Olympic Pressure on China

As the Beijing Olympics draw near, the world is bracing for what promises to be a historic event. China has promoted the games as an international coming-out party under the slogan, "One World, One Dream." Even the opening date is auspicious: August 8, 2008 -- 8-8-08 -- is a very lucky day in Chinese numerology. Since Beijing won its bid to host the games, however, critics have attacked China's record on issues ranging from human rights to food safety to the environment. Just before the Olympic torch relay, China cracked down on Tibetans protesting the subjugation of their culture. The repression and violence that ensued brought international condemnation and calls for Olympic boycotts. China's environmental degradation, restrictions on free speech, and continued investments in Sudan, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe have drawn criticism as well. In its campaign to win the right to host the Olympics, China pledged to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the games would remain "open in every aspect." Many believe China is failing to abide by that pledge, but the vehemence of anti-China sentiment abroad has spurred a nationalist backlash within China, and the Chinese government strongly condemns what it considers the politicization of the Olympic Games.

Setting the Stage

After winning its bid to host the games, the Chinese government released an "action plan" with a series of commitments related to development, the environment, and governance. Beijing pledged in its Olympics strategy "to be open in every aspect to the rest of the country and the whole world." But Minxin Pei, senior associate in the China program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, calls Beijing's commitments "vague." He says "the interpretation of such pledges is contentious," with a divergence of opinion about what they mean inside and outside China. While activists and critics of China's Communist Party may look for concrete progress on development and human rights, the "kind of measures the government has taken regarding the Olympics are more related to the appearance of Beijing as a nice, livable city," says Pei.

In this Foreign Affairs article, CFR's China experts Elizabeth Economy and Adam Segal write the process of preparing for the games is "tailor-made to display China's greatest political and economic strengths," but the leadership failed to anticipate the extent to which the games "would stoke the persistent political challenges to the legitimacy of the Communist Party and the stability of the country." To improve Beijing's image, China launched a new initiative: "Welcome the Olympics. Improve Manners and Foster New Attitudes." As a report (PDF) by Human Rights in China shows, the campaign is designed to discourage things like public spitting, belching, and soup slurping. Urban improvements have led to more extreme measures as well: In its special section on the upcoming Olympics, Human Rights Watch says the construction of Olympic facilities in Beijing has forced the eviction of thousands of citizens in and around the capital, often without adequate compensation or access to new housing.

Turning Beijing Green

The Olympics have spotlighted China's environmental record. China recently surpassed the United States to become the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitter. If China's development strategy continues on its current course, the country's emissions will surpass those of all industrialized countries combined over the next quarter century, writes CFR Senior Fellow Elizabeth C. Economy. In part because of scrutiny of its environmental record, China pitched the idea of the "Green Olympics,"including new standards for water and air pollution in Beijing, as part of the bid to host the games.

The city has made some strides to meet its promises, with air quality improving each year for the past six years. Beijing has closed factories and relocated chemical and steel plants to mitigate air pollution. It plans to spend nearly $1.6 billion to improve the city's water supply before the games. Other measures are planned, including limits on motor vehicles. In a four-day test in 2007, the city took 1.3 million cars off the road (Reuters) to see if it would reduce air pollution in preparation for the games. Technicians with Beijing's Weather Modification Office will also use a method known as "cloud-seeding" (AP) to force rain and clean the city's air. In the meantime, athletes around the world have taken unique steps (IHT) to prepare for the polluted conditions they will face in Beijing, and some teams, including the Americans, plan to arrive only at the last minute and to bring their own supplies of food and water.

The 'Genocide Olympics'

Beijing has been criticized for doing business with the Sudanese government despite ongoing violence in Sudan's western region of Darfur. More than 200,000 people have died, and another 2.5 million have been displaced. In 2006, a report (PDF) from a UN Panel of Experts implied that China was Sudan's main arms dealer, though China's special envoy on Darfur says that China is only supplying 8 percent of Sudan's total arms imports. Regardless, China is Sudan's largest trading partner, purchasing up to two-thirds of the country's oil exports.

Because of China's investment in Sudan, Mia Farrow, an actress and former UNICEF goodwill ambassador, has led a campaign to dub the games the "Genocide Olympics." She says she hopes to shame Olympic sponsors into getting China to divest in Sudan. U.S. director Steven Spielberg has also expressed concern with China's investment in Darfur. In February 2008, he publicly withdrew as an artistic adviser for the games, claiming that China "should be doing more" (BBC) to end the "continued human suffering" in the war-torn region.

Experts disagree on the efficacy of such outside criticism. Pei suggests Beijing may moderate its Sudan policy to a slight degree, but adds that "if the level of shrillness is too high, then nothing will be accomplished." He believes increased criticism from abroad will only serve to unite the Chinese government and its people. In an interview with CFR.org, former Olympic CEO Mitt Romney notes that Olympic sponsors are financially "locked in" for the Beijing games, regardless of any attempts to shame them. He adds that "taking action which in any way disrespects China -- or is seen as being disrespectful or 'taking away face,' if you will, from China -- would have the exact opposite effect than had been intended."

But other experts say Beijing is watching U.S. public opinion on how it handles Khartoum. In a January/February 2008 article for Foreign Affairs, Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt and Andrew Small write that Beijing has already changed its Sudan policy because of the public outcry on Darfur. In 2006, China abandoned its policy of noninterference and began pressuring Sudan into accepting the deployment of more than twenty thousand UN and African Union troops in Darfur. China has also sent close to three hundred of its own military engineers to Sudan. "China's shifting diplomacy reflects not a fundamental change in its values but a new perception of its national interests," they say.

Tibetan Protests

With less than six months to go until the Beijing games, the international spotlight turned on Tibet. On March 10, Tibetan monks launched a series of peaceful demonstrations to advocate for greater autonomy from Beijing. Details remain sketchy, but clashes erupted between demonstrators and security forces in Lhasa, and these spread to other cities in Tibet and surrounding provinces. The Chinese government responded with an ongoing crackdown that included shooting, beating, and arresting suspected dissidents. According to China's state-run news sources, just over twenty people have died in the fighting, but Tibet's government-in-exile says the death toll is over two hundred.

Human rights groups and governments around the world condemned China's actions, calling them a flagrant violation of human rights. The United States, which submits a report to Congress each year on the status of talks between China and the exiled Dalai Lama, urged Beijing to refrain from violence and to respect Tibet's cultural heritage. The U.S. Congress formed a new "Tibet Caucus" and began debating a number of measures aimed at holding China accountable for the conduct of its security forces in Tibet.