Evaluating the Success of Beijing Olympics from China's perspective

Evaluating the success of Beijing Olympics from China’s perspective

So, the dust has finally set on the Beijing Olympics. It was touted as a sporting extravaganza which would showcase the progress the Chinese have made over past few centuries. From a sporting perspective, it was supposed to be the games China, in front of a partisan but pressurizing home crowd would displace the Americans as sporting kingpins. It was supposed to be the Games where China would project itself as a country which was embracing human rights, environmentalism and pivotally a non-communist stand. So, how have the games panned out?
This essay would examine and evaluate the success of Beijing Olympics from China’s perspective using three criterion to judge. They are from the sporting, political, economic perspective. While term sporting angle is self-explanatory, by political I mean the image China has given to the world through the games. The significance of the Games cannot be undermined politically because, China recognizes that more has to be done from its side to gain trust from skeptical global bodies (UN, WTO etc.) By economic, I would be analyzing the revenues China have gained and lost through these games.
Sporting Angle- All that glitters is not gold
A commentator quipped during the opening ceremony at the sight of China’s colossal 639-strong contingent, “You do not know where to start when talking about medal contenders” After amassing a staggering number of medals, the Chinese must be a pleased lot or that is what we think. However, upon closer introspection, we get some insights into their medal tally. China have dominated sports such as rowing, shooting, table tennis and diving. Their clean sweeps in these sports ensure that their medal tally remains unbelievably high. However, in fields such as athletics and swimming they have come a cropper literally with a solitary gold in swimming to write home about. This does not take away anything from the Chinese because all sports are equal in nature and what they have done is just speacialization. They have identified their niche area and worked on it to maximize their potential.
However, here comes the authorities’ worry and mine as well. Athletics offers a whopping 47 gold medals while swimming’s many events also place it high up in the list. Phelps’ eight golds single-handedly swallowed the entire medal tally the Chinese paddlers garnered. This shows how Athletics and Swimming can be profitable sports which the Chinese should focus on. This was seen when Liu Xiang pulled out of the 110 metres race citing injury reasons. It was a blow to China because that was their sole medal hope in athletics, their sole chance to hear the national anthem in the Bird’s Nest Stadium, their sole chance to witness a Chinese athlete taking on the West. While Zhang Yining is a world champion (table-tennis) and the Chinese shooters racked up the medals, Liu Xiang was China’s hope.
He was their only athlete with Nike sponsorship. He was the household name not because of his consistent success (Liu Xiang’s only gold medal came in Athens 2004. Zhang Yining is a much more successful athlete) but because of his sport. Their desperation to win in the pool was also seen when they paid exorbitant amounts to hire the services of an Australian coach who mentored Jessica Schipper (200m butterfly swimmer) He managed to sell his training routine to eventual 200m butterfly champion who was from China. These evidences prove that while on the surface level the Chinese have done exceedingly well, they still have some way to go before they call themselves sporting powerhouses. That can be said only when they fill up the coffers with golds from the track and pool. Otherwise they would always be known as champs in the sports they inaugurated (table tennis-ping pong) but chumps in blue-riband events which the world wants to see.
From a more sporting-political perspective, one may have to analyze to what extent China’s communist regime has had a part to play in its success. This year China is celebrating its 30th anniversary of the launch of the “reform and opening” policies that have swept away state controls. Following up on that, there was a regime known as juguo or whole nation. From young, as young as five, talent is identified, nurtured and they are put into special schools. Central planning in schools has meant that from the Sydney 2000 Olympics, China adopted a new policy to which was dubbed as “project 119” The idea was to improve the medal haul in sports such as track-and-field, rowing and water sports by pouring more state financing. The results for this though have not been striking. The niche sports are still the suppliers for the medals.
However, at the same time, one has to question, with such limited results the efficiency of the programme and whether it has wasted the taxpayers’ money and resulted in profligate spending. According to state-run news agency, Xin Hua the spending on these sports could be better spent on public services. This is also deemed as “extremely unfair” for the people who trust in the government.
Supporters of juguo however argue that without this programme China would have become another India which does not support “athletic elitism” India with a population of one billion like China’s won its first individual gold in air-rifle shooting this Olympics. So who would people, the general mass public prefer? An Indian contingent which survives on its own (Gold winner funded himself by building shooting range in his farmhouse) or the Chinese contingent. Quoting a heretic “I’m afraid India is already ahead of us in this respect”
