Question:

Who is ready to think rationally about China and the Olympics?

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These Olympic games are being ruined by scandal, but it's not China that is doing it, it is us. The games have so far been spectacular, the venues amazing, the opening ceremony fantastic, but I don't read much about that in the media.

I read what our respective countries "liberal" media think we want to hear: Stories of how the games should not have been given to China, how the Chinese could never beat us, so must therefore be cheating. Apparently we alos want to hear about every small fault that has been discovered in china's "perfect" games. What is the problem? Lets look at the major stories of the last few days:

Opening Ceremony Faked: One fireworks fly over scene to be exact, despite the ceremony itself being absolutely amazing and inspiring this is what we hear about. We have quickly forgotten what was probably the best live show we will see for decades to come. The fireworks in actual fact were not faked at all, we merely didn't see the first 20 of the 29 footsteps fireworks and instead got a computer generated version, this was done to ensure that the impact of the sequence was not lost and the helicopter pilots who would have been attempting to film the fireworks by flying over the explosions, were not put in danger.

Opening Ceremony Scandal, Little Girl Lipsyncing: Is this such a crime, has it never before been seen outside of china? The fact that the little girl who appeared in the show was actually an excellent singer in her own right has been ignored, she was origionally included for selection because of her singing abilities and appearance.

Yes she was deemed an inferior singer to the second little girl, Hence the second little girls song was still used. Has anyone bothered to report on how proud the actual singer of the opening song was, how happy her family were and how insistant the director was to let the world know about her? No our media have instead, changed her from a happy and proud performer, supported by a happy family and well respected director, into the ugly girl noone wanted who we should all pity.

The story was origionally a very positive one in china before our media got hold of it, now it has been blocked by the chinese government from the internet, they initially allowed the story to be released because it was a source of pride for the singer and her family and brought further pride to the chinese people, now the story is not about what a good singer the second girl was, it is about how she is not cute enough. Think back to the Sydney olympics: Our little girl singer, Nicky Webster. It is a little known truth that she was not the best child singer of the group auditioned for singing at the Sydney opening ceremony, another girl named coco was, Nicky Webster was chosen because the panel wanted someone who looked more "quinticentially australian". We did the same thing, but we don't look at ourselves for flaws. Incidentally, I wonder if Nicky was singing without a backup tape, I imagine its quite hard to sing optimally when suspended from a harness.

Polution and Smog: Are we so unappreciative of what we have in our own countries that we can't acknowledge the achievement a developing country with much larger resource requirements has achieved in improving Beijing polution for the games? Beijing looks amazing, much much cleaner and with far better facilities than I ever imagined possible.

Yes there is still a lot of pollution but what an achievement they have accomplished in reducing the pollution levels as much as they have. China has also taken long term pollution reduction steps far superior to what most western countries have achieved, certainly from a % reduction point of view. In terms of actual reductions in pollution, they have delivered something that my government (Australia) and many others around the world can not even bring to the planning stages. All this from a developing country with such a huge population producing the majority of the products we use on a day to day basis.

American National Anthem cut short: Seriously, I doubt this was deliberate, I put it to you that mistakes with losing 3 seconds of a national anthem, might be forgivable and that might be a non-malicious human error. Have you seen the chinese crowds cheering madly for the dream team? Would we do the same for their Gymnasts? Evebn before the cheating scandal.

Gymnastics Cheating: Did you watch the events, the chinese gymnasts were the best, and not by a small amount, they did harder routines and did them to perfection. Is it possible that some of the girls are under the age of 16? Yes I guess it's possible, but it hasn't been proven, and all of the olympic officials have verified their ages prior to the games. If it is found that they really are underage cry foul then, don't wait until they beat us and THEN call them cheats, if it was so obvious to the American team why didn't we hear any of this until they lost? Olympic games are also about sportsmanship, noone is a cheater until there is proof, but I admit, this point is more debatable than the others I don't have any evidence they are NOT underage, just as noone has evidence they are underage.

Shooting Cheating, China Wins Bronze: Take a moment to think about this logically, is it not possible that an official in a shooting competition, might be human, and might have made a single bad call in one round of a single olympic event. It was for the bronze, my own countryman was disadvantaged by the decision, but mistakes do happen in any competition where human judges are used.

Other issues and thoughts: The chinese people have made many sacrifices for these games, for their own people and for the world. The people are not the government, surely we can be happy for them? What help does our scorn provide them? It certainly doesn't hurt their government, if anything it makes them stronger as they do not block out anything that supports the idea that the west is trying to make the chinese games look bad. There have been so many sacrifices made by the chinese for these games, many willing, many forced by the government.

I don't approve of the old traditional houses being cleared out of many parts of Beijing for the olympics, but I can not deny that the China and Beijing we are seeing at these olympics looks amazing, and more importantly, was built on the sacrifices of regular chinese people. Those people deserve to know that it was for something. Not laughed at because of the smog and or bad weather.

