Chapter 50 What you don't know about the Olympics

When athletes from various countries competed in the Olympic Games in August 2008, China showed its new look at the Olympic Games, letting the world know how fast China is developing and how much it has changed.China has sent a signal to the world: China is walking fast.China has also conveyed a signal to the Chinese people: China is realizing the grand blueprint set at the beginning of the founding of the country, and China is becoming prosperous and strong.All countries are proud of hosting the Olympic Games. In 2008, China raised the significance of hosting the Olympic Games to a higher level.

Under the advocacy of "One World, One Dream" and "New Beijing, New Olympics", the Chinese government has carried out a large-scale renovation of Beijing.Hundreds of thousands of trees are planted on both sides of the Olympic Boulevard, creating an atmosphere of harmonious development.In order to purify the air and create a blue sky, factories inside and outside the city, especially thermal power stations, took treatment measures long before the opening of the Olympic Games.The government also provides English training for taxi drivers; vehicles are restricted to reduce emissions of polluting gases; public uncivilized behavior (such as spitting, scribbling, etc.) is prohibited; thousands of volunteers smile for foreign guests Serve and take them to their destination; there are thousands of policemen on the street to maintain social order.

In 2001, when the International Olympic Committee announced that the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games belonged to Beijing, the international community expected China to truly integrate into the international community through the hosting of the Olympic Games, and to carry out greater reforms and a greater degree of opening up.After successfully hosting the 1988 Olympic Games, South Korea took a big step forward in its participation in the democratization process.Many people expect that through the hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games, China will also make greater progress.A person in charge of a well-known foreign publishing unit said: "China wants to prove the correctness of the socialist road through the hosting of the Olympic Games, just as they want to strengthen reforms and demonstrate their status as a big country by joining the World Trade Organization. The hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games has changed China. It has become even more open, beyond people’s imagination.” Some people boldly predict that the closer China’s contacts with the international community will be, the deeper it will be influenced by the world.

Before the Beijing Olympic Games, President Hu Jintao has made it clear that in China, economic modernization is an important task of the Communist Party of China. In 2006, China's 11th "Five-Year Plan" indicated that the Chinese government should increase investment in infrastructure, continue to deepen reform of the financial system, focus on differences between urban and rural areas, attach great importance to culture and education, strengthen environmental protection, and promote industrial structure optimization and upgrading.China affirmed the further implementation of opening up and emphasized the continued building of a harmonious society.

With the acceleration of China's development, the international community's criticism of the Chinese government and China's political system has gradually increased.Not only the United States is condemning China, but even human rights organizations in Europe and around the world are taking advantage of the upcoming Beijing Olympics to make speculations about some things in China. A year before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, China was in an embarrassing situation due to product safety issues related to China in the summer of 2007.Mattel's manufacturing plants in China were forced to recall millions of toys due to excessive levels of lead in toy paint.At the same time, some pets in the United States died after eating pet food produced in China.

The occurrence of these two incidents does not mean that China's control over product quality standards is not very strict, but there are indeed some problems.Product quality is a matter of great concern to consumers. In the 1960s, Ralph Nader became a champion of consumers by exposing the safety problems of American cars. In 1990, the French Perrier Water Company recalled the Perrier water sold globally because it was found to contain benzene in the water. In 1997, a large number of halogen lamps were recalled due to the bulb's explosion hazard. In the late 1990s, China-made Firestone tires were accused of being substandard and responsible for the accidental deaths of 88 people in car accidents, and finally, the company recalled 6.5 million tires in 2000.

In 2007, China became one of the producers of "problem products" in the world, but in terms of its huge output and contribution to the world economy, the proportion of its "problem products" is obviously insignificant.One thing that needs to be explained is that if there is a problem with product quality, it is the company that should be responsible for the incident, not the country of production. Even if most of the companies that have problems are producing products in China, China should not be blamed too much . There are also safety concerns about products made in the United States.Zhao Baoqing, a Chinese trade official, pointed out that American goods sold in China also have quality problems.Both cranes and incubators produced in the United States have serious safety hazards.Also, products from the United States or Western countries directly threaten the health of Chinese people.In the "toy recall" incident, the president of Mattel initially blamed China's loose management as the root of the problem, but later he apologized to China and said that in the future, dealers will strengthen inspections of the company's products.

