Gabriela Perdomo - It is hardly a fringe movement. The voices calling for a boycott of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing are growing in number by the minute. It would be naïve to think they will succeed, but one can guess that their accusations will continue to resonate well after the spectacular games are over.

As the August games approach, louder and more powerful voices note that the Olympic host should not be allowed the positive propaganda around the world without giving something back. Some call for loosening restrictions on individual rights, such as freedom of expression, association and religion at home, and others are part of a strong campaign to stop China’s oil-for-arms trade with Darfur.

The latest report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch accuses the communist government in Beijing of failing to provide close to 1 million migrant workers building Olympic monuments in the city with proper working conditions, including paying their salary on time. Other than saying that HRW "needs glasses", the Chinese administration did not comment on the report, released this week.

An annual report on the human rights records of over 190 countries by the United States State Department, also released this week, lists a series of human rights violations in China committed in 2007 and says the situation remains "poor". However, the report takes China out of the list of the "world’s worst offenders" of human rights after having its name there for two consecutive years. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders criticized the State Department’s report, saying that upgrading China’s human rights records just months before the Olympics means that "U.S. authorities are depriving themselves of yet another effective way to pressure China, without having achieved any goodwill gesture from Beijing."

China refuses to hear the criticism, and effectively rebukes accusations by saying the sporting event should not be politicized. Responding to the U.S. State Department report, Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi declared: "We are strongly opposed to the practices of clinging to a Cold War mentality, drawing lines along ideology, creating confrontations, practising double standards and interfering in China's internal affairs in the name of human rights. (…) It is not the international community that is politicizing the Olympic Games. It is a small number of individuals and forces who are anti-China and very biased against China."

It is apparent that the Communist Party will not introduce any policy change as a response to the harsh reports any time before the summer activities. However, some analysts predict that once the games are over, as long as the criticism continues, change might slowly begin to arrive in China. If not by China’s own initiative, it could come from those who deal with the Asian giant. In international forums, the buzz of those voices concerned about China’s treatment of workers, political dissidents and minorities could slowly translate into recommendations and even sanctions seeking a less repressive China.

If only as a superficial observation, activists—the vast majority of whom are Westerners—underlining China’s contempt for human rights in light of the Olympic Games this year have succeed in calling people’s attention on this issue. If activists play a fair game with China by reporting both accurately and transparently on its human rights violations, their wish for change could one day become true.

The summer Olympics will no doubt serve both China and its critics. They will—fairly so—showcase the discipline and will of the Chinese people, and at the same time force the world to see the country’s darkest side. Pressure on China should not wind down after the successful sporting event is over. It should increase, and eventually bring about change for the better.