Aug
27
2008
This will be my final post as I will be returning to Yale later today. I would like to acknowledge and to thank my editors Catherine Cheney and Katharine Kendrick of The Yale Globalist for giving me this opportunity and for helping me get through it. They did a great job editing my ideas and my grammar—except for in the last few posts, in which any mistakes are solely my own because in the interest of time I published without their editorial input. Some of my Olympic pictures follow at the end of this post.
A reporter once asked former-Communist Premier of China Zhou Enlai what he thought was the impact of the 1789 French Revolution, to which he replied: “It is too soon to tell.”
We are all in a similar boat vis-à-vis the impact of the Olympic Games on China. The Games, which were incredible to attend and which the Chinese hosted almost flawlessly, ended four days ago. The city has slowly drained of festivity and tourists. The Coca-Cola pavilion in the mall The Place has been dismantled to its metal skeleton and the red and blue BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games) volunteers have evaporated by the hundreds of thousands. Never mind that the Paralympic Games are about to begin, there is a clear sense that the Olympic Spirit has come and gone. But absent perspective, we can still ask: what might be China’s post-Olympic prospects?
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Aug
23
2008
A specter is haunting Beijing—air pollution. Beijing’s air pollution, some of the worst in the world, was a concern from the beginning for Olympic organizers. The Chinese government enacted initiatives in preparation for the Games, but skeptical media outlets were quick to disparage China’s efforts. In the days on either side of August 8, the New York Times and the South China Morning Post published articles about China’s failure to reduce pollution. The decision of Ethiopian marathoner Haile Gebrselassie to not run in the Games was held up as proof of the China’s shortcomings. But Beijing saw more clean days these last two weeks than anyone can remember, and no one is reporting this success.
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Aug
18
2008
The International Olympic Committee awarded the Summer Games to Beijing in 2001 under the conditions that the government reduce pollution and increase protections of human rights. Beijing “promised” the International Olympic Committee (IOC) blue skies and press freedom. Many critics accuse Beijing of breaking their Olympic promises. But as the Beijing Games continue in spite of criticism, a future host country is committing violence far worse than censorship. Olympic promises are easy to break—is the IOC going to learn this lesson before the 2014 Games in Russia?
The 2014 Winter Olympics are going to be in the Crimean resort town of Sochi. Sochi is Putin’s favorite ski resort. He became personally invested in the bid, traveling to Guatemala City in July 2007 to pressure the IOCinto voting for Sochi over Pyeongchang, Korea, 51 to 47. This is the first time Russia will host the Winter Games.
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Jul
21
2008
How many “plagues” will Beijing face? Consider the recent challenges the Chinese regime has faced to ensure that this Olympics goes off without a hitch:
1. The city’s pollution. Last summer, breathing the air in Beijing for one day was equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes. Since then, the government has implemented measures to reduce the air pollution, including seeding the clouds with silver iodide and dry ice to control rainfall. Despite these efforts, concerns over the air pollution persist. The Canadian and Australian track and field teams will not be participating in the opening ceremony because it requires unnecessary exposure to pollution a week before their events. Ethiopian world-champion marathon runner Haile Gebrselassie is not competing in the marathon because he has asthma.
More after the jump
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