Conference Discusses Beijing ’08 Olympic Games
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Americans for Informed Democracy hosted an audience of community members on Saturday to share perspectives on the development of China and its preparation for the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. The conference, entitled “Beijing Olympics 2008: Understanding China’s Emergence Onto the World Stage,” featured leading scholars who spoke about the effects the Olympics will have on China and the rest of the world.
“[The Beijing Olympics] is emblematic of the rise of China”, said the opening speaker, Prof. Robert Sutter, Asian studies, Georgetown University.
In his opening remarks, Sutter, an expert on Chinese foreign policy, emphasized that the Beijing Olympics is evidence that China is a leading world power and that the U.S. should recognize it as such.
Following Sutter’s introduction, Prof. Thomas Hahn, East Asian studies and city and regional planning, gave a presentation called “Construction and Urban Development of Beijing in Preparation for the 2008 Olympics.”
In the presentation, Hahn spoke about the modernization and the transformation of Beijing that has occurred to accommodate the Olympic Games. At the same time, Hahn highlighted the side effects of the city construction, citing that 300,000 Beijing residents were forced to relocate to make way for the Olympic sites.
“The modernity of the city has generated two victims: one is the city itself and the other is its people. People are just marginalized,” Prof Hahn said.
Americans for Informed Democracy also hosted three panels on China’s national unity, foreign policies and environment, respectively.
Additional sponsors include the East Asia Program, Government Department, Office of the Provost, Office of the Dean of Students, Peace Studies Program, Population and Development Program, and the Student Activities Fund (SAFC).
The panel on China’s national unity before the Olympics focused on issues involving Taiwan and Tibet.
Edward Arnold of Cornell Business Services, delivered a presentation on issues regarding Tibet. He stated that the exiled Tibetan government has been patient regarding the agreement with the Chinese government.
One member of the audience reacted to his speech, claiming that “it is important to boycott the Olympics.”
Arnold responded that “the Tibetan government in exile will not support boycott” because boycott did not serve their long-term goal.
In the panel on Chinese foreign policy, panelists spoke about the interdependence of China and the U.S., suggesting that the U.S. should establish an objective attitude towards China’s rise and foreign policies.
“Most of the time, when people think of Chinese identity, they think of Chinese nationalism … There is a great deal of diversity in China today — plurality. There is not a single division of nationalism, but rather, people go in a number of different directions,” said Prof. Allen Carlson, government.
The last panel spoke about the current environmental situation in China. Prof. Andrew Mertha, political science, Washington Unverisity, and Chad Furtrell grad, offered insights into the environmental issues in China.
Mertha talked about the role of both the Chinese government and non-governmental organizations in solving environmental problems.
According to Lesley Hernandez ’09, treasurer of American for Informed Democracy at Cornell, the goal of the conference was to help the youth achieve a better understanding of China
“We’ll eventually become the leaders of the country, and when we go to China, we represent the U.S. Rather then being influenced by stereotypes about China, we need to be informed about a real China, which will help us make decisions in the future or become a well-informed citizen,” said Hernandez.
Attendees said they enjoyed the conference.
“In China, most of the information we accessed is from a official source,” said Linlin Li grad, SUNY Potsdam, speaking in Mandarin. “It is very interesting to hear another perspective today.”
Statement-Beijing
The first Olympic boycott was at the 1956 Melbourne Games. Because of the Suez Crisis and Russia invading Hungary, a number of countries stayed away whilst others refused to attend the opening ceremony. Even some governments had ordered their athletes not to mix with other athletes in the Olympic Village. Then there was a near riot during the Water Polo match between Russian and Hungarian players.
As a young school boy at the time, I was very concerned that the Olympic Movement was being torn apart and that the athletes were being used as a pawn in a political game. The athletes had come to the Melbourne Games under the umbrella of the Olympic Movement and did not want to be part of the political game.
I remember an old saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword”. I wrote a letter to the organizing committee with an Idea, which was to get all the athletes together for the closing ceremony and to ask them to intermingle, regardless of race, colour or religion, and walk freely around the Stadium as One Nation. And so it was done and I was awarded an Olympic medal for my idea.
Will all these calls for boycotts and disruptions hurt the Chinese government and the Chinese people? You bet it will. Will the Chinese government change its policies at this late stage? No!
The Chinese people are a very stubborn, but a proud nation. They have achieved so much in such a short time, much more than any country in the last 100 years. If they get hurt, they will simply close its border to the rest of the world, and so what have we achieved. It will be the athletes, although not all, who will feel that the spirit of the Olympic Movement has been torn apart.
At the Melbourne closing ceremony, some athletes walked arm in arm whilst others were waving and laughing to the crowd in the stand, conveying a message of goodwill, peace and harmony to the world. During that brief moment for them, war, nationality and politics were forgotten for they had formed the first Olympic Nation.
The IOC must share most of the blame for what is happening. In the last two decades, it has been getting itself involved with world politics and with the United Nations. Recently, the president of the IOC Mr Jacques Rogge said the Olympic Games were about sports and not politics, and the two do not go together. Yet the IOC is putting pressure on the Human Rights and Civil Liberties groups, to force the Chinese government to amend its human rights policies, and to intervene in other countries policies.
In October 1999, an IOC panel were discussing reforms to the Olympic movement, “In areas of conflict during the Olympic Games, the IOC should implement the proper measures in order to symbolize or enforce the Olympic Truce,” read a proposal put before the 80-member reform panel. The word “enforce” met immediate objections from former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a member of the panel. “Many conservatives in America will go crazy when they see this,” said Kissinger.
For the IOC to interfere with world politics can be very dangerous for the whole of the Olympic Movement. It may in the future, find itself into a political crisis which it cannot handle. What happens if a country decides to retaliate with violence against the host country during an Olympic Games. Has the IOC thought about the safety of the athletes? Is the IOC after the Nobel Prize?
Isn’t there another young person out there in this world who can sort out this Olympic mess?
If you care to read my story, you can go to my website: www.johnwing.co.uk
Regards
John Ian Wing