China: Having Its Cake And Eating It Too?
In an indignant and ultimately silly blog post comparing the Beijing Olympics to the Berlin Games in 1936, the usually excellent George Packer moans about China's inability to reform in the years since it won its bid in 2001. Writes Packer:
Don't accuse me of equating China with Nazi Germany, for I'm not€”but it's becoming clear that the I.O.C.'s decision to give the 2008 Olympics to Beijing is its worst call since 1936. Now that it's too late to turn around, China is busy breaking all its promises to improve human rights, allow uncensored coverage, or even€”for God's sake€”clean up the air in Beijing so that marathoners don't fall dead in the streets. I know we're supposed to say nice things about China as a rising power and welcome it to the world stage because anything else inflames Chinese nationalism. But the Chinese leadership wants to have it both ways: quick to criticize President Bush for interfering in China's sovereign affairs when he had the decency to meet Chinese dissidents this week, but eager to cash in on all the geo-political benefits that the Olympics will bring. China didn't even bother to abstain last month but instead vetoed sanctions against Robert Mugabe at the U.N. Unlike Germany in 1936, China is prettifying its streets without pretending to prettify its foreign policy.
Packer's no dummy, but honestly- did anyone really expect (aside from the naive IOC) that China would somehow begin to behave just because it got the Games? Like any living organism, governments only evolve when they face pressure to do so. The Olympics, as major an undertaking as they are, never threatened the legitimacy of the government. Also, what geo-political benefits does Packer imagine China receiving from the Olympics? China's status hasn't changed in the past seven years- it is still a rising (but minor) power with a booming economy, an authoritarian state that restricts individual liberties in favor of social harmony and political stability, and a nation whose foreign policy is mainly characterized by mercantilist schemes in countries the West avoids for "moral" reasons. It also is home to one-fifth of the global population, the majority of whom remain very poor.
I can see Packer's point: China does like to see itself as a integral part of the global community but gets snippy with every real or imagined slight against its sovereignty. But it is hardly alone in this respect. The U.S. (under Presidents Clinton and Bush) refused to sign onto the International Criminal Court or ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Russia uses heavy-handed tactics to influence political outcomes in its neighboring countries. Thailand and Cambodia narrowly avoided a war over a temple, for heaven's sake. Sovereign countries will always act in their own self-interest.
Plus, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld: everyone needs to just relax. The Olympics are an international sporting competition. The biggest one, of course, but still just a sporting competition. As I wrote yesterday, I cannot believe that had Berlin not hosted the '36 games World War Two would have been averted, nor would the Soviet Union still have existed today had the Olympics been elsewhere in 1980.
Packer flippantly hopes that the games go "a-flop". Why? What would that really accomplish? The Games mean a lot to a lot of people, not only the athletes but also the people in China and elsewhere who have worked very hard to make the Olympics successful. I, for one, will sit back and watch, reveling in good old fashioned sport competition.
August 4th, 2008 - 09:47
China really hasn’t changed much since 1949. Communist dictatorship is morally bankrupt. The key leaders know that today. Their goal is to stay in power as long as possible. Beijing Olympics serves one purpose: to stir up Chinese national pride so that those 1 billion poor and underemployed Chinese won’t revolt against the central government. The remaining 300 million Chinese have it easy today. They have benefited much from Chinese economic policy in the last 3 decades since it opened up to the global market. Beijing doesn’t care what the outside world says or thinks of them. They are afraid of what those 1 billion Chinese would somewhat learn about them. They are doing everything possible to cover up their corruptions. Like Culture Revolution, Great Leap Forward, Anti-right, and anti-left movement, this Olympic Game is also a political campaign. Its sole purpose is to numb people so that government can stay in power a day longer.
As former Chinese prez Jiang Zemin once admonished his party leaders, if we don’t deal with corruptions, our country will be destroyed. If we deal with corruptions, our party will be destroyed (that means him and other communist leaders). They chose not to deal with corruptions. One can only guess what would happen to China in the future. What political campaign will Beijing employ to numb people in order to give themselves one more day in power?
August 4th, 2008 - 23:01
I, as a Chinese, find all these mockeries, condemnations on the Beijing Olympic irritating and crude. The analogy to Nazi German is especially hurting. Many of us have no illusions about China, yet we are excited about Beijing Olympic, if just so there will be a bright spot for several generations’ Chinese. Our grandparents, parents went through wars, revolutions, poverties, denied their chances to go to colleges. When it comes to Olympics, they went from neighbors gathering to hear Olympic games on the radio, to watch them on their own TV, now finally there is a chance they can watch it with their own eyes. Why people dump cold water on top of their heads, is beyond me. Does it matter why, if, woulda, choulda, shoulda? Can the west just let them be and have their dreams fulfilled for once? These people are resilient, their wishes are small, why crush them for the sake of “your high moral” ground. What is so funny about telling a poor man who finally found a chocolate, chocolate will make him fat?
For the Beijing Olympic, I went from excited, to shocked, to crushed, now I just want to say “hell to you, be crude, my grandparents’, parents’ dreams will be fulfilled in spite of or because of your hypocrisy”.
