Beijing Olympics Arouse National Anxiety
Chinese 2008 Summer Games Create Jingoistic Concerns
Aug 3, 2008
President Hu’s statement yesterday that, "Politicizing the Olympics runs against the Olympic spirit and the shared aspirations of people all over the world," does not stand the scrutiny of history. Brendan Kennedy of the Ottawa Citizen quoting Olympic author David Wallechinsky, “…that the Olympics are not about politics is ‘silly’ and ‘completely false…The Olympics have always been political’.”
- IOC ban on South Africa over Apartheid from 1964 to 1992
- Refusal of Yugoslavia’s team sports in 1992
- Cold War boycotts of 1980 and 1984
- 2008 partial ban on Iraq
The Times of India reported, “But Hu's statement shows that there is still some lingering worry among the Chinese leadership that…groups might use the occasion to…demonstrate[e and] disrupt the Games and bring bad publicity to China.”
It appears the Chinese leaders are politicizing the Olympics themselves. Kennedy continues, “Mr. Hu has been working the proverbial room of world leaders, extending personal invitations to some….” But Wallechinsky tells Kennedy, “world leaders do not traditionally pay much attention to Olympic Games,” and notes that “Mr. Bush will be the first U.S. president to attend an Olympics outside the United States.”
Politics create talk of boycotts and it is difficult to boycott when actively trading with a nation. In The Hill, Rep Frank Wolf argues for boycotting the games, but is asked, “China is one of our top trading partners, and as some have called it ‘our banker’.” How do you boycott your banker?
Reasons
- Darfur - Rep. Maxine Waters charges China has provided cover for the Sudanese government engaging in genocide in Darfur and the maintenance of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.
- Burma - Rep. John Shimkus criticizes China for contributing to human rights abuses in Burma.
- Nazis - Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Joseph Pitts compares the 2008 Beijing Games to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi-era Berlin.
- Dalai Lama - NBC's Kelly O Donnell reported Republican Presidential candidate John McCain said, "Unless there is some progress with the Dalai Lama...then I would make the decision not to go [to China.]"
- Child Labor – The BBC reported, “…teachers force eight-year-old school children to assemble volatile explosives, when they should have been reading books.”
- Political Freedom - The human rights organization’s Vincent Brossel, says without requesting China to loosen restrictions on freedom of expression, “…[world leaders] are making a mistake, because they (have lost) a chance to obtain ... a positive gesture from China.”
- Advertising Market – Michael Wood, CEO for Leo Burnett a global advertising agency, told David Barboza of the International Herald Tribune on July 20th, "You've never seen the Olympics in a market that has such domestic, commercial scale. When the Olympics were in Los Angeles and Atlanta, the U.S. market was already fully developed."
- TV – Paul Thomasch of Reuters reported on July 21st, “NBC…has sold more than $900 million in advertising time for the…Olympic Games…booking nearly 90% of its inventory three weeks ahead of the opening ceremony….”
- Bankers – Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers told the Washington Times on July 27th in the article China's Economic 'Bargaining Chip', “There is surely something odd about the world’s greatest power being the world’s greatest debtor.” The International Monetary Fund expects China’s currency reserves will exceed $2.4 trillion by next year and Summers calls this a "balance of financial terror."
Conclusion
Wallechinsky argues, "The purpose of the Olympics, from the point of view of the Chinese Communist Party, is to convince the Chinese people…that the rest of the world acknowledges them as legitimate leaders. So if you can get the president of the United States to show up at your opening ceremony as a prop, that's a very powerful symbol."
AP Beijing reporter Charles Hutzler summed it best on Thursday, “With days to go before the Olympics — a time when most host cities are set to offer the world a warm greeting — Beijing seems wary.”
 |