Hosting the Olympic Games is risky, because countries hostile to China want to take this opportunity to embarrass the Chinese government, want to anger the Chinese government, and cause the international community to condemn China.However, the Chinese government attaches great importance to Beijing's security and is committed to eliminating any doubts that may threaten Beijing's security. During the international Olympic torch relay in Paris, France, torchbearers were surrounded by angry crowds who denounced the Chinese government, some using fire extinguishers to extinguish the torch.In San Francisco, the police used a cordon to isolate the crowd on the route where the torchbearers were running, and provided security protection to ensure the safety of the torchbearers.Faced with such public sentiment, some Western leaders, including British Prime Minister Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hinted that they would refuse to participate in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and all activities related to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who are vying for the Democratic nomination, are urging President George W. Bush to be tougher on Beijing.

Originally, China believed that the Olympic Games should be beyond politics.Due to these reactions from the international community, not only the Chinese government, but also the Chinese people have shown wariness towards the Western world.As for the accusation of human rights issues in China, the Chinese government responded that over the past few decades, more than one billion Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty, and they are working all over the country. The progress of Chinese society itself is a manifestation of human rights.In the words of high-level Chinese officials, the fight against poverty is the most important manifestation of human rights.However, the Western world is not impressed.However, the Chinese government is not wrong to insist on this point all the time. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 (which laid the foundations for human rights policy today), focused more on the economic rights of people, clearly stating that economic security (adequate food, energy and shelter) is paramount to the human spirit and rights. important.From this perspective, China can proudly claim that over a short period of time, more than one billion Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty. This is truer than any other society in the past. At the same time, Chinese people are full of hope for the future.For the Chinese government, it is more important to establish a stable society where most people have material security.Compared with China's long past, modern China has indeed achieved great achievements, and the Chinese government admits that they still have many unfulfilled goals.

Western countries embody democracy with the principle of consistency, which means that a few people can also decide the direction of policy.But it is ironic that Western democracy originated from Greece, which is a romantic democratic system, which is still somewhat absurd in the eyes of today's Westerners.Democracy in ancient Greece was in the hands of a few people, and women, slaves and peasants could only obey the command of the privileged class.Democracy in ancient Greece lacked openness and participation. Of course, no one would take Athens in the 5th century as a model for human rights issues today.After a long history of evolution, democracy has derived various forms.Chinese democracy is also a kind of democracy.

