China's Olympics

Contemporary Review, March, 2002 by Michael Collins

LATE on the evening of Friday 13 July, 2001, in Beijing a long, deep-throated roar greeted with tumultuous joy the announcement from Moscow that the Chinese capital had won the vote to host the 2008 Olympic Games. Instantly the sky was ablaze with the colours of an exuberant firework display and, soon after, top leaders headed by President Zhang Jemin and Premier Zhu Ronji, acknowledged the enthusiastic acclamation of an ecstatically joyful crowd gathered in front of the Millennium Monument. Soon Tiananmen Square was alive with a heaving, flag-waving throng, embracing each other, unfurling streamers, singing patriotic songs and dancing in delight.

Such was the climax to a tense evening of expectation, weeks of waiting and hoping against hope, and months and years of planning, organizing and promoting China's bid to stage the world's largest and most prestigious sporting event. Up to the last minute, many Chinese had pessimistically doubted of success, remembering the heart-wringing two-vote defeat of their 1993 bid for the Sydney games, and fearing that behind-the-scenes pressure from the United States would cause the International Olympic Committee once more to put China's bid to one side. Even after the televised pictures of the carefully stage-managed voting ceremony had shown Osaka with its eleven votes (certain to switch to Beijing) eliminated in the first round, some spectators looking at the huge outdoor monitors stared as if in disbelief when the IOC President, Juan Samaranch, announced the result. Then some (including the Vice-Mayor of Beijing, Liu Jingmin, who was present in Moscow as Executive President of the Bid Committee) were seen to she d tears of joy.

Why does this victory mean so much to China, and what does it mean for the future, once the tumult and the shouting die and the seven years of preparation in earnest begin? Clearly it fuels an enormous boost in prestige for the country, gives a further stimulus to its strongly growing economy and plants the seal on its policies of reform and opening up. These, first begun in 1978, have been pursued with growing strength and growing confidence since 1992, when China, under the capable leadership of Deng Xiao Ping, changed its constitution and ceased officially to be a Communist country, defining itself as a socialist society intent on creating a social market economy with Chinese characteristics. But even more than these immediate effects, the coming of the Olympic Games to Beijing realizes a goal which for more than a century Chinese people have increasingly yearned for; recognition, respect and acceptance as an equal by the rest of the world. From the Chinese point of view, the last two centuries' relationsh ips both with the West and with the neighbouring powers of Russia, Vietnam and, above all, Japan have until recently been a sorry tale of exploitation, humiliation and defeat. Indeed for nearly three hundred years (1644-1911) China was ruled by a foreign dynasty, the Manchus, in which almost until the end Chinese were excluded from leading positions. Although generally efficient and even enlightened by the standards of the day, the Manchus grossly mishandled relations with foreign powers, largely owing to the lack of any institutions to mediate the endemic conflicts between the leading families who controlled the country's military and economic resources. One after the other, China lost Nepal, Burma, Indochina, Korea, and for some time Taiwan (to Japan); Hong Kong, Macao and a number of ports were ceded long-term to foreign powers; and mineral rights fell under foreign control. Arguably, only jealousies among the major powers prevented annexation of the country. In the twentieth century, Mongolia had to be pa rtitioned with Russia (1931), and from 1931-45 a large part of the country was controlled by the invading Japanese, whose forces committed atrocities the memory of which to this day stirs hostility, anger and fear. During the Cold War, the Communist regime of New China (founded 1949) felt itself menaced by the US and its allies. To this day Taiwan remains separated from the mainland as a result of a civil war between Communists and Nationalists (1945-49) in which Western powers intervened on the side of the Nationalists. Beijing's winning the status of host city in a free international vote at the IOC is seen by the Chinese as a reversal of these historic trends, as proof of their acceptance as a world player, as acknowledgement of China's economic and technical progress, and as an acclamation of the world class standing of Chinese athletes in an increasing number of sports. Along with the country's accession to the World Trade Organization, the victory of Beijing's Olympic bid is taken as confirmation that t he policy of reform and opening up is the key to future security and success. Yet China's commitment to the Olympics is motivated not only by these important though incidental benefits but also by the long-standing and increasingly important role of sport in Chinese culture. Ancient relics that have been unearthed show that the Chinese have been practising physical exercise for thousands of years and have for many centuries treated physical exercise as a part of recreational, entertainment and keep fit activities. As far back as the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1066-771 B.C.), archery and the lifting of bronze tripods were practised in forms that today would be accepted as sports. Part of a 3,000-year-old carving at a cliff in Chuang Yuan, Yunnan province, depicts running and pyramid acrobatics. Chariot-driving, wrestling, martial arts, games on ice, polo and football are all among the sports known in China from early times.