Hosting Olympics may boost Beijing's image

Hosting Olympics may boost Beijing's image

SEOUL: The selection of Beijing as the host of the 2008 Summer
Olympic Games is regarded by many as the formal recognition by
the international community that China has pulled itself out of
its erstwhile status as a second-tier power in Asia and is now
rapidly forging itself into a world leader.

Such recognition may be long overdue for the Communist state
with 1.3 billion people, which has been empowering itself with
capitalist economic policy since it experienced Japanese
invasion, the Communist-Nationalist conflict, the Cultural
Revolution and other political upheavals earlier in the past
century.

The decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to
award Beijing the Games last Friday was also a huge victory for
China's leadership, which had badly wanted its capital to host
the 2000 Olympics but seen it lose the privilege to Sydney by two
votes in 1993.

Now the Chinese leadership, which has committed itself to
spend US$14 billion for the Olympics, will certainly regard the
next seven years of preparation as a precious opportunity to
recast itself into a world power rivaling members of the Group of
Seven, the club of the most powerful nations in the world.

Preparations for the Olympics, together with the Chinese entry
into the World Trade Organization, which is scheduled for
November this year, will ideally accelerate change and openness
in China, both in economic and political terms, during the next
several years.

First of all, the so-called "Olympic effect" will be a boost
to the Chinese economy, which is already one of the most
energetic in the world. Both domestic and foreign companies will
benefit from China's mammoth projects for pollution prevention,
infrastructure construction, tourism promotion and others.

With those projects and the vast Chinese consumer base in
mind, powerful multinational corporations had rallied to support
Beijing's Olympic bid in the past several years running up to the
current IOC convention in Moscow.

China will hopefully make progress in the political sector as
well, if the 1988 Olympics in Seoul are any guide. Many political
experts in the world say that the authoritarian government in
South Korea had to abandon its long-lasting policy of suppressing
political opponents and behave in the glare of the Olympic
spotlight. Since then, South Korea has indeed matured into a
democratic society.

In this vein, many supporters and critics say that awarding
Beijing with the Olympics was not a reward but a powerful
incentive for China to improve human rights. In fact, alleged
infringement on the rights of political dissidents, the
suppression of Falun Gong practitioners, the arrest of scholars
on charges of spying and frequent capital punishment had often
been cited as Beijing's disadvantages over Paris and Toronto
before IOC members gathered in Moscow.

The Beijing Games should also serve to promote peace in the
Asian region, given the fact that in addition to its classic
concept of sound mind in sound body, the Olympic Movement is a
"belief that sport can break down barriers of language, culture,
nationality, age and sex and build bridges between people all
over the world as a means of promoting world peace."

China would have to take a more responsible, rational and
peaceful approach, while abandoning its practice of saber
rattling in its relations with Taiwan, which it regards as a
renegade province. Should China choose to use military power in
settling disputes with Taiwan, the Beijing Games would face the
threat of a boycott from nations in protest.

Signs of rapprochement, however, are already emerging across
the strait: Taiwan, which had believed there would be no war for
at least an early part of the new millennium should Beijing win
the 2008 Games bid, supported it in Moscow. Now there is a
likelihood of Beijing co-hosting some of the Olympic events with
Taiwan as was suggested by China's National Olympic Committee.

China could also exercise greater restraint in its rule of
Tibet, which has been a bone of contention in its efforts to
project an image of a nation seeking a more respectful position
in the international community. For his part, the Dalai Lama, who
spearheads a campaign for Tibetan independence, had supported
Beijing's bid for the Olympics.

After all, the Beijing Olympics in 2008 should serve as a
sports festival of peace and prosperity for all humanity in the
world as most of the other Games have done in the past

-- The Korea Herald/Asia News Network