IV. International
(9-16-08)
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The Beijing Games
have provided a platform to herald the CCP’s
achievements over the past 3 decades in leading the
world’s largest country toward an ever-increasing
prosperity at home and growing acceptance as a reliable
partner abroad. It has drawn broad enthusiasm from its
people and effectively crystallized the message that
China can be
proud of the distance it has come.
.
According to government estimates, 1.7 million
Chinese from Beijing and elsewhere have enrolled as
Olympic volunteers for the next 3 weeks to patrol
the streets, guide confused foreign spectators, help
visiting athletes and make sure journalists get to their
news conferences.
. Safety
checks are everywhere. Foreigners have complained loudly
in recent weeks of the “heavy-handed security and overly
tight restrictions.” Because of new visa controls,
many foreigners working in China have been forced to
leave. Others who planned to visit for the Olympics have
canceled, resulting in fewer tourists, unusual for this
time of year.
.
More than 500k Chinese
from all over the country are expected to visit
Beijing this month.
Although many do not have tickets to any events, they’re
delighted to be close to the action and load up on
Olympics merchandise.
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The giddy excitement of many ordinary Chinese for the
chance to sparkle in the global spotlight is palpable
and increases, the closer one gets to any Olympic venue.
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Foreigners often focus on the harsh aspects of China’s
one-party rule when those who speak out against the
government face jail or hard labor. But many Chinese
have a strong bond with the party whose policies have
changed most aspects of their lives. They feel an
emotional connection to the Olympics as the
fulfillment of a decade-long quest for personal
well-being and international respect.
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China welcomed scores of
world leaders to an opening ceremony watched by 91k
at the National Stadium and 4 billion people
worldwide. It was depicted as the largest, costliest
extravaganza in Olympic history, book-ended by barrages
of some 30k fireworks.
.
The welcome was thunderous. The crowd erupted when Pres.
Hu Jintao declared the Games officially open. The
639-Chinese team was led by flag-bearer and basketball
idol Yao Ming and an 8-year old boy who survived last
May’s earthquake in Sichuan province.
.
China spent $42 billion to build the needed
infrastructure. The pageantry featured the last 5k
years, from the Great Wall to opera puppets to
astronauts, highlighting achievements in art, music and
science, with roughly 15k people in the cast.
.
The architecture
of the Olympics encapsulates the state of architecture
in China. The
glossy projects are not particularly Chinese, and much
of what is Chinese is not good. Put it another way, if
it isn’t expensive, it probably isn’t worth a second
glance.
.
A quick study of the Beijing map reveals the Olympic
ground on a massive park centered on the main
north-south axis of the city and is primarily a
political space. The greatest spectacles of the
Games are two architectural gems sitting nest to each
other: the “Water Tube” (National Aquatic Club)
and “Bird’s Nest” (National Stadium)
.
The Chinese have done many things right, incorporating
lessons of previous Olympics host cities. Housing for
visiting athletes have already been sold to new condo
dwellers who will take possession after the Games. Mass
transit has been expanded. Trees have been planted all
over Beijing in a desperate attempt to clean the air
before the Games.
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China announced last
month that it would permit protests during the Olympics
in specially designated zones, as long as demonstrators
first secured permits. The process has not proved
that simple.
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Many would-be protesters say they are being
discouraged for staying in Beijing for the Games or
flat-out denied permits. Others say they have
decided against applying because the new process is a
farce—one that’s meant only to collect information about
the dissenters.
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The challenge for those applying is that, according to
Chinese law, anything deemed harmful to the state could
be grounds for denial. In addition, any protests related
to Tibet are explicitly forbidden. There is nothing
preventing officials from politicizing the protests and
picking and choosing those they think will put the best
face on for Beijing.
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Pollution
in Beijing can be notoriously bad, but Chinese officials
hope the measures they have taken prior to the Olympics
will help ease the impact of poor air quality. It is not
uncommon to see people around China’s capital wearing
masks.
. Three US
Olympic cyclists caused a stir when they arrived in
Beijing wearing masks to protect themselves from the
nation’s air pollution around the city. The locals were
upset to see the athletes with masks. But they made it
clear that it was strictly a precautionary measure, but
the Chinese seemed insecure that these foreigners are
calling attention to their dirty city.
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A US Olympic official said that about 200 masks have
been distributed to the governing bodies of the sports
that asked for them. The smog and pollution could make
it harder for world-class athletes to compete.
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The Chinese government
revoked the visa of 2006 gold medalist Joey
Clark, effectively barring the speed-skating
champion and social activist from attending the 2008
Beijing Games. Former UCLA water polo player Brad
Grainer and 2004 bronze medalist Emma McKinnon
got a similar last-minute denial.
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The action of Chinese officials is the sort of measure
feared by those with misgivings about the IOC’s decision
in 2001 to award the Games to China:
that its officials would thwart the free expression of
visitors to Beijing and muzzle dissent among activists
both inside and outside the country despite promises to
the contrary.
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“The IOC tried to tell the world that holding the Games
in China was for the good, that they would do their
utmost to use the Olympics to uphold respect for human
rights. Either they’re a lot less powerful than they
told us they were, or they have been quiet disingenuous
or their standards are unacceptably low.” (Sophie
Richardson, advocacy director, Human Rights Watch)
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The Chinese Foreign
Ministry reacted strongly to GWB’s broad critique of
China’s
imprisonment of dissidents, suppression of religious
liberty and curtailment of free speech, calling it
interference in other countries’ internal affairs
through its spokesman Qin Gang.
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Bush began his day on 8-08-08 by helping dedicate the
new embassy complex in Beijing. The festive events
featured traditional Chinese drummers and a mini-concert
by the Gatlin Brothers, country singers who are longtime
friends of the Bush family.
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The senior Chinese official (State Councilor Dai Bingguo)
attending the dedication said the two presidents present
(Bush’41 and Bush’43) gave a very special meaning to the
occasion and to the strong relations between
China
and the US made possible by the two Bushes.
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Kashgar is a tourist
town but was once an oasis on the ancient Silk Road
along the westernmost edge of
China, near the border
of Kyrgystan and Tajikistan. Relations between the
Uighurs and Han Chinese have long been tense. They have
deteriorated in recent years and the Han Chinese
migrants have flooded the area as part of China’s
strategy to develop its western hinterlands.
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Early this month, an attack considered by authorities as
a terrorist strike, killed 16 police officers and
wounded 16 others. The Turkestan Islamic Party
threatened attacks on the Olympics to draw attention to
its demands for an independent state and end Chinese
repression of Muslim Uighurs who lived for centuries in
this area 2k miles west of Beijing and speak a Turkic
language.
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The Chinese government considers East Turkestan
Islamic Movement (ETIM) the greatest threat to
security at the Olympic Games. It is a separatist
movement divided into a number of groups with similar
goals. They maintain links to foreign extremist Islamist
organizations that train Uighurs to organize bombings.
