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