By China Watcher
I read this article from the US propaganda paper, Voice of America and I was not at all surprised by the inaccuracy and the spinning of facts by the writer which were so deviously done to mislead his hordes of readers.
In the article, he reluctantly mentioned that the Olympics 2008 was staged successfully in certain aspects but he suddenly goes to his usual stereotyping stance to criticize Beijing as a colorless city without any worthwhile backdrop. He continued to say that China has not been able to command the respect it so desperately needed from the concluded Olympics. First of all, when he mentioned respect, he needs to define from where – maybe from the few Western nations – US, Britain, France, Germany and perhaps, Canada or Australia. These places also happened to be the sites where the torch run were severely violated by the trouble makers.
Anyway, I have mentioned many times before, these few countries do not make up the WORLD. The WORLD is much bigger than these few WESTERN countries. And do you think China really need the hypocritical respect from these few WESTERN nations. The African nations and most developing Asian and Latin American countries have showered commendable praises on the organizing capabilities of the Chinese government and also, the overall friendliness and hospitality of the Chinese people. These countries make up more than 75% of the number of countries listed in the United Nations and eventually their RESPECT is far more important. Just ask Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth on how he feels about China. Unreported in the Western news, Bolt has generously contributed US$50,000 to the Sichuan Earthquake fund. Even Michael Phelps has a few kind words on China.
If the author is not prepared to praise the athletics prowess of the Chinese gold medal achievers, he should not likewise make unwarranted comments that they are government trained athletes. Is he trying to tell us that most of the athletes from the Western countries are privately funded? In fact, the success of the British cyclists in winning more medals was due to the millions of investments poured into the sporting events like cycling and rowing which were strongly motivated by the British government. Most countries sporting success directly or indirectly is due to government involvement, so why make a pointing accusation out of it, if not for his clear bias and anti-communist agenda.
The Chinese have clearly and undoubtedly overtaken the US in terms of gold medal count, 51 as against the US final gold medals of 36. But some US sports commentators and journalists are unwilling to accept the fact that the US had lost out to the rising dragon in term of Olympics supremacy and still claimed that the US are ahead of China in term of total medal count (tally inclusive of silver and bronze medallions). The most accepted measure of Olympic supremacy is still the highest number of gold medals and not total medals. To be number 1 is much more difficult than being number 2 or 3. And Chinese editorials have not loudly trumpeted the success of China, more so after having beaten the US as the number 1 sporting nation but stated that the country needs to make significant improvement in two major core sports, that is, swimming and athletics, before they could claim the mantra for supremacy.
The act of denying visas to foreigners who have a record of protesting human rights is a prerogative of a TRULY, SOVEREIGN and INDEPENDENT nation. China has its own security laws for dealing with people (inclusive of non residents) who have found to break local laws. Hanging banners to express “sensitive subjects” are illegal in China and the law offenders would have to face the consequences. There is no such thing as a law or regulations in China allowing protests and demonstration.. If there should be one in the future, it is for the Chinese communities to decide and not from the urging and pestering of the Western leaders and media.
The mainly US and British nationals cannot claimed to be ignorant of Chinese laws when they unfurled Free Tibet banners in prominent public locations and hope not to be detained. These trouble makers should be charged in the Chinese court just like any Chinese resident and not deported (and blacklisted) after complaints were lodged by the respective ambassadors. Sometimes, I think that the Chinese government has given in to the pressure of various leaders and governments.
China's slogan for these Games was "One World, One Dream” which reflects the dream to realize one's individual as well as the country’s expression, notably through athletic excellence and should not be politicized to serve the Western hidden agenda.
When the Beijing organizers were successfully in staging a spectacular show at the Opening ceremony two weeks ago, the Western journalists, out of sheer jealously, commented that it is a bunch of goose-stepping soldiers. Most of the volunteers are ordinary Chinese citizens and if I am not mistaken, the only time the soldiers were involved is in the flag raising ceremony. As usual, the Western media will try its level best to portray China as a police state. Eight out of ten news reports coming from China, you would get to see photos of Chinese soldiers parading in Tiananmen Square or the police casting a watchful eye of the activities in fearful green or black colored uniforms. Even the Beijing logo is being graphically depicted as a person who is running away from a firing squad. If this is not clear bias then tell me what is it?
The Olympics were designed to instill pride among the Chinese and it was a coming out party for all Chinese people, both in China and overseas, whereby the Games emphasizes more on collective efforts rather than individual, and I do not see any reason for criticizing the government for taking such a stance.
The writer said that the Chinese system has shown its abilities to govern but it has also revealed cracks, for instance, that the cute girl singing in the ceremony was lip-synching to hide the real singer, a girl whose looks did not meet official standards. The impact was not as far reaching as what was published in the West. In China, it is important to achieve perfection and collective success is given way to individual rewards. Chinese opera has been using lip-syn for centuries and it is common in a Chinese stage play. The opening show is for the whole world to see and it is not a money-making venture so it is up to the directors to decide what is best. So what is the fuss?
Chinese organizers success in curbing pollution in Beijing was not spare his critical comments and he implied that the authorities forcefully manipulated the traffic and ordered the closure of factories surrounding the Chinese cities. Even when the Games were held in Los Angeles in 1984, certain draconian measures were adopted.
China will gradually improve its own human rights objectives and it should not be under the nosy interference of the Western media. I believe the annual human rights dialogues with the US and EU will ultimately bring about beneficial changes to China structurally but it had to be under conditions suited to a growing and confident middle class devoid of any independence cry or Western interference coming from Tibet and Xinjiang in the future.
The success of the Olympics is not the coming out party of the Chinese government but the party is for all the Chinese throughout the world.
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