose voice was singing because she just wasn't pretty enough - and replace her with a pretty girl who PRETENDED to sing. China preferred a superficial lie to a deeper truth. China has thus revealed itself as many things: trivial, dishonest, short-sighted, stupid (for not knowing how damaging such deception would be) and deceitful. China has shown itself, once again, to be a nation that should not and cannot be admired or respected.

Yang Peiyi, 7, the buck-toothed girl with the beautiful voice was an opportunity for China to show itself to be a great nation, supportive of its people, proud of their gifts. It would have been far better for China to show such a girl to the world - an honest face of China, if you like - than to have set-up a calculated lie to deceive the world. The lie was a simple one: that China, statistically, has so many great singers that they can afford to choose a pretty one, too. Clearly, that is not so. Out of thousands of auditionees, they could not find one who was both a good enough singer and pretty enough (in their view) to go on TV. Thus we can conclude that China is not overflowing with talent in such areas - if it were, it would not have been difficult to find a girl both talented and cute in 1.4 billion people. So, China has shown us, by their effortful lie, that China is not as burdened with talents as one might suppose. Many things are revealed by their action.

China has lost a great opportunity to show itself as a great nation. It is, instead, revealing itself, step by step, as a place that just cannot stop lying - even when the spotlight of the world is on its every move.

I cannot help but feel sorry for the little girl who almost became a star. Her voice has been heard by billions - but I do not even know her face. Instead, the stand-in, without enough talent to be allowed to sing, made it to the front page of the New York Times. So, a girl whose only talent we are aware of is that she is quite pretty (but not very), and with an ability to lip synch becomes world famous - but the best girl singer China could find remains unknown. That is a tragedy of a kind that may destroy the little girl's life. Imagine if she never succeeds as a singer (if that is what she wants to be). Imagine how much regret she will feel at being side-lined at the Olympics, despite being the voice of it? She has been set-up for a regretful life - and all because China is too shallow to allow a less than pretty girl be seen by the world.

The other girl's life, too, promises to be a tragedy of a different kind. She has become famous for something she is not and cannot do. Her fame is a lie that will follow her for the rest of her life. That, too, is not much fun.

So, two girl's lives have been sacrificed for the greater glory of the People's Republic of China. In doing so, however, China has sacrificed something else, too: the best opportunity they have had in decades for cultivating a positive world opinion of one of the world's least free places.

Here is something for you to dwell on. It takes great courage for anyone who knows the truth of what China is doing regarding the Olympics to come out and tell that truth. One such courageous person is Chen Qigang, general music designer for the Olympics - for it was he who revealed that Yang Peiyi, 7, had been sidelined for Lia Miaoke, 9, on account of her "buck-teeth". The question is how many lies and deceptions will we never find out about because no-one is courageous enough to come out about them?

There is an irony in that the Olympics are always talking about uncovering the doping and cheating of athletes - well, how about the different kind of cheating that the organizers themselves are engaged in? So far, two deceptions have been revealed...how many more are there unknown to us?

As for buck-toothed Yang Peiyi, did no-one think that all she needed was a good dentist, not a stand-in? It seems that even with a rumoured 40 billion dollar Olympic budget they couldn't spare the change needed to correct Yang Peiyi's teeth and spare China from the shame of another world renowned lie. Or maybe they don't have any good dentists in China, either (along with no pretty and talented singers!)

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)