There's a dark shadow over this year's Olympic games.

I know you're all probably sick of hearing about the controversy over the Olympic games...But this goes much deeper than just games.

China's horrific abuses must end. Tell President Bush to speak out when he meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The spirit of the Olympics is supposed to be one of peace and international cooperation. As host of this year's games, China should embody that spirit.

Instead, China used its position as a convenient excuse to jail, deport, and murder political dissidents.

Instead, China continues to support the genocide in Darfur, supplying 88% of the Sudanese government's small arms and threatening to interfere with international prosectution of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Instead, China maintains its oppressive reign of terror in Tibet, closing the nation to all unmonitored foreign reporters after Chinese paramilitary police torched a Tibetan market in March, killing at least sixteen people in the process.

Despite these egregious violations, President Bush has insisted that his visit to the Olympics is not as the most powerful leader in the world, but rather as a sports fan.

Bush said that changes in China will come "on its own terms and in keeping with its own history and traditions" — but that just isn't good enough. It's not good enough when people are dying in China and in Darfur and in Tibet, and it's not good enough when the Chinese government throws a shroud over its abuses and pretends they don't exist. President Bush must display the strength demanded by his office and by these international crises that continue to go unchecked in any serious way.

President Bush's trip to China must serve a greater purpose than cheering for America's athletes.

Click here to tell President Bush that when he meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders, he must demand that the human rights violations end, once and for all.

After you sign the petition, be sure and tell a few friends.

- Tara