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The 2008 "Tokyo" Olympics?
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News and Politics :: Sino-Japanese :: Human rights and personal freedoms :: News and Perspectives ::
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posted Monday, 21 January 2008
For China, the 2008 Olympic games means a lot of thing. Increased tourism, a home side advantage for its athletes, an opportunity to pour money into infrastructure and culture that even the most tight-fisted of bureaucrats will have difficulty saying no to.
Of course, when you get right down to it, right down to the heart of the matter, by far the biggest thing that Beijing 2008 offers China is the opportunity to gain face by showing the rest of the world that it can host a world class sporting event that it bigger, better, and goes off smoother than any seen before. This, however, is where the problems start to pile up.
Concerns quickly developed about human rights abuses being committed as part of the Olympic preparations. Stories of families being evicted to make way for Olympic transport links and of communities finding that their local amenities and sports facilities had been upgraded to the point where they could no longer afford to use them. Not to mention reports that Beijing city authorities planned to eject migrant workers, and to lock of the mentally ill, in order to stop them "bothering" tourists or making the area look untidy. There were concerns over freedom of speech, too. Was Beijing really planning to put thousands of people under house arrest to stop them from protesting at the games? and what about journalist, both local and foreign? Would local journalists from other regions be allowed into Beijing to report on the games, and would foreign journalists be allowed out to report on things other than the games? There were even a report that Beijing planned to change the law to ban athletes from brining Western religious texts to the games, though this last report turned out to be nothing but a scare story.
However, amidst all of these problems, it would seem that another concern has arisen that threatens to embarrasses Beijing. Though this one isn't so much a new concern, but rather the confirmation of something that was, up until now, only a rumor. And this one's a biggey.
Apparently, it has been confirmed that Beijing is too polluted, and its food too suspect, for "delicate" foreign athletes. Many of whom are making "alternative arrangements" for the duration of the games. More than this though, and this will REALLY get on Beijing's nerves, the alternative arrangements of choice for many foreign athletes looks set to be China's long time sparing partner and rival; neighboring Japan.
According to stories carried in the European and Japanese media, over a dozen of the world's premier Olympic teams, including this of those of America, Germany and Britain, have made arrangements to house and train their athletes in various locations around Japan. Allowing them to grow accustomed to the Asia summertime climates without the risk of exposing them to Beijing's polluted air, or to digestive difficulties caused by food poisoning or simply from the problems often associated with consuming unfamiliar dishes. As such, athletes will train in Japan, then travel to Beijing for their events, before returning to Japan. Something which would be done on a daily basis so that athletes could avoid spending more time in Beijing that necessary, and as little time exerting themselves as possible so as to avoid breathing in the local air.
Some reports claim that officials from numerous Japanese towns and cities used an advance session of the G8, held to lay the ground for it official meeting in July, in order to lobby foreign officials to send their teams to Japan rather than to China. Reports go on to state that various sweeteners were put on the table, including offers to pay athletes airfares and living expenses if they shunned China in favor of basing their teams in Japan.
While a number of officials have confirmed that they do have concerns over pollution and food safety, others have denied that this has been their primary motivation for choosing to train in Japan. Examples of this include the British swimming team, who will be based in Osaka, who stated that their decision to operate out of Japan was made on the grounds that the southern Japanese city offered them high quality training facilities with which they were already familiar.
"[Training in Osaka is] very much in the best interests of the athletes in terms of familiarity, convenience and quality of the training venue"
David Richards, Spokesperson, Olympic Swimming Team (Britain)
David Richards, Spokesperson, Olympic Swimming Team (Britain)
As yet, Chinese officials have remained tight lipped about this turn of events, though China watchers believe that as the games approach the Chinese media will revive orders to avoid mentioning the fact that many Olympic teams will not be based in Beijing.
Other Embarrassments?
In a related issue, watchers await news of how Beijing's press officers plan to handle the fact foreign athletes from some countries will carry out their pre-competition warm-up wearing smog masks. China watchers believe a prohibition on domestic news agencies carrying photographs of such scenes may be one possible solution.
Official Moves?
In response to prior foreign and domestic concerns Chinese authorities have already ruled that only specially authorized vendors will be allowed to serve food at the games, while Beijing city authorities have enacted a ban high rise construction and maintenance work requiring cranes in order to ensure that Beijing's skyline is uninterrupted.
Factories with high volume gas or particulate outputs have also received cease and desist orders limiting their operations during the games, and traffic plans have been drawn up to limit car pollution.
Not Alone?
While Beijing has received strong international rebukes for violating human rights during preparations for the games, it is not the only nation to have done so. Indeed, Britain, the host of the 2012 games, has received similar criticism. Including complaints that the British government has forcefully confiscated land from individuals and businesses in order to build Olympic facilities, and that it has demolished public free/affordable amenities and replaced them with facilities that local people either have no use for, or simply cannot afford to use, under the claim that it is Olympic regeneration. Such claims are routinely made in other countries as well, with local or regional authorities standing accused of putting face before the rights of the people and of spending money on Olympic projects that wold be better spent elsewhere.
Concerns have also been expressed about the governments intended use of anti-terrorism laws during the games and the impact that this may have on civil liberties. Britain has already been accused of violating civil liberties by using such laws to detain or remove anti-war protesters from embarrassing locations or to deny them access to events.
View Comments/Add a Comment (6)
1. Peter left...
Tuesday, 22 January 2008 4:22 pm :: http://www.civicchina.com/?p=39
Very nice post indeed! Thanks for pointing out that China is not the only
country that violates human rights and civil liberties, other, more
"democratic" countries (and you give a great example) also know about the
importance of representing themselves "well" to the outside world. Well,
now at least China can use Britain as an excuse for their violations. I'm
still waiting to see the first incarcerated cyber-dissidents in our "free"
and "democratic" western sphere. Just a matter of time, if you ask me.
2. ACB left...
Wednesday, 23 January 2008 3:29 am
The West is funny about topics like this. They have the concept of
acceptable dissent where the rules are different depending on who you are
dissenting against.
3. Peter left...
Wednesday, 23 January 2008 2:22 pm :: http://www.civicchina.com
Thanks for pointing this out. To me the concept of "acceptable dissent"
also suits China very well, they may well have adapted it from the West.
Dissenting against the party-state is obviously not "acceptable." Glad we
can "trust" all those authorities that somehow feel they are above the
law...
4. Peter left...
Wednesday, 23 January 2008 2:26 pm :: http://www.civicchina.com
Thinking about it, I'm actually no longer sure who learned from whom. It
may well be that the West conceives China to be a convenient 'test case'
for what could constitute "acceptable dissent" in public opinion...
5. 麦天明 tim left...
Thursday, 24 January 2008 2:51 am
wow beijing polluted?
you should go to chicago,newjersey or esp. boston they are polluted beijing
is not polluted if it is polluted what the heck is shanghai aka shangpan?
6. TrueBlooded left...
Saturday, 26 January 2008 5:12 pm
Did you actually say Boston was polluted? Have you even been there before?
At least there isn't smog in Boston like Beijing.