The 29th Olympiad

Why I Support a Perfect Olympic Games

Much time has been spent bemoaning the International Olympic Committee’s decision to award the Olympic Games to Beijing because the city is too polluted, or the government is too authoritarian or the Tibetans are too oppressed. While all of these are valid concerns, the fact of the matter is that IOC awarded Beijing the Olympics and the 29th Olympiad is going to start in less than two hours here in Beijing.

As I sit here and look through the smog-ridden haze outside my window, I am becoming increasingly nervous. I’m nervous because I want to Games to go well, and anyone with an interest in China, human rights, or international politics should want the Games to go well too. After seven years of constant attention, the Chinese people have come to see the Games as an international coming out party—just as many in the West have done. This creates a situation in which the Chinese people want to be proud of their country and the steps it has made in the last 30 years, during which 500 million people have been raised out of poverty and China has reemerged as an international actor of consequence. Both of these have been great and historic accomplishments.

Although many in the West point fingers at China because of pollution, it is important to remember that a primary cause of pollution in China is the insatiable thirst of American and European consumers for cheap products. We want cheap products, China has an educated and massive population willing to work for pittance, and the Chinese government can’t enforce all of its labor and environmental regulations, hence corners are cut and toxins are emitted. If we want to continue purchasing cheap goods at Wal-Mart, pollution in China will continue to be a problem. It is self-righteous to condemn China for its pollution problems when we are the beneficiaries and the people who live and work here are the ones sacrificing their health and environment. When China runs out of fresh water in the future and goes abroad to get it, a contributing factor will have been Western consumers who apathetically purchased cheap “made in China” goods even after the ramifications for China’s environment were well known. That the Communist Party has tethered its legitimacy to economic development is, of course, the larger culprit, but America must accept its role as an enabler.

If Western athletes or media “embarrass” China and comment on the pollution or other negative aspects of China or the Games, I am concerned that the backlash, nationalism and rallying around the flag unleashed will scare the rest of the world. The Chinese don’t necessarily love the government, but they have conflated the nation with the state and the populace cannot brook any negative comments about the country. Thus, any attack on China does not increase the freedom of political dissidents; it stokes public outrage that serves as a pretext for clamping down on further dissidence. So before attacking China, realize that people here see it as an affront to 1.3 billion people that will not be countenanced.

China is a great country with a rich history and a tremendously talented and amiable population. Embittering the Chinese people and pushing them into the arms of a government they don’t necessarily love is the last thing we want to do. For this reason and more, I am hoping that the Olympics is a smashing success—the best ever.

© 2008 The Hypermodern.