The Olympics are Coming

Seven years ago, I sat in my host family's living room in Sichuan and watched fireworks explode in Tiananmen Square. Members of my host family jumped up and down, elated to hear that China had finally proved to the world it was ready to host the 2008 Olympics. I've been in China (not continuously) just about every year since 2001 and the country has certainly done much to embrace the coming of the Olympics. And now the time is almost here. I know that I could go see the games, but I am perfectly content to skip out on the opportunity to squish myself into an already-overcrowded city where traffic can be a nightmare and personal space on public transportation is all but non-existent on a good day. So, as China puts on its two-week show for the world to watch, I will be following from the TV, the conversations I have with people on the street, and the news I read online. I've avoided commenting on the Olympics up until now because, well, I think I am just as sick of hearing about them as others. But for what its worth, here is my two cents.

I read the NY Times online everyday and have been following the way that the games are covered. Earlier this week, I was bothered by criticism of the government for blocking certain web-sites for the foreign media to access, after promising a free and open media to foreign journalists. The story claimed that web-sites about the three Ts (Tibet, Taiwan, Tiananmen) had been blocked. Why, I asked, did foreign media need to read about these when they are in Beijing to cover sporting events? There was no answer in the article, just criticism that China had not passed this certain test that the media was holding it up to. Today, I read an article about how China is more free today than it was twenty years ago, despite lack of certain freedoms (such as freedom of speech). It appears this article was written in response to the world's critical spotlight on China's human rights. Then there was one saying that despite these human rights issues, China is going to provide a fresh face and a new spectacle to the games.

I appreciate these articles and I do want to see a more open China in the future. But I just can't help but be annoyed about the standards that the world press appears to be holding China up to. Fifteen years ago, when China put in an unsuccessful bid to host the 2000 Olympics, the same conversations about lack of political rights were discussed. Just five years after the crackdown on the Tiananmen square protests, this was a more urgent and understandable concern. I would like to think that our understanding of what constitutes human rights has progressed over the past 15 years. The latest article acknowledged that Chinese people's lives are much better these days due to opening up (traveling abroad, for example) and economic reform. Yes, I agree that many middle class urban people are happy these days and not concerned about what they can or cannot access on the internet. [Here I feel it is extremely important that I add a disclaimer that this broad generalization does not include minorities or struggling farmers/workers in the countryside]. Sure, many people want more freedom, but they are happy, prosperous, and proud of their country. Isn't that enough?

Why does this limited view of human rights overshadow the games? Why is it that we think of human rights in the narrow frame of access to all internet sites or freedom of speech? These are important, but they are not all that this vast country has to share. Can't the press think beyond its narrow view of what constitutes rights to look beyond the obvious, immediate display of what internet sites are available? People around the workd have a lot of different views about China, and only some of them are political. Can we please move beyond these drawn out views of human rights and think about something else?

For the most part, people are happy and yes, the government-just as any other-has problems keeping everyone happy. Not everyone has benefitted from economic reforms and not everyone necessarily wants what the government offers them. Students and professors are well-aware that internet access to certain sites is blocked, but they find ways around it or they deal with it. It does not get in the way of their daily lives. I know I sound like I am taking the government perspective here, but really, China has done a lot of amazing things over its long history. It continues to change, in some ways dramatically and in others, more gradual. The Olympics are about sports, after all, not human rights. I think China is becoming much more free, its just a gradual process and one big event like the Olympics is not necessarily going to bring dramatic change.