The chinese people and military have performed some amazing feats of people power, both in the opening ceremony and in other areas. Think for a moment about the clearing of the olympic sailing area's of algae after the massive algal blooms, this is a big problem in some areas of Australia too, but we have never succeeded in clearing the algae away, let alone by hand and in such a short time. This is thankless work which goes unrecognised. I know the world will be very quick to complain if the algae reblooms during the olympics. Why do we fail to recognise how hard some people, real people have worked to try to present their country in the best possible light, no matter what it takes and regardless of what needed to be done, they started from one of the most poluted and dirty cities in the world (you can not compare the work it takes to make a highly polluted area pristine to doing the same in a relatively clean area).

The security of these games has also been astounding, it may have been perceived as excessive and has brought some ridicule from western media, especially that journalist who was arrested during the protest coverage, but come on! Did he look like a journalist, he was running with the protesters at the time, a white guy in civillian clothes in a group of white guys in civillian clothes. Noone likes the chinese governments position on freedom of speech, but lets at least report in an unbiased way. They didn't grab this guy off the street for doing nothing.

Consider this for a moment: The criticism china has received for its city wide security crackdowns are nothing compared to the outcry that would have occured if a major (or minor) terrorist attack took place during the games. Never before has the risk of terror attacks been so real and you have done everything conceivable to protect the athletes, media and spectators.

On the topic of the chinese military, people and government. I am amazed at how much they have achieved with the games in the aftermath of all they have done to help their own people when the earthquake disasters struck. I would suggest more was done that in other recent disasters in much more developed countries. I am amazed that in the face of all the recent disasters in china, the country and it's people have still been able to produce such a magnificant olympic games.

We are too quick to cry foul, the chinese athletes have been phenomenal so far, while i do not approve of the extreme training programs these athletes have no doubt gone through, I must give them credit for what they have achieved, their sacrifice was perhaps unnecessary, but the individual athletes deserve our respect as they have been through training most of us, even our top athletes, might not be able to imagine.

In Summary, I think the people of China, have every right to be proud of what you have given us and what you they have shown us. I think there is still a long way to go so that the governments of the world can accept the chinese government, but they have shown us they are capable of great things and great change, I hope that in the future the area's of human rights and freedom of speech will also show as much progress.

Chinas flaws need work, but noone would take advice from someone who follows them around pointing out every minor mistake they made and never saying a positive word. Right now, every eye is turned on Beijing, there has never been so much negativity aimed at such a well executed event. The issues currently being discussed in the world media have been blown out of proportion in my opinion, not taking into account the two sides of the story or the facts on hand.

Give peace a chance, give china a chance, they are trying to show us their best, regardless of our political differences.

Before anyone points it out: I am well aware of the history of chinese attrocities, I would suggest much more than most as I am very interested in Asian history in general having lived in Japan and Korea for a couple of years. I have studied it, I respect where these nations have come from, I am as horrified by the attrocities as anyone. But I also believe that we need to help China move forward, not try to hold them back. Yes the government has done wrong, huge wrongs, so have many other countries, that is not the point, the point is what we do now, you don't make friends by putting people down. You don't make progress by trying to point out every mistake. You have to acknowledge the good and the bad. The olympics are a time when we should hope for the future, move beyond the past, and look for the best in each other.

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  1. I guess it depends on how you see China. You obviously have a vested interest in China, either through your ancestry (most probabaly) or through work or whatever. The truth is...many people hate China, not the people, but the authorities and for what they stand for. They hate to see the corrupt and unelected offcials sitting smug in the stands while they have killed and imprisoned and have gone unpunished.

    To be honest, i quite liked the ceremony, i was expecting no less. I have been to other communist countries and have witnessed similar amazing ceremonies, i.e North Korea.

    I have worked for the UN in Beijing in the field of Human Rights to know what goes on here, I have seen s#&t that will make you sick (in saying that ive seen similar things in other countries).

    My advice...dont waste your time with your rants. There are those who hate China, and thier arguments are justified. There are those who love China and their arguments are also justified. You are fighting a losing battle. In the end, to many people, regardless of China's economic prowess they will still be seen as  "chinks". That is the tragedy of it.

    p.s: Amzing Olympics????are you for real. I am in Beijing and it is shite. Stadiums are empty and their is no atmosphere anywhere. I know having the Olympics in China has made you feel proud of your Chinese heritage but be honest with yourself. How can you base the success of a games over a few lights and people dancing. I have been to 4 Olympics. This is by far the worst and anyone who has been to a games will tell you the same.


  2. Rationalism?

    American always think irrationally!

  3. >>if it was so obvious to the American team why didn't we hear any of this until they lost?<<

    Many of us heard about it before they lost; I guess you just weren't paying attention. Concerns and questions about He Kexin's age began BEFORE China won, BEFORE the games began, BEFORE the New York Times article, and BEFORE the Chinese team was even announced!

    http://gymblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/13/...

    http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/elite-...

    http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/old-mi...

    http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/leftcoas...

