Beijing’s Summer Olympics: Are We Headed to a Loss Of Face of Epic Proportions?
By John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom
Here we are in April 2008. The Beijing Summer Olympic Games are set to open in August. In 2001 when China was selected as host of these 2008 games, there was great hope in China and throughout the international community that China would enact reforms in human rights, pollution and the environment, mine safety, counterfeiting of everything from movies and music to toothpaste, and a host of troubling social issues. Although arguably some progress has been made by China, there is a looming and growing sense of disappointment.
China’s President Hu Jintao might be fed up with his “wonderfully pleasing idea” to bring the Olympics to Beijing.
| 胡锦涛 Hu Jintao |
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He has seen his nation come under ever increasing scrutiny. People want to know about China’s record on human rights, HIV/AIDS, global warming and the environment and just about everything else.
The food safety scandal which featured everything from poisoned toothpaste and cough syrup to tainted seafood rocked the world awake and destroyed China’s credibility as a world manufacturer of safe products. Then toys were found bearing lead paint. Now China stands accused of making tainted blood substances and other harmful medical products.
When things go horribly wrong you might expect to hear someone from China utter, “Where Did My Lucky Go?”
Luck, or more appropriately, “good fortune,” is one of the centerpieces of Chinese life.
When you live in a godless society, luck takes an even larger role.
So all of good fortune was implored as the one year countdown to the Olympics started in China in August 2007.
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge marked the start of the one-year countdown with a lavish Chinese-style ceremony that stared on the 8th day, of the 8th month at 8 PM and 8 minutes 8 seconds.
Eight is a lucky number in China.
But to the Chinese, Tiananmen Square has not always been lucky — especially for those seeking democratic and human rights reforms.
Chinese tanks mowed down pro-democracy demonstrators 18 years ago right where the night’s Olympic ceremonies commenced in August 2007.
“Not lucky place” a Chinese friend said to me as we watched events unfold.
During the one-year to the Olympics event, the “not lucky place” was shrouded in toxic air pollution as Beijing completed a four day test with more than one million cars off the road.
Unfortunately, the test was supposed to prove that by removing one million cars from Beijing the city would enjoy cleaner air.
The air pollution test backfired. Even though one million vehicles were off the roads, measuring devices said the air quality actually deteriorated. That’s because the Chinese use coal as a cooking fuel and many factories are still in and around Beijing.
President Hu has a host of other issues dogging him: Darfur, the poisoned food scandal, the poisoned toy scandal and a mine disaster of epic proportions.
In the toothpaste scandal, first poison was found in some Chinese toothpaste brands. Then Colgate-Polmolive reported that up to 1 million tubes of counterfeit “Colgate” toothpaste had been discovered. It was made in China. It was also poisoned.
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The latest complaint about Chinese products voiced by the West concerns tainted heparin — a blood agent. The tainted heparin had been used by at least 81 U.S. patients who died soon afterwards.
Then there is the global Olympic torch run. Envisioned as a victory lap for Chinese pride around the world, the event has become a target for human rights protesters and a referendum on China’s record in Tibet and in other areas of human rights.
The torch run excited Chinese nationalism — which resulted in wild anti-Western protests and a boycott of French goods that the communist leadership was compelled to quiet. The torch run, instead of becoming a world-wide celebration, became a source of anger in China and the West.
France and Germany have already indicated that their leaders may boycott the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. And France has asked for a total review by the European Union.
With four months to go to the start of the Beijing Summer Games 2008, it is not at all clear that the Olympics will become a giant celebration of Chinese greatness. In fact, the 2008 Beijing Games could become a gigantic blow to China’s national pride — a loss of face of epic proportions.
(AP Photo / Thibault Camus, File)
Above: Jin Jing accosted in Paris.
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Tags: China, Chinese, coal, food security, Hu Jintao, human rights, news, Olympics, politics, pollution, tainted food
