home > by publication type > daily analysis > China's Olympic Moment
Email
| Author: |
|---|
Chinese fans cheer during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Aug. 17, 2008. (AP/Matt Dunham)
From the dazzling opening ceremony to the impressive pursuit of gold medals, Chinese nationalism was the topic of much discussion (Foreign Affairs) surrounding the Olympic Games. Indeed, nationalist sentiment was evident from flag-flying audiences in stadiums to daily medal tallies in the Chinese media. But in comparison with the fervent nationalism that had gripped the country after anti-government protests in Tibet and human rights demonstrations during the international leg of the Olympic torch relay, such displays have been mostly absent during the games. Anti-government protests (Xinhua) were also minimal, point out experts.
The government focused on stage-managing its most spectacular event before a global audience, experts say. It called for "harmony" during the games and took steps to ensure a well-choreographed audience. The official People's Daily called on citizens to cheer for all and the government trained squads to cheer for other nations' teams (WashPost). The Chinese media also stepped in to defuse tension when bloggers targeted Lang Ping (ChinaDigitalTimes), the U.S. women's volleyball coach, after her team defeated the home team. China's national weekly magazine Beijing Review called her a "cultural ambassador" between China and the United States.
The Chinese government was faced with another challenge when, in a moment of national trauma, China's much-touted hurdler Liu Xiang dropped out before the 110-meter race because of an injury. Xiao Qiang, the director of China Internet Project, writes in China Digital Times that since he was a significant part of "China’s biggest image project," Chinese Internet censors have been deleting negative online comments about him. Official media and online news portals also set a sympathetic tone in reporting the story.
The government was determined to offer an unforgettable Olympics, spending about $42 billion (Xinhua), much of it on huge infrastructure projects, as well as initiatives that included language and etiquette training for the Chinese and tight security measures. To explain what the games mean for China and its people, Asia expert Orville Schell points to China's century of humiliation (Newsweek). Yet Joshua Kurlantzick, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writes that not all of China has been cheering (TNR) for the Olympics. "Focusing solely on pride ignores another China, one far different from the middle class people with the money to travel to Beijing," he writes. Kurlantzick points to rural China, which has fallen far behind in the country's economic growth story. The Olympics have, in fact, made lives more difficult for many of the poor in China, say rights groups. In an attempt to present a glitzy image, they allege the Chinese government undertook many steps that violated human rights. The Chinese government rejects (CNN) such charges.
Rights groups also lament restrictions on the media, arrests of dissidents, and the regime's refusal to allow protests during the games. Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch tells the Associated Press that the Beijing Games, rather than bequeathing a positive legacy, "may leave in place permanent technological surveillance and monitoring networks that make doing human rights work even more dangerous and difficult for Chinese citizens." However, author Lijia Zhang writes those who attack the Chinese regime miss the point (Guardian) that there have been huge advances in personal and economic freedoms.
The country's economic gains have been undeniable. Average annual GDP growth of more than 9 percent over thirty years has helped lift some 250 million people above the government's poverty line. Sustaining such progress may require another kind of Olympian feat. Inequality has also been on the rise, says the Asian Development Bank. China's future growth, writes (Foreign Affairs) U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., "depends on its increasing integration into global trade, investment, and financial markets."
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
Global Economy in Crisis
Expert Conversations on World Events
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.
This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR.
“ The Logic of Zero:” Ivo Daalder and Jan Lodal say Washington must lead the way to a world without nuclear weapons. The first step will be dramatically limiting the U.S. nuclear arsenal's declared size and purpose.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1-212-434-9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
To request permission to reuse Council materials, please email publications@cfr.org or fax +1.212.434.9859.
Please include the complete information of the requested work—author, title, sections/pages to be copied or reprinted, and number of copies to be made—along with a brief description of where and how you would like to reuse the work.
You may also request permission for Council material through Copyright Clearance Center. For more information, please click on the link below.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
