The Chicago Tribune has published a full and well research summary of the importance of the Olympic Games.

It asks when was the last time that China was as confident, prosperous and engaged with the world as it is likely to be at the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

And the answer comes from Wang Xiaofu, a history professor at Beijing University — ‘About 1,300 years ago.’

The article sees the potential. But also sees the potential risks.

The games are hotly anticipated among ordinary Chinese who, by and large, see it as a collective triumph — a rare cause for unity in a nation divided by class, ethnicity and opportunity.

But with 20,000 foreign journalists expected to be on hand, critics at home and abroad are also getting ready to use the occasion as a chance to amplify pressure on China and, at the same time express their dismay and, perhaps, jealousy at China’s success.

Organizers face a dilemma: Clamp down too hard on protesters, and images will be beamed around the world showing foreign guests crushed by a one-party state. But let rallies grow too far on sacred political ground such as Tiananmen Square, and authorities risk emboldening wider unrest.

In particular, the government will have to rely on street cops to differentiate between peaceful protesters and security threats.

Jia Qingguo, vice dean of the Beijing University School of International Studies said, ‘A lot of tough security measures are being developed to combat terrorism, and these people run the risk of being considered terrorists.’

Read the full and well researched article by clicking on source.
Source: Chicago Tribune

The U.N. General Assembly has adopted the Olympic truce resolution for the 2008 Beijing Games. The resolution, a form of which has been passed before every Olympics since the early 1990s, calls upon the 182 U.N. member states to ‘observe and promote peace during and beyond’ next August’s Games.

In doing so it ignored the assorted protest groups. For example, the Free Tibet Campaign sent a letter to the British government highlighting ‘the glaring discrepancy between China’s appalling human rights record in China and Tibet and the Spirit of the Olympic Truce’.

Mark you, before the Australian Olympics, a similar letter was sent quite rightly bagging the Australian government for its treatment of the country’s aborigines.

Olympic chief Jacques Rogge, seen here, in a speech to the United Nations before the resolution was passed, reiterated his view that engaging with China by holding the sporting spectacle in Beijing would have long-term benefits for the whole world.

This seems to be the general view of the Olympic committee wherever the games are to be held. And it is worth noting that Australia seriously started to get its act together on ways of dealing with aborigines after the Olympic Games.

Jacques Rogge said, ‘In China, the Beijing 2008 Summer Games have already delivered important social, legislative and economic benefits. It is better to open a new door to China than to leave it closed at this point in its modern evolution.’

The Olympic truce concept goes back to Ancient Greece when warring parties were called on to lay down their arms while their athletes competed.

Top Beijing Games organizer Liu Qi, who is also head of the city’s Communist Party, brushed off any worries about protests or other disruptions in welcoming the U.N. resolution.

Liu Qi said, ‘Beijing 2008 is heartened by the overwhelming support and endorsement given to the Olympic truce by the international community at the United Nations.

‘Their solidarity reinforces the global desire for peace and a cessation of all acts of hostilities during the Olympic period.’
Source: Reuters

China has sought to smooth over scuttled plans to include Taiwan in the torch relay for next year’s Beijing Olympics. It said residents of the island were welcome to join in cultural and other exchanges surrounding the games.

Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office and seen here, said, ‘We still strongly welcome Taiwan compatriots to actively participate in Olympic Games-related activities such as sports culture exchanges, Olympic training and competition activities, Olympics-related volunteer activities and so on.’

Taiwan, which has never been included in an Olympic torch relay, had objected to its placement on the route ahead of Hong Kong, saying that it would make it appear to be part of Chinese territory.

Taipei also accused Beijing of introducing last-minute conditions on the display of Taiwanese flags and national symbols along the route.

Beijing has expressed its regrets at this development but has insisted that all Taiwanese citizens will be very welcome.
Source: International Herald Tribune

Now the nations are stepping into line and giving a reality check on attendance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Australian Sports Minister George Brandis said Australia would attend the Games.

He told parliament that in reference to the Falun Gong’s more outrageous claims about harvesting human remains: ‘The Australian government isn’t making a link between the two issues. There’s no issue about Australia’s participation in the Beijing Olympics being reconsidered.’

The minister said there were other ways for Australia to address human rights issues with China with out specifiying the methods.

Last month China last month overtook Japan as Australia’s number one trading partner, with two-way trade between the countries exceeding $40 billion dollars.

China outlawed Falun Gong in mid-1999. Since then the group, which claims to have more than 100 million followers worldwide, has campaigned from abroad against what they claim is brutal persecution of their followers in China. Anyone who tries to get a visa for China in any Australian city has to run the gauntless of Falun Gong activists. On the other hand, there is some evidence to suggest that the government of China has, perhaps, over-reacted to people who would normally be considered part of the Nutty Norah fringe who believe that qigong, a subset of tai chi, is the answer to all of the world’s ailments.
Source: AFP

In a sense, what the China 2008 Olympics lack is a load of highly motivated (think a lot of money) spin doctors to manipulate the overseas press. The Chinese government does not have such an operation which is in direct contrast to, say, the Bush administration in the United States, or, more precisely, the recent Blair regime in the UK which practically redefined the term ’spin doctor’ so that the UK had government by spin.

Now The Economist has tried to balance out the assorted stories and look at how the Games stand.

It mentions:

The impressive collection of new and renovated sports venues that will house the competitions, such as the National Stadium, and the equally impressive array of new roads, railways, and metro lines that will ferry the massive crush of spectators and athletes around the city.

It goes on to say other logistics seem likewise well in hand. The ticket program, organizers say, is proceeding smoothly. And although officials think they will need 100,000 volunteers to help run the games, they have already received more than 560,000 applications.

On the hardware side of the ledger, and especially when it comes to the venues themselves, it would seem every detail has indeed been attended to. Not only will all 37 venues be completed well in advance, officials promise, but they will be ready for any contingency.

Planners are also likely to succeed in bringing Beijing’s notorious air pollution down to more bearable levels during the games. If they have to impose draconian restrictions on traffic and industrial activity in the weeks before the games, they will have the authority they need to do so.

Even the weather is taken care of. Officials at Beijing’s municipal Weather Modification Office say the timely launching of chemicals into the atmosphere will allow them to dispel clouds and largely control the time and place of rainfall.

So on that side of the ledger everything is very well prepared. Far more so than other host countries were at the same time before their games. Athens was still slapping on paint up to the day of the opening.

The Economist lists all this and then gives the other side of the coin. It reads:

The government seems far less prepared, however, when it comes to the delicate business of handling the activists and pressure groups that are sure to use the event as a soapbox for their many and varied criticisms of its policies. Whether to do with labour rights, religious freedom, the mistreatment of ethnic minorities or general political repression, there is no shortage of causes, and no shortage of champions prepared to take advantage of the Olympic spotlight.
Much of the world assumes — with justification — that China hopes to use the games as a global coming-out party, raising its international profile and softening its image. But another important goal is to convey to the domestic audience that China has the stature and ability to take its place at the centre of the world stage. Neither goal will be well served next year by ham-fisted responses to criticism.

Which is equally true and fair. On the other hand, does China needs government by spin doctors? Should all decisions be based on what the world’s press will say? There is a middle position which, perhaps, it could be argued, China should take. The article presents both sides of the case very well.
Source: The Economist