Madam, - Ronan Kilgannon and Marie Noonan Crooke (August 13th) seem to think that because they have been to China and had a congenial experience, any of us who criticise China are one-eyed in our thinking.
Of course they have a bunch of pleasant anecdotes - one would expect that to be the case for a country with a huge land mass and a population of over 1 billion - but if they were to jump on another plane to Darfur I am sure they'd get a very different set of anecdotes.
Granted, no state or country (including our own) is perfect. Just as Augustine's tough philosophical question "When is a war just?" demands careful thought, so does the question of when ordinary people should protest at a country's hosting of international sporting events.
Ultimately it comes down to two issues. Firstly, upon examination of the evidence (not just some anecdotes) is there an unacceptable abuse and disregard of human rights in its own state and in others? Secondly, if the answer to the first is a resounding yes, what then is the duty of the ordinary person? - Is mise,
ALEX STAVELEY, Norseman Court, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7.