In 2001, the vice president of Beijing's Olympic bid committee offered this as his best argument for China to host the 2008 Olympics: "By allowing Beijing to host the games, you will help the development of human rights."

Given the country's abysmal record on that issue, it was an effective sell that helped win them the bid. But the global community has yet to see the country make good on that promising statement — and with the Olympics merely one year away, China is hardly ready for its close-up.

Take, for example, its continuing abuses of human rights. In June, The Washington Post reported that protests in Guangxi pointed to a renewed effort to enforce the state's rigid family-planning policies, which limit the number of children allowed per family. Reports of forced abortions and sterilizations have resurfaced. And during the same month, two AIDS activists were placed under house arrest.

Then there's the matter of the media. While Chinese news outlets are no longer entirely owned by the government, as was the case in the past, it's hardly a free press. Reports critical of the government or on environmental disasters have led to the firing, demotion or even imprisonment of reporters and editors. In some cases, news outlets were either fined or closed down for publishing such reports.

These unjustifiable actions earned China the shameful distinction of being the largest imprisoner of reporters in the world for the seventh consecutive year in 2005. Even the recent addition of popular U.S.-based search engine Google in China can't be seen as a complete step in the right direction, since the government made sure to install firewalls throughout the country's Internet access.

A search for "Tiananmen Square" will yield zero results. How's that for progress?

If the Chinese government continues along this pitiful path, it, along with the rest of the world, will find itself in an unsettling situation come Aug. 8, 2008. The Olympics have long brought the people of the world together through open competition and a spirit of respect.

Such stark human rights violations and censorship of the press fly in the face of those treasured principles.