China shows its face at the Olympic Games

OUR OPINION
Published: August 16, 2008

The Olympic Games this year are China’s introduction to the world stage.

The nation has long been tied in the minds of Americans with communism, oppression and secret fear — fear that one day, China might grow powerful enough to challenge our supremacy.

Well, China has certainly demonstrated its ability in the lead up to the games. Its strict limitations on car travel in Beijing — an effort to reduce pollution — dwarfs the imagination. Imagine if a city in the
United States demanded greatly reduced use of automobiles for such a purpose. The outcry would be tremendous.

And of course, the work that went into the creation of the facilities for the Olympic Games, show a level of control and dedication of the workforce that is astounding. Everything was ready on time and
organized expertly. It is almost as if China put all other concerns on hold in anticipation of hosting the Olympics.

Other aspects of the games highlight more disturbing characteristics.

There was the “movie magic” applied to the fireworks show at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. People watching the show on television did not realize that what they were seeing was not what
was happening. The fireworks were “enhanced” for TV.

Then there is the little girl who sang “Hymn to the Motherland” at the opening ceremonies. The girl wasn’t singing. The voice the world heard was from another little girl deemed too unattractive to be the
face seen at the opening ceremonies.

There are also the allegations that the Chinese gymnasts are younger than the age cut-off of 16. Some say this is why the Chinese were able to trounce the Americans in the gymnastics category.

The Olympic Games seem to be going well and they are certainly a testament to China. However, they also show that China is extremely interested in its appearance, sometimes at the cost of truth and
fairness.

Regardless, China is clearly a force to be reckoned with.