Letters to the Editor
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More issues in China
Another issue is that they are cruelly destroying stray and domestic cats in preparation for the Olympics. They gather them up and put two or three in cages that are the size of microwave ovens and leave them to die in some sort of camps for strays. They have also convinced people who own cats that the cats carry Sars and should be dumped in the street. I have boycotted China for years because of the treatment of labor in sweat shops. I have started a petition for the cats, but this doesn't mean I don't care about people. If you are interested in signing the petition, which is only to ask the mass media to report the story,please do so. Personally, I think that putting all the issues up front, Tibet, Darfur, Sweatshops, Human Rights Issues in their own country and animal cruelty, is important so individuals can understand the severity of the problems and take whatever action they deem appropriate based on an informed point of view.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-beijing-olympics-cat-massacre
Thank you,
EAF
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Wishing for Failure
There are too many forces have a stake in the failure of Beijing Olympics. I don't even know where to start this argument. Just a warning, be careful what you all wish for. A real failure of China can unleash nationalism so powerful, it may set the earth back for hundreds of years.
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Is it all righteous progressive scorn...
...or is at least some of this American vilification of China just thinly veiled racist schaudenfraude?
Don't get me wrong - the Chinese government is by no means saintly...considering, as Andrew mentions, their Darfur ties, shameless Net censorship, heavy-handedness with Taiwan and Tibet, etc.
But I seem to detect an implicit glee in the (white/Western) American media's scathing portrayal of these cat-eatin', mega-pollutin', secessionist-crushin' commie Chinks. {Of course, CNN/Salon/etc. commentators would never actually utter these specific words...though Fox News might.)
Is it jealousy/fear of the dreaded "Yellow Peril" - a rising nation of prosperous, industrious Asians, analogous to Japan in the 80's??
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Furthermore, I wonder what these American commenters would think of this headline if, say, Chicago/USA was hosting the 2008 Olympics:
"The Chicago Olympics debacle has begun: tens of thousands dead in a neverending war, out-of-control pollution and consumption, abuses of civil liberties and sanction of torture, and an economy in ruins - the USA is ready for its close-up!"
Pot, meet kettle.
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Markets
I can recall several emerging markets investors i knew claiming that there was no danger holding Chinese stocks until after the Olympics were over since the excitement in anticipation of the event as well as the Chinese government's own efforts would act as a floor under the market. My suspicion was that scrutiny accompanying the event would make it impossible for China to hide what was difficult to hide before (Gas lines,hunger riots,neighborhood removal,pollution,general backwardness) and that the publicity surrounding the event would be an opportunity for disgruntled groups to air their grievances. I think both have been borne out by events.
Matt
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As much damage as the US has wrought
It pales in comparison to the utter disaster that is modern-day China. At least here we have open debate about our responsibilities and contributions, good and ill to the globe ca. 2008. Modern-day China is indeed everything that is wrong about humankind, on steroids. Pollution, dwindling resources, human rights violations, absence of corporate responsibility, bellicosity....the list goes on ad nauseum. I for one hope that the 2008 games goes down as bar none the biggest failure imaginable and shines the harshest light imaginable on the disgrace that is China.
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Oh please...
The ongoing efforts to ensure (or pretend) that Beijing's air is clean enough for world-class athletes to breath...
It's time this meme was killed for good.
Ever been in Beijing over the Spring Festival national holiday? No? I didn't think so. Beijing's air is just awful for the rest of Spring, and yet it's clean and fresh over Spring Festival.
And so anyone who has been in Beijing over that week and a half knows _exactly_ what the Chinese government will do to ensure clean air during the weeks of the Olympics. It's exactly what they do every Spring Festival:
They turn off nearly all the factories in the country. Construction stops. Migrant workers go home. Streets are (relatively) free of cars.
All those things are planned for the Olympic weeks.
You can experience a mini version of this effect almost every Sunday in Beijing, as no matter how gray and desperate Friday was, by Sunday the only pollution to be seen is usually the smog known to all large cities -- the really poisonous black-snot nose-bleed stuff is simply not there, as the factories that produce it are off.
No-one, least of all me, would claim that "all is well" with China's environment, or Beijing's air.
But it will be fresh and clean for the Olympic weeks. I'd lay money on it.
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@Lonely Wolf: 1988 Seoul Olympic held by Asians
South Koreans met almost no protest from our progressive elements because they were making progress in their transformation from dictatorship to democracy.
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try to be kind to china.
i can't imagine how to govern that place. the social turmoil consequent on the 'capitalization' of the place is bad enough, but they have to do it when resources are running out, and global warming threatens disaster. these last two problems, btw, are caused by the usa, more than anyone else.
the early days of america's industrialization weren't pretty either, and the latest pustules on the face of 'mature' capitalism are scaring america's financial mandarins worse than anything since the depression.
in short, sing together: "pot don't mock the kettle, there but for the grace of god, i'd ruther settle for beijing, than try to run in baghdad."
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Pollution in Beijing
Apparently the weekend that I was there the factories were kept operating, because the pollution was awful.
Now I was not around for the fifties and sixties in America, when the pollution was so very bad in cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland, but the pollution I saw in Beijing last summer was nothing like I've ever experienced. At times, the visibility was only one or two blocks. Skyscrapers became fuzzy gray above the fifteenth story. The only thing that I can compare it to is being a couple miles downwind of a forest fire. It smells (and tastes!) the same way too. Actually, a forest fire smells better.
By the way, if you are planning on going to Beijing for the Olympics, get your doctor to prescribe you some antibiotics and start taking them the day you leave. I saw this advice on a travel site before my trip, and I laughed at it. But when I got back I was sick enough to need a full course of Zithromax. Only drink beer and soda (since they are sterilized in the bottling process), avoid ice cubes, and bring your own toilet paper.
I'm serious about the toilet paper.