A highly political Olympic games

tauringhuang.

Monday, August 04, 2008
  

  
The demand that politics and sport should be kept apart was always a pious hope when it came to the Beijing Olympics. The games often have strong political undertones. It is inevitable that any Olympics held in China will be especially politically charged.

Although it is not always comfortable to acknowledge the fact, some of the most memorable Olympic moments have come precisely when politics impinged upon the games. Most notoriously, there were the Berlin Olympics of 1936, which showcased Hitler's Germany, and the terrorist attacks on the Munich Olympics of 1972.

But there have been other less tragic examples of the mixing of politics and the games including the black power salutes given by US athletes from the medals podium in 1968 and the Soviet-US struggles to be top of the medals table. That symbolic battle will be replicated in Beijing as the US and China duel for sporting pre-eminence.

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As it looks back at past Olympics, the Chinese government will probably hope that the Beijing games most resemble those of Tokyo in 1964 and Seoul in 1988. On both occasions, the Olympics were used as “coming out parties” for Asian miracle economies – Japan and South Korea. China too is anxious to proclaim its success.

Yet the symbolism of the Beijing Olympics is much more complicated than that of the Tokyo or Seoul games. Japan and South Korea were both countries that were firmly anchored in the western camp. At the time of the Olympics, neither was seen as a plausible challenger to American hegemony. Japan was a democracy and South Korea was on the path to democracy.

None of this is true of China. As a result, the Chinese will be well aware that much of the western world will be watching their party with mixed feelings. Any mishap that points to a wider flaw in the Chinese system – pollution over Beijing, heavy-handed policing – will be highlighted remorselessly by the world's media.

The Olympics might have been designed to showcase some of the most impressive aspects of today's China – modernity, wealth, achievement. But the games are also an event that could bring out the worst in China: paranoia, nationalism, control-freakery.

Even before the start of the games, both sides of China have been on display. Architectural critics are cooing over the beauty and daring of the Olympic stadium – which, unlike the Athens arena, was completed months before the event. Beijing's infrastructure has been thoroughly revamped. If the games themselves go well, they may indeed change the world's image of China – leaving behind a lasting impression of a modern, dynamic and optimistic country.

Yet the Chinese have also been heavy-handed about any hint of disruption or loss of face. The goons who accompanied the Olympic torch in its progress around the world did China's image no favours. Neither did the security men who roughed up television crews, attempting to film chaotic queues for tickets.

Chinese promises that the games might lead to progress on human rights have not been fulfilled. On the contrary, the government's desire to see that everything goes smoothly has provoked a new crackdown on dissent: dissidents have been detained, slum-dwellers removed and nightclubs closed.

But not everything in China is susceptible to control. In spite of the best efforts of the government, pollution looks like it could be a serious problem during the games.

Foreign observers should not turn a blind eye to these flaws in the Chinese system or allow themselves to be swept up into a propaganda exercise. But they should also avoid arriving at the Olympics in a spirit of grudging rivalry. The Chinese desire to proclaim the country's progress is entirely natural. It is in everybody's interests that the Beijing Olympics are a success.