

The Beijing Olympics

China’s dash for freedom

China’s rise is a cause for celebration—but despite the Beijing Olympics, not because of them

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Readers' comments



It is natural that all kinds of problem exist in China as China has huge population of 1.3 billion.We have no intention of sovling such problems by invading other countries as Hitler did previously.So there is no need to worry about the so-called growing nationalism.So give some time to us who want to make our lives better though our own hard working and expect a better future for the Chinese people as well as the entire human beings.It is true that it is a hard process for the world to understand China,therefore,it is urgent to improve our mutual understanding.Welcom to our country to rediscover a new China,which is quite different from the one now booted in your minds.

aka gogo

What you are ignoring here is what the Chinese people are thinking. For the most part, they are content with the political situation because of high economic growth. Their culture has come a long way and their capitalistic atitude has open up alot of doors for people. Not to mention women are taking pole dancing for fitness. I don't think you would see this 5 or 10 years ago. They do not feel deprive of freedom.


Before the article.
You do have see how happy they are?
They "move away" with so much money the government gived.
They are not moved by forcing policy, you know?


ginseng and others, If you want to get an idea about what The Economist is about, you might want to read "The real price of freedom", Sep 20th 2007It's the introduction piece to the series they ran on freedom, war on terror, etc. And my advice to some of you, you may want to sign up on debate/logic courses offered by your nearby college...As the title of the article suggests, this is an article on China's dash for's not about the US, Britain, or any other country on the face of the earth...It does get a bit tiring reading some of the comments...Beijing has been suffering from some serious rain in the last week or so...mostly at night. Hope it doesn't rain like this during the Games...not that I have tickets for the Games though...


Honestly, i can't believe this is going on in the 21st Century. It blows my mind, how nothing has changed and whatever did change, is subject to change back to whatever dark times there were before. Maybe all those things, i was trying to avoid looking at-i need to admit exist.


To say that any country, including China, would have invaded others if that country simply had the might to do so is a very sad commentary on humankind. I would have thought that human civilization has come far along enough that a powerful country could simply back off and play nice without resorting to violence even if that country could annihilate the other ones. Just because one can doesn't mean that he or she will or should fight.Unfortunately some countries have often found it more convenient to bomb smaller countries into oblivion than to resolve differences peacefully. This of course horrifies other countries potentially next on the "hit list" -- it's obvious to me why the other two countries in the Axis of Evil want nukes... Newton was right, for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction... or something to that effect.


Most of the people of most any country would be proud that their country is hosting the Olympics and the host government of most any country would leverage whatever they can out of the Olympics. The Chinese people and their government will do the same - it is natural and should be expected.

I do think that all reporters - especially 'foreign' media -should be balanced when they are covering the Olympics in China (or any country). They should appropriately cover problems that they see with the Olympics or in the country in general - including possible restriction to free speech and possible human rights abuses that they might come across.

My concern is that the so called Western media may be more passive in this regard because of their own corporate interest.

Will Beijing 2008 be haunted by the ghosts of Berlin 1936 or Mexico City 1968? - and more importantly - should there be similar issues now, how will we (the rest of the world) react?...only time will tell.

I expect that the Chinese people will be very pleasant hosts and that the Chinese government will not be perfect, but that it will adjust and react OK to the 'foreign' spotlight.

We will all see soon enough...


The conlcusion that "on balance the reward of the game has done more harm than good to China's openning" lacks evidence and serious analysis and is way off the mark. Some of the changes that have taken place over the past 8 years are possible precisely because of olympics, from small things like queuing for buses to significant development of a modern civic society. Had the Economist gone beyong the cliche of democracy and nationalism, and more importantly, an unspoken, unquenching desire to see the collapse of Chinese communist party, which I know would be too much to ask, it would have begun to understand what Olympics has really done to China. Maybe, just maybe, it might start writing some objective articles in the future???


After reading the commentaries it came to my mind the old joke with the rabbi telling everybody “you are right” and “you are right, too”.

It is true that Chinese government supports several dictators. Western powers are doing the same with others (the Gulf States, friendly Central Asia regimes are not models of democracy).
China uses the terrorist threat as a pretext to tighten its grip on society during the Olympics. US under George W. Bush had used the false story of Iraq collaborating with Al-Qaeda as one reason for invading Iraq.
China has a huge pollution problem, but much of it is the consequence of China being transformed in the workshop of the world (a process to which the West was the major contributor and beneficiary, at least until now).

That does not mean that Chinese citizens are enjoying the civil and political rights like the Westerners do. The Economist is right in pointing out the flaws of Chinese government and I am sure that there is an iceberg of abuse submerged under the sea of economic growth. And the strength of Chinese new nationalism could be seen even in the many commentaries posted on older articles from this website.

Unfortunately, The Economist is not saying that not only China is in need of an enemy.


To those who try and compare US anti terrorism acts to China's, Number of large-scale terrorist attacks against China: 0Nuff said.Also, to be fair Bill Murray, the reason that China hasn't invaded any country in many decades is because China was too weak and caught up in internal struggle to push its agenda beyond its borders. I would guess that had China been hyper power during the 80s and 90s, there would have been just as many wars.

Bill Murray

Daveycool, They are also obvious to me. It was the Tibetians who attacked the shop owners and destroyed their shops, not Chinese.

