China's Olympics

Contemporary Review, March, 2002 by Michael Collins

It would be unrealistic to expect the Games to carry the burden of developing a civil society within China but, in March, 2001, China signed (but has not yet ratified) the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights that guarantees freedom of expression, a fair trial and protection against torture and arbitrary arrest. In 2000 China signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which also it has not yet ratified. In the eyes of many observers, this may be the very minimum, but even the Great Wall had to begin with the laying of the first stone. Conversely, it is unhelpful to portray the award of the Games as a recognition of China as a world power rather than simply as a world power in sport. Even by 2050 Chinese strategists see their country as only a middle-rank developed country. There will be much to be done by all parties to adjust to the emergence of China, but rather than overrate the impact of the Olympic Games in fields outside sport, it may be more realistic to adopt a p osture of watchful waiting, ready to cooperate and learn from each other in mutual respect, and willing warmly to applaud the athletes of the world as they assemble in Beijing under the five-ring banner to go 'higher, faster, stronger'.

Michael Collins, MA (Oxon), MPhil, lectures and teaches at Beijing Second Foreign Language University.