The Beijing Olympic Games went relatively smoothly, but one issue has aroused attention again, and that is China's environmental issues.In the few years before the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, Beijing's urban pollution, like most cities in China, showed a serious trend.Some people believe that the air quality in Beijing is so bad that the Olympics should be postponed.In people's impression, Beijing is a dirty, messy and heavily polluted city. The international community is increasingly concerned about the threat of global warming to human beings, and urges countries to take actions to control carbon emissions within a certain limit.China's greenhouse gas emissions are smaller than those of the United States, but per capita emissions have also reached a relatively serious level.The Chinese government recognizes the seriousness of the problem and believes it is time to address it, as health and safety issues caused by greenhouse gas emissions have affected the country's economic growth.It is not easy to strike a balance between rapid economic growth and environmental protection policies.However, the Chinese government soon promulgated decrees on energy conservation and emission reduction.The Chinese government has pledged to spend $200 billion to clean water and air, use wind, water, solar and nuclear power to reduce dependence on coal and limit greenhouse gas emissions. In the weeks leading up to the Olympics, Beijing shut down many factories around the city, and the government spent a lot of time and money cleaning up the air.Beijing's response to air pollution has been aggressive, and of course the results have been quick and obvious.The Beijing Municipal Government imposed restrictions on cars and trucks, and replaced coal-fired facilities in thermal power stations in the suburbs with natural gas facilities.Such efforts have paid off. The sky in Beijing has become transparent, and track and field competitions and marathons are not affected by the environment at all. For more than one billion Chinese people, the success of the Beijing Olympic Games has been expected, demonstrating the country's progress and strength.For many Westerners, the hosting of the Olympic Games proves the capability of the Chinese government. As long as the Chinese people want to achieve it, no matter how difficult or troublesome it is, China can do it.In the early days of liberation, China's reality was very different from the world's impression of China, but today's China has greatly reduced this difference. Today, China's urban youth in their 20s and 30s are highly educated and relatively wealthy economically. They browse information on websites such as Sina and 360 every day.They learned that China's accusations and criticisms of the United States will not be swayed by China's consistent position.On the one hand, the United States is accusing China of human rights, but on the other hand, prisoner abuse scandals have occurred in Abu Ghraib Prison and Guantanamo Prison in Iraq.These young people also learned that Americans believe they have the right to judge China's environmental issues, but the efforts made by the United States in environmental protection have not been satisfactory so far. Before the Olympics, there was a big difference between the Chinese and the Americans.One night in Beijing, I had dinner with a senior executive friend of a multinational company. We were accompanied by two managers from the company’s China region. One of them had just returned from Singapore, and he had lived in Singapore for 5 years. year.During the dinner, the Chinese manager who had just returned to China said proudly: "It feels good to be home, and I feel really free in Beijing." My American friend asked him back: "What do you mean by 'freedom'? ? Beijing is not 'free', but Singapore is 'free', you know this best." The Chinese manager said calmly: "Singapore is not free at all, and I will be fined every now and then for violating any regulations. Unlike in China, as long as I don’t make speeches that endanger the country, I’m free to say or do whatever I want.” During the Olympic Games, the attitudes of the Western world toward the Chinese government and its role on the world stage were very ambivalent.Both liberals and conservatives are critical of China.Liberals denounce Chinese government policies on China's Tibet and Sudan, while conservatives target China's military buildup, refusal to enact intellectual property laws, and opposition to China's Taiwan independence.According to a survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on the eve of the Olympic Games, 3/4 of Americans believe that China’s economy will be as strong as that of the United States; 42% of Americans think this is not good news; 41% of Americans think that China is seen as the greatest threat to the United States.More than 2/3 of the respondents believed that China did not follow the principle of fair trade.The American public is more hostile to China when it comes to rising energy prices, especially refined oil and gasoline prices.When many Americans blame the big oil companies for the gasoline price of $4 per gallon, they believe that China's huge consumption of raw materials and energy is the root cause of the rise in oil prices, which directly affects the quality of life of Americans. In China, however, most people view the world's attitude towards China as positive.In the "Pew Global Attitude Survey", nearly 2/3 of the respondents (Chinese) believe that the image of the United States in the world is negative, and 1/3 of the people regard the United States as an enemy.Almost all Chinese citizens surveyed support their government and believe that the country and government are moving on the right path.The Chinese are satisfied with their country's economic development during 2002-2008. 86% were satisfied with China in 2008, while 48% have been satisfied with China since 2002. 82% of the people were satisfied with the Chinese economy in 2008, and 52% were satisfied with the Chinese economy since 2002.More than three-quarters of Chinese people believe that the people's living standard has been improved through the opening of the market.At the same time, most people are not satisfied with their household income.Concerns were also expressed about China's widening wealth gap and rising living costs.In the "Pew Global Attitudes Survey" survey of countries, it is found that the Chinese are the most positive and optimistic about their future. Surveys of public attitudes are short-lived because public attitudes are highly variable.When answering questions, the public may be influenced by recent news events and festive events.If the same respondents had been surveyed two weeks earlier or two weeks later, their responses might have been very different.Before the Olympics, Americans' hostility toward China was mostly influenced by some negative news about China, such as environmental issues.Such sentiment, however, is not just a public attitude; it also speaks to the widening gulf between China and the United States at the dawn of the 21st century. As the degree of interdependence between China and the United States deepens, so does the distrust and mutual suspicion between the two countries.The higher the degree of economic dependence between the two countries, the stronger the nationalist tendencies of the two peoples, and the easier it is to view each other with a cautious eye.To a certain extent, this situation makes sense. In the 1990s, as the integration process of the European Union accelerated, the voices of member states against the EU became louder and louder.According to a European public opinion survey, in 1997, less than half of the people in EU member states supported the EU, which is indeed unsatisfactory.The public is always conservative or reluctant to accept reforms and the unknown, especially when the status quo is likely to get worse. When the familiar is about to be replaced by the unfamiliar, people instinctively rebel.They cling to the familiar and view the unfamiliar as a threat. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the economies of China and the United States became increasingly inseparable.Chinese cities are filled with American brands, and China's economic operation is subject to more American market rules, while American companies also regard China as a new hope for their survival and development.However, few people are aware of what is going on, and something is changing anyway.The interdependence between China and the United States is increasing, but even if the economic systems of the two countries are integrated, the national identity, political institutions and national culture will remain relatively independent.