    >>just as noone has evidence they are underage.<<

    Here's some evidence:

    Changing birth dates:

    "In Chinese newspaper profiles this year, He was listed as 14, too young for the Beijing Games.

    "The Times found two online records of official registration lists of Chinese gymnasts that list He's birthday as Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14. A 2007 national registry of Chinese gymnasts - now blocked in China but viewable through Google cache - shows He's age as '1994.1.1.'

    "Another registration list that is unblocked, dated Jan. 27, 2006, and regarding an 'intercity' competition in Chengdu, China, also lists He's birthday as Jan. 1, 1994. That date differs by two years from the birth date of Jan. 1, 1992, listed on He's passport, which was issued Feb. 14, 2008.

    "The other gymnast, Jiang, is listed on her passport - issued March 2, 2006 - as having been born on Nov. 1, 1991, which would make her 16 and thus eligible to compete at the Beijing Games.

    "A different birth date, indicating Jiang is not yet 15, appears on a list of junior competitors from the Zhejiang Province sports administration. The list of athletes includes national identification card numbers into which birth dates are embedded. Jiang's national card number as it appears on this list shows her birth date as Oct. 1, 1993, which indicates that she will turn 15 in the fall, and would thus be ineligible to compete in the Beijing Games."

    An admission of cheating in 2000:

    "Yang Yun of China won individual and team bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and later said in an interview on state-run television that she had been 14 at the time of those Games. A Hunan Province sports administration report also said later that she had been 14 when she competed in Sydney."

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/sports...

    China's People's Daily newspaper stating He Kexin's age as 14 on May 23, 2008:

    "Olympic gymnastics title contenders suddenly have one more thing to worry about other than the eight gold medals China claimed at the Tianjin World Cup last week. Her name is He Kexin.

    "The 14-year-old newcomer to the national team, who was recruited last year, has raised a lot of eyebrows recently after she broke two world records on the uneven bars in as many months. She will be just one more weapon on an already star-studded Chinese Olympic squad."

    http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779...

    The opinion of a forensic expert:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIcWaVGAZ...

  4. umm......I'm not going to read your whole rant. I agree the media made a big deal about the footprints and firework thing but I don't think it was fair that the Chinese didn't let the one girl sing because she wasn't pretty enough. I also think the judges were a tad hard on the American gymnasts but I'm no expert. I do not like China and probably never will but they did have a beautiful opening ceremony and I'm glad they hosted the Olympics.

  5. Congratulations from a fellow Aussie this has hit the nail on the head. You should send this to every newspaper in the country even if only one ran with it, it would be worth it. Hopefully all the loud obnoxious twits who think they know everything about everything read this and feel a little bit ashamed. Again well done.

    EDIT: To late, the know it all Yanks who think the USA should win every event they go in and probably the ones they didn't have beaten me to it. And we even have a couple of racist's who don't like the Chinese even though they have never meet one have chimed in with their two cents worth. It's a pity that more Americans who are not racist scum (because i know that the majority aren't) don't come onto these sites and have their say

  6. I think this is a transition stage that china must go through.

    As the power balance up between the West and East.

    China has presented/given an amazing Olympic to world. I doubt any other nation in the world will be able to match this even in the near future.

    As the power difference between the 2 shrink, US will started to lose influence where China increase influence.

    There are a lot of people in US hate to see China gaining power, therefore they will try to tarnish the image of China when ever they can. So that people internationally will still favor US rather than China  when 2 of them are equally power (in 5-10 years).

    In a simple term this is call Branding.

    However In reality none can stop the growth of China. Ultimately China will be the most influence country in the world over taking US. However china will not lead the world like the American do. As Chinese culture is more to mind its own business "as long as you don't step my tail you are fine".

    I wished the World media will stop attacking China. Also I remember the Medal Tally on Yahoo used to be ranked according to the most Gold Medal. It was when I checked it the first or two day of Olympic. As China has more gold medal and it rank 1. Now it switched to most medal.

    If medal has points

    Gold - 3

    Silver - 2

    Bronze -1

    Then if you rank it that way thats more fair

    It looks stupid when US has way less gold and yet on the top of the list.

    It only shows that the American will do whatever to be in the top of the world.  To me I felt American is a sore loser.

    Media is the only method and weapon you can use on China as it is impossible to do anything else on china.

    We all know it.

    That is why American will dig out anything and use its media to twist the facts or make a big fuss out of nothing.

    Only fools will believed, and yet there are so many fools.

    There are always 2 side of the story and somethings the real truth is hidden or kept secret. Man Wake up people and stop attacking China.

      

    America year is up now be nice and move on.

    Nothing last forever.

    BTW i am australian

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