Bill Murray

I hear negative comments about China from our leadership and the media. I agree with Gensing. The US is by far more the aggressor throughout the world then China. I do not recall the Chinese invading and country in many decades. Could the kettle be calling the pot black?


It seems obvious to me that the enemy or enemies that Beijing "needs" for their brand of nationalism do not have to be manufactured. The Free Tibet crowd and their parallel anti-Beijing activist groups such as that Darfur organization headed by Mia Farrow have a symbiotic relationship with Beijing. This may seem to be a cynical view but the facts are irrefutable -- the more radicalized these groups get, the bigger the boost to Chinese nationalism.

On the other side of the equation, those who have dedicated their lives, even defined their lives, by the various activist organizations they run or are a part of benefit greatly from the tough reactions they get from Beijing -- especially on the funding front.

I think that there are far more effective ways for the activist groups to achieve their ojectives.

For example, Mia Farrow could get Washington-London to act "bi-unilaterally" in Darfur. That would be far more effective. It's urgent enough, why wait for the UN or scold China into acting?

The free Tibet groups could act within Chinese law to improve the lives of the Tibetans that live in Tibet -- that's their "real" objective isn't it? -- instead of chasing the Olympic torch out of town, or agitating for protests and riots... which has achieved the opposite effect, life is undeniably more difficult these days in Tibet what with all the security measures put in.

The more "zero-sum" the mentality of either side, the more silly the whole thing looks. These observations seem obvious to me.

Bill Murray

I have traveled allover China and I find the people to be friendly and receptive to foreign involvement. As far as human rights and the Chinese government is concerned; it should be remembered that a journey of a thousand miles requires taking the first step. The Chinese government has taken a number of steps. Back off and give them some room. They are trying.


to qensing:You think this is patriotism that you see in America today? Ultranationalism, yes; patriotism, most certainly not. Let's not confuse the two.True patriotism would get us in serious trouble these days, and more's the pity.


Spot on, the CCP most definitely needs an enemy, it is the oldest trick in the book to keep the anger of the people away from them. The more worrying thing is the male/female sex ratio imbalance. This will lead to literally millions of eager cannon fodder volunteering to fight in faraway lands, to spread their Chinese "harmony" to the world.I have given up on the Olympics, they are nothing more than nationalistic chest thumping shows for countries, and for mega huge corporations to shove their goods in your face.


Pollution seems to the biggest concern right now. However, life expectancy of the people who were born and raised in Beijing is 80.09 years, which is the highest among all chinese cities. i guess when pollution reaches a certian level, it could actually be healthy.


"In the case of 17th-century Jesuits or 20th-century Westerners in search of the exotic, this was fairly harmless."Only a chauvinistic reading of Asian/Western history in this period can fail to address the effect of the Opium Wars on Chinese urban living conditions.


To k.lehmann: lol good point.

I don't have a problem with this article as much as I have a problem with The Economist not holding the US and Britian up to the same standards that they impose on China.

"It has used the pretext of an alleged terrorist threat to impose a restrictive security cordon on the city and curtail visas even for harmless businessmen"

Nobody has used terrorism to further national interests as much as the United states. They use threat of terrorism to justify their need to gain influence in the middle east, obviously because they want oil. I have never seen the Economist criticize how the US uses terrorism to put fear in it's population, to inspire ultranationalism, or to secure control in the middle east. In fact the economist foolishly supported the war in Iraq despite how obvious it was that the US invaded for control not liberation. It merely LOOKS worse when a "single party state" uses those tactics. It's okay for a democracy to do so appearently. And I use the term democracy loosely seeing as how Noam Chomsky has argued for years that the US is not really a democracy at all. Noam Chomsky also argues that the countries like Britian and the US often use their own forms of propaganda, though more sublte than in totalitarian settings obviously. I would say that not clearly stating how the US and Britian use terrorism to their own advantage, or how not criticizing how the US and Britian use their own ruthless tactics to secure their national interests would fall under that category.

"The Olympics are taking place against the backdrop of the rise of a virulently assertive strain of Chinese nationalism"

"The problem with nationalism is that it thrives on competition—and all too often needs an enemy."

Again, has The Economist ever wrote an article about the dangers of American patriotism, some of the most terrifying ultranationalism that is presently occuring and which is supported throughout US media, including in children's programming and children's literature? Has it talked about how nationalistic fervor caused by the constant threat of terrorism is allowing the US government to get away with gaining control of the Middle East?? The US government and many Americans treat terrorists like they are as terrible as a Fascist industrialized nation (talk about needing an enemy...)


Good article, articulating many of the top points. I guess one good is coming out of the Games - the dreadful pollution with which the local residents have to live is finally being publicized (the Wall St Journal has run some excellent photos demonstrating this). I hope this makes their lives better AFTER the Games. Otherwise, I just have zero interest in the Olympics. The commercialized nature of the event, plus ridiculously bizarre opening and closing ceremonies, just bore me to tears, and the OTT nationalization on parade (and, don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on any specific country in this) just turns me off. I like the concept of individual athletes, or teams competing for sporting prowess and doing the best they can, not country v country our-athletes-are-better-than-yours nonsense accompanied by screaming "supporters". Sorry, I can live without that.


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