The Shattered Sky

Time for a reality check. Now that we have awed at a historic opening ceremony, we need to examine some of China’s failures in hosting the 2008 Olympic Games.

Seven years ago, Beijing was awarded the opportunity of hosting the 2008 games. At the time, Beijing promised that the media would have complete freedom in their reporting, that they would improve their abysmal human rights track record and they would significantly reduce Beijing’s pollution. I’m afraid these promises have not been fulfilled.

When international media arrived in Beijing for the games, several internet sites were blocked including those that may provide information on protests. Now while China may not be telling the reporters what stories they can and cannot cover,  it does not take a genius to deduce that media personnel require access to sources of information in order to accurately report their findings. Let this count as strike number one.

Secondly, can anyone show me exactly how China has improved on its human rights? There are reports of China using surveillance against activists and their families, blocking access to the capital city to others and sentencing people to prison and/or labour as punishment for speaking out. It has gotten so bad that Amnesty International has gone so far as to publish a document on China’s broken Olympic promises! (link) That’s two strikes, China.

Finally, the smog! Now granted, a lot has been done. Factories have been reportedly moved out of Beijing, traffic conjestion has been limited and rerouted…but the air was still awful! Beijing’s smog is so bad that I have read various news sites reporting the sun can be looked at directly and visibility was only as far  as one kilometer off. From the photos I have seen; I believe it. If this is how bad it is now after the improvements, then think of how it was before! Sorry China but even if this is an improvement, that’s the third strike. As the Americans would say in baseball – you’re out!

Not to mention that it has now surfaced that the little girl who ’sang’ during the opening ceremony was miming to the voice of another little girl who was deemed to be not cute enough for the ceremony! (link) How horrible!

Now don’t get me wrong. I am facinated by China’s development and their return to the world stage of superpowers. I am also extremely happy that this has happened because ever since the fall of the USSR, the United States has been the world’s sole superpower. Nothing against the USA, but the world needs either no superpower, or more than one. One by itself is a recipe for that power to get away with anything it pleases.

I welcome China back to the world stage and I congratulate them on a historical Olympic Games. I just think they have a very long way to go before they can call themselves first world. They may have a gargantuan economy, they may have an impressive armed force and they may be one of only three nations with independent access to outer space. However, as long as personal freedoms and a high standard of living are repressed, China is little more than a third world nation with a fat bank account.