Junjie’s China blog

10 days until Summer Olympics 2008 in Beijing

All preparations are made, the tickets are sold, Olympic tourists slowly arrive in the big city. What will we see during these Olympics? After the Olympics it will be easy to make a review, but let’s look into the future and make a preview instead. Here are my predictions:

Blue sky and air quality

Beijing wants to make sure that people can see the blue sky during the Olympic Games. They are willing to take measures to just achieve that. At the moment only 50% of all private cars are allowed to use the roads. One day car owners with an license plate ending with an odd number may drive, the next day even ending license plates enjoy a ride. Those who may not drive have to rely on the public transport system, which is almost bursting from all the passengers forced to use it.

Companys have been closed because of producing to much pollution. If they get compensations is unclear, I have my doubts. I have even more doubts, that those who enjoy some forced holidays get paid during this period. If not, they are in serious trouble obviously.

Still the air quality has only slightly improved, the blue sky cannot be seen. Measurements have shown, the air is much to polluted for more sensitive lungs. The sun is still deep red when rising in the morning and at the evening instead of shining in a glaring yellow.

The Sun is rising over Beijing. Red in color due to a staggering air pollution.

My opinion on the air quality: China’s measures are far less than necessary to achieve adequate and required levels of cleanness for the Olympic Games. Producers of microscopic dust particles, smoke and environmentally unfriendly gas must be removed not only in the inner city, but also in a wide area around the outskirts of the city. The amount of cars has to be reduced further. A strong course of actions is necessary especially since the time until the games begin is so short. And it does take some time until the stinking brown cloud vanishes above the roofs of the Olympic Village.

However Beijing is not ready for this kind of massive forced shut down. The public transit system is almost at is capacity limit already, people need to earn money to put bread on the table. While such extreme measures wouldn’t hurt the national economic statistics, they do hurt the local population. We have to see how Beijing decides. Olympic Games or the fellow countrymen? But Beijing must do something pretty soon. I don’t think they will do it on time and we will see a blue sky only a few days during this sports event.

Freedom of speech

When Beijing was awarded the Games they promised any reporter can report anything related in some way to the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. So far we can only see this is not working at all. Reporters in many places have been disturbed while reporting. The HK reporters incident is only one example of many.

My opinion on freedom of speech during the Olympic Games: What is happening is very clear. The upper management government of China gave a promise to the West: “You are allowed to report!”. But they missed one point. They forgot to tell the police. The police and other local authorities are obviously unaware what Beijing promised to the foreign nations sending reporters to the events.

The recent conflicts earlier this year in Tibet Provence led to a strong distrust towards foreign, especially Western, media. Chinese TV broadcasted all the faults of certain foreign media channels commenting pictures in a wrong way. However this is a gone story, but in the peoples head Western media is still evil. Somehow I get the impressions the locals want to do just what the central censored TV of China did. Teach the West. When Western reporters show up and make mistakes they have to face their local teachers.

The central government in Beijing has to take immediate and comprehensive measures to ensure everyone understands that Western journalists and reporters are allowed to report what they like. Only then they can have an embarrassment-free Olympics. And I’m sure we will see more police-journalist interaction. Let’s hope it won’t be too much, as entertaining as it is.

Pushing Westerners out of China

Recently visa restrictions have been put in place. Foreigners have a much harder time to get into China compared to previous years. For security reasons is the official explanation.

My opinion on visa restrictions: Why business visas were restricted with a reference to the Olympic Games is strange - Game visitors have a Tourist visa anyways. Also pointing to security reasons is more than strange. If someone does want to enter for a terrorist attack, he probably doesn’t think about the maximum length of his visa. If it is a suicide bomber he won’t leave the country later at all. Also other unwanted elements can do their evil deeds in one month.

At the same time China is hurting many foreign entrepreneurs and also students. China draws a bad picture regarding its visa policy. At the same time this is not only China’s fault. The WTO has asked China several times before to adjust it’s visa policy to international standards. While this is fair, they way they did it was not. They announced the changes at the day they actually came into effect, what is basically stupid. China, announcements should be announced before something happens. That’s why they’re named announcements. Visa problems won’t show up in the news anymore, as they have dominated the headlines for long enough. But they will show up in the hotel statistics: More than 20% of Beijing’s hotel rooms are empty.

Competitors below minimum age

Recently two competitors, namely He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan, both female Chinese gymnasts, showed up in newspaper columns. They might not be the minimum age for their discipline. Their passports clearly indicate they are 16, which would be sufficient, however different other sources show a different picture. On the website of the Chengdu Sports Bureau is a file dated from january 2006, He Kexin is born at the 1st of January 1994. The Olympic committee accepted the participation of these two based on their passports, however manipulation might have taken place.

My comment on too young athletes: While this issue is a minor one, it adds another negative point in the list of problems around the Beijing Olympics. China should investigate here in a honest way, however I have doubt they do. We might see the truth about this many years in the future, or not at all.

Conclusion

Questions if China is the right choice for the Olympics are asked often recently. While this is not a problem in itself, the amount of these questions is unsettling. It clearly indicates many are not confident that China is the right choice. Then this event might be a push in the right direction. I anticipate we can see more negative headlines during the Olympic Games, but China will learn from it. Once the event is over environmental issues will enjoy more public and governmental attention. China’s population will make more contact with Western people and they will learn about personal freedom and human rights that Westerners personify. A positive push overall. These Games might be not the best we’ve seen so far, but I do predict we will see a better China afterwards.

If You liked this article I would appreciate a Stumble or a bookmark in Your favourite social bookmark site. I would be even more happy if You write Your opinion on one or several of the issues mentioned. Just add Your comment in the comments section.

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