Political Perspective
As much as China wants to shed its image as a communist nation it cannot. That is what one gets from at least the Opening Ceremony of the Games. One of the lasting images was how one girl in the middle of the stadium sang the theme song while fireworks decorated the sky. That emotional moment’s value cannot be taken away as the significance of the moment resonated throughout the world. However, one got to know later that it was firstly lip-synched and was sung by another girl whose face was not deemed to be attractive by the ruling Communist party and officials. This was the first problem. The Communist party controls almost everything and many netizens actually feel that each medal that China wins in the games is coated with a political stain. Basically, their point is that many of the things are rigged. For example, in the games schedeule Liu Xiang’s races were four days apart for the win to be savoured. However, that plan badly backfired as he limped out of the games.
Another point is that, during the Opening Ceremony, there were many soldiers who were circling the stadium while the proceedings were going on. One could actually infer that China has still not given up on its authoritarian regime which it has followed for many years. Their system also brings them success by grinding down the citizens and “maximizing their potential”
However, moving away from those miniscule issues, it has to be examined how China has actually countered with its environmental problems. It took knee-jerk action and closed down many factories for the duration of the games. This was a measure to avoid pollution during the games. Due to this, a lot of revenue was lost. We see a trend that Chinese government are following. From the time they have been granted the chance to host the Olympics, they have always been working towards that. It has almost been that the Olympics has been their final checkpoint. However, this is not true. Seemingly, from a superficial level, this games is a political-environmental success.
However, in truth, China has just put up a face-value stand which would please the Westerners. This will not work in the long run as China is not making any conscious, concerted effort to turn over their economic woes. Many of China’s cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhdou are ranked in the top 10 of the most polluted nations. From here, if we are to evaluate the success of the Beijing Olympics from a environmental-political view, it is a success in showing a good face in front of the world. However, their “sweeping under the carpet techniques” can be sensed by Gabrielassie marathon champion who said that the place was covered with so much smog in February. His regret can be felt. If only he had known about these last-minute, stop-gap solutions the government would employ…
Economic Perspective
From the economic perspective, this Olympic games has been a modest success. China is a country which embraces capitalism without much inhibitions. For example from 1978 to 2007, their economy has grown by forty fold, moving it up the ladder from a poverty-ridden nation to a global power today. Indeed, China seems to be the only place where capitalism is still thriving. A massive fireworks show and spectacular opening ceremony, directed by well-known filmmaker Zhang Yimou, seek to showcase not just China’s traditional culture, but the country’s growing economic prowess. As shown on South Korean television, which leaked a rehearsal, one of the scenes appeared to show many buildings springing up from the ground, demonstrating China’s rapid expansion (While it was done graphically as confessed later on)
The ultra-modern Olympic architecture, from the main “Bird’s Nest” stadium and the oval Grand State Theatre to the twisted CCTV headquarters in Beijing, all designed by leading international architects, aims to impress foreigners with China’s striving for modernity and progress. The expansion of Beijing international airport is colossal. Its Terminal 3 alone is larger than the five terminals of London Heathrow combined.
Twelve multinational corporations have paid up to $US200 million each to become Olympic global sponsors in order to advertise their products to the 4 billion people around the world who are expected to watch the events. All up, the sponsorship totals $866 million, one third more than the 2004 Athens Games. This does not include the estimated advertising revenue of $1.5 billion by the global sponsors or the costs for partnerships paid by dozens of other multinational and Chinese corporations. Adidas alone has reportedly paid $80 million for using the Olympic logo for its products selling in China.
“One World, One Dream” is the slogan of the Beijing Olympics. But the feelings in Washington, Tokyo and the European capitals toward the rise of China are rather more complex. On the one hand, major corporations around the world now depend on the super-exploitation of the Chinese working class, the largest in the world. This is because they are a source of cheap labour while quality control is still maintained.
Conclusion
So all in all through this essay, I have proven in what ways China’s Olympic games has been a moderate success in terms of the sporting, political and economic perspective. While one the surface value, the picture looks rosy, in this essay I have examined the further implications through their actions.



Citations
- The Economist (Issue on Barack Obama and his acceptance speech)- Latest