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The 'mianji' (making face) Olympics

By Arthur Thomas - posted Monday, 28 July 2008


Just what benefits can be expected for China after the 2008 Summer Olympics?

Look closer at China's impressive measures to reduce the shocking air pollution for Beijing. It trumpets that huge sacrifices are being made by shutting down polluting industries and even relocating some. The more than 140 gas stations dispensing the low quality polluting fuels will be closed. "Green buses" will transport visitors to and from venues and tourist sites. Beijing's car numbers will be reduced by nearly two million alternating access by last digit of the number plates. The old highly polluting taxies have been ordered off the roads, to be replaced by the more expensive "green taxis".

With the exception of trucks with special permits to deliver crucial goods into the city, all other trucks will be diverted around Beijing. Workers from closed industries have been ordered to return to their families in the country to limit the numbers of people in the cities. The massive migrant worker population has also been ordered out for the benefit of the visitors.

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All is not what it seems however. A number of major industries are exempt from closure. Monitoring number plates, even in reduced traffic flow will be a mammoth and almost impractical task, especially with the security check points. To provide the lush green landscape for the Olympic tourists, a massive 400 million cubic metres of water has been diverted from drought stricken Hebei province.

What did the IOC expect from these commitments once the Games are over? Will the image of the "green" Beijing be permanent? Not likely! These were cosmetic changes only and never meant to be permanent! All measures were intended to temporarily minimise the pollution and improve Beijing's landscape only during "Games time".

China is about profit and Beijing will rapidly retreat back under the veil of pollution as industry once again ramps up to recover the losses caused by the shutdowns. This time the pace will be more frenetic than ever producing even greater pollution spikes.

The more than 140 gas stations will once again dispense low quality polluting fuel. The old taxis, buses and trucks will be back on the roads along with the cars spewing their exhaust fumes into the atmosphere. The heavy trucks will be working overtime replenishing stocks and transporting goods depleted or stockpiled by limited access. The green buses? Mothballed or dedicated to special tourist operations. Because of the running costs of the green taxis, these will be restricted to the business and tourist centres.

Visitors arriving in Beijing after the Games expecting to be welcomed by the promotional images of a lush green Beijing under blue skies will be in for a big shock, especially in terms of visibility, traffic jams, sore throats and streaming eyes, not to mention the grime on skin, hair and clothing.

Just why was China so committed to hosting the Games fully aware of the massive costs and imposition of human rights abuse on its own citizens? Why spend more than US$20 billion on Games related projects and greening Beijing when this massive sum could have been spent on improving the quality of life of China's more than 450 million rural poor and cleaning up its environmental mess for just a few weeks?

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The answer is simple. The Games could not wait. Jiang Zemin was fully aware of the rising tide of civil unrest and saw the Olympics as a means to divert internal attention away from the growing crisis and towards not just a new platform of national pride in China, but more so in the CCP. Losing the 2004 Games was a totally unexpected major setback. The 2008 Games were to be secured regardless of cost!

Hosting the Olympics became an obsession and it was not a simple matter of national pride. With civil unrest spreading across China, the CCP was playing a game of survival and was frantically seeking ways of making face, or mianji. Within China, securing IOC approval to host the 2008 Olympics was an acknowledgement of international support and respect for the power of the CCP.

The spread of civil unrest and demonstrations are directly attributable to government corruption, illegal appropriation of farmers' land, horrific increases in pollution related mortalities and sickness, enforced community relocations and expanding desertification created by unsustainable development and draw down on declining water sources.

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About the Author

Arthur Thomas is retired. He has extensive experience in the old Soviet, the new Russia, China, Central Asia and South East Asia.

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All articles by Arthur Thomas

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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