TIME and BusinessWeek have a couple of the better articles on Chinese anti-foreign media stance, highlighting the opinion that the Chinese are retaliating against what they see as very biased anti-China coverage by Western media. Do skim through the readers' comments if you have time - very interesting conflicting viewpoints.)
I have to admit I was actually more indignant about the Western media's blanket criticism over fallacies in Chinese manufacturing, blackening the tag "Made in China" even further, to the extent that I actually wrote a short defense about it in one of my January exams. To me, currently the whole storm is very much a China-issue, with the criticisms directed at China the country no reflection on my identity as a Chinese, and I can't help feeling slightly ambivalent about it all.
But the question one must pose is, if not for the March 14 Tibetan riots, would all these so-called righteous activists have done anything to voice "popular" dissent over China's poor human rights record? Communist China has had stringent controls over its people's fundamental human rights for many decades, but never have we seen such widespread, intense criticism before. The whole issue this time started with the recognition of Tibet's independence and separate cultural identity, and has gone on to criticise China's policies as a whole.
Accuse me of being apathetic, but I won't claim to know enough of the big picture to put down an opinion on the Tibet contention. What strikes me as pure irony is that dissenters have chosen to highlight their pet peeve by disrupting the Olympic torch relay around the world. Don't get me wrong - it is good that people are actually doing something about an issue they believe strongly in, but for any instance did they think that this destructive campaigning will affect the Games in any way, or make China change its policies? Cases like the Chinese paraplegic who was attacked while relaying the torch makes one wonder who the real "bad guy" is. Presumably these "activists" will also be boycotting the Games in Beijing come August, not that they have enough $$ to go anyway.
Secondly, society's collective memory seems to have conveniently forgotten that the whole Olympic torch relay was the brainchild of Carl Diem, a Nazi commander, for the purpose of promoting Nazi ideology and propaganda. With the support of the infamous Joseph Goebbels, Diem twisted the ancient tradition of a fire burning throughout the Olympics in commemoration of Prometheus (a human) stealing fire from Zeus. It shouldn't be necessary for me to point out that Nazi Germany is one of the most well-known instances of the lack of human rights in Western history. Shouldn't these well-meaning activists be channeling their energy into getting rid of a practice with such a foul conception, or at least actively doing something about China's other issues such as child labour?
I'll take the Chinese's side in being irritated by those countries and politicians who have felt pressurized by the media to boycott the opening or closing ceremonies, or even the Games in its entirety. For goodness' sake, get a backbone. Nevertheless, however much we would like to the the high moral ground that "the Games are a celebration of sportsmanship and the human spirit, leave politics out of it!" (hello, Mr. Bush?), the truth remains that the Olympics have always been a source of political intrigue since its conception, a fact so succinctly pointed out in an excellent commentary by a classics professor from Cambridge writing for the Times.
Contrary to what I wrote earlier, I did get a little riled-up there hehe. Come what may, this August I'm gonna be glued to the TV watching the Games on Astro (television provider la, not Minishort's rabbit haha). Okay, lame joke.
Anyway, here are some images emailed in today by my cousin brother (one of the many =P) of botanic Olympic advertisement scattered in various cities in China. Kinda reminds me of the big keris-with-hibiscus structures promoting our Commonwealth Games way back in 1998. Hope the Chinese will be able to maintain these beautiful creations even after the Games are over, unlike the miserable state of our monuments.
Impressive water features:
Particularly like the one on the left
Amazing animals - I think the horse is really realistic
Elegant celebration of the (idealised) ancient Chinese lifestyle,
Allusion to a couple of Chinese inventions.
Fitting homage to the Games' Greek origins,
with the Temple of Zeus in Olympia on the left,
and what seems to be a very Palladian structure on the right,
a likely symbol of Western Civilisation's rebirth in Renaissance Italy.
And of course, what would a celebration of mankind be, without a salute to the 2 other cornerstones of civilisation?
Finally, a salute to the tremendous effort and
sacrifice of sportsmen around the world,
while ordinary rakyat like you and I go about our daily lives
interrupted once in 4 years by the greatest sporting event of all time.
interrupted once in 4 years by the greatest sporting event of all time.