August 5th, 2008 - 08:26
@Tong
Maybe I, as a Chinese, can give you some of my thoughts to enlighten you. First, the reason that Beijing Olympics has been compared to the 1936 Berlin Olympics hosted by Nazi Germany is because so far in the Olympic history, only Nazi German and communist Chinese have ever tried this global “sacred fire” torch relay thing. All other hosting cities did the torch relay without much fanfare and didn’t call media attention to it. So I think Beijing deserves what it has asked for. Second, Chinese government spent USD$40 billion to rebuild Beijing for the 2008 Games. You can’t deny this figure since it’s public and documented. Lots of this USD$40 billion comes from other poor regions in China. Government mandated all Chinese provinces to support Beijing Olympics. Robbing from the poor to give to the rich doesn’t sit well with the West, which as hypocrtical as they might be still care about the poor and underprivileged. Third, China made this Olympics a political event the moment it was awarded the hosting right in 2001. As President Hu begged foreigner journalists last week, “the Olympics is for all Chinese people. This is Chinese Olympics, and um… also for other people all over the world.” Fourth, to prove #3, basically all the flags waved by the Chinese in overseas cities where torch passed by are the Chinese national flag. It would be a different story had they waved the Olympic flag or Beijing 2008 Olympic flag. Again this shows Chinese are nationalistic and wants to use this important event to show off their new found power. Fifth, just last week China urged all investment banks not to hold any seminars on China’s economy or stock market and furthermore forbid them to say anything negative about China’s economy (afraid that truth might cause some turmoil in China). Now how arrogant can that be if you forbid investment bankers to tell their clients the truth! The list could go on and on, but I hope you get the point. China isn’t blameless.
A Chinese friend of mine just returned from China lately. He is a U.S. citizen who happens to think like me. He was stupid enough to make fun of Beijing’s propaganda claim of their so-called weather modification technology and did it in an Internet forum where his real identify could be traced. He was detained for hours while leaving China. He was made to promise not to say anything negative about China. Such a dictatorship won’t get you any respect in the world. Just think about what I have said here instead of getting your boxer in a wad when you hear someone criticizing China over their hosting the Olympic Games.
Some Westerners are damned stupid and biased. But use your brain. Not all of them are. There is a reason why so many of them are so critical of China.
August 7th, 2008 - 21:07
FOB, like I said before I and many others have no illusion about China. But we happened to think right now the choulda, shoulda and woulda DO NOT matter. Olympics is Beijing’s and the Beijing Olympics has been many Chinese’s dream, how they got this dream is beside the point, what is important at this moment, to me any way, is to have their dream fulfilled. Want to criticize? Why don’t you do it during the period the government putting the infrastructures in for the Olympic? Instead, everyone has to have the lime light. How many those flag waving oversea Chinese are the Olympics dreaming ordinary Chinese who went through a lot and their dreams were crushed by you high moral people? All these mockeries RIGHT THIS MOMENT are either just for the sake of venting frustrations, or having their 15 second of fame. Either one, to me, it is counterproductive. In the end, the only ones get hurt are the ordinary Chinese citizens who might never get a chance to go outside the country and are looking forward to their once a life time experience. Want to crush our dreams? Go right ahead, we are not using our brains, our dreams don’t crush easy.
Oh, just let you know how brainless I am. I think there are no people deserve Olympic more than the Chinese. No people in the world cherish and worship Olympic more. Dignity, diligence, resilience are these people. If you think Chinese are repressed somehow, more of the reason, they should have their dreams fulfilled.
August 8th, 2008 - 04:23
China is sure not blameless, but China is sure not the devil either.
Those of you who can’t stand the evil China, foreigner or Chinese, I’d say to you: Get the hell out.
August 9th, 2008 - 22:36
@Pffefer, I agree with you. That’s why I don’t live in China anymore. I know I am one of those lucky ones who were able to leave China many years ago as a student and later found employment in the U.S. As a U.S. citizen, I love both America and China (nothing wrong with that). But I am not a nationalistic Chinese or American for that matter. I as a U.S. citizen criticise Bush and his idiotic policies all the time. What’s strange to me is that many expat Chinese (US citizens) are still so loyal to China. They could have criticized China’s lack of human rights, polarization of poverty, etc, but they have chosen not to do so. Instead, they view anything negative said by others about China as China bashing. This is nothing more than Chinese nationalism or racism. I would say to those Chinese Americans: get the hell out of America and return to your beloved motherland.
August 10th, 2008 - 10:52
FOB (fresh off boat?),
I think anybody, including those Chinese Americans you mentioned, if he or she can’t stand the US he/she should get the hell out, yes. But why should they get the hell out if they simply emotionally attached to China?
You stay in the US, I am sure it’s the best for all of us.
August 11th, 2008 - 03:13
@Pffefer, no, Friend of Bill, as in Bill Clinton. I actually have a bone to pick with Matt over the Hillary or Obama candidacy.
I hear ya (sarcasm and all), but there are many of us Chinese Americans who aren’t thinkers (not nationalistic weirdos who carry a big chip on their shoulders). We have been called many kinds of names by other fellow Chinese, detained at the airport in China when exiting or entering China, etc. But trust me. We are thinkers, not emotional puppets. Check out the web site that people like us like to frequent. It’s in Chinese, though, and blocked in China.
http://www.cnd.org. (China News Digest or åŽå¤æ–‡æ‘˜)
August 11th, 2008 - 03:14
Oops, in the previous comment, I meant to say “there are many of us Chinese Americans who ARE thinkers (not nationalistic weirdos who carry a big chip on their shoulders). “