The Beijing Olympics have been considered a great success, boosting national identity and the country's image internationally. But as China’s lust for development continues to impact upon its people and surroundings, Tom Tainton suggests all is not as rosy as it seems.Well, you could argue it was £38 billion well spent. The Olympic Games ran without a major hitch and brought with it all the expected benefits, creating in excess of two million jobs and adding 0.3% growth to the nation’s GDP. Beijing has experienced similar growth, with more than 1.7 billion square feet of new construction taking place since 2002, and the city has seen their gross domestic product leap 144 percent. A statistic that will surely leave Olympic officials sporting smug grins. But beneath a seemingly booming façade, China harbour some dark secrets and crippling social problems.
China is choking on its own success. The country’s growth derives from the alarming expansion of industry and urbanization, both of which require colossal inputs of energy, most notably from coal. It’s readily available, easily accessible, and it’s incredibly dirty. Toxic fumes spewed from China’s coal-fired factories fall as acid rain on neighbouring South Korea and Seoul. According to the Journal of Geophysical Research, Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles originates in China.
It was once predicted China would be the World’s leading emissions producer by 2010, but that figure has now been sliced to the end of 2008. It’s a catch-22 situation for Chinese leaders. The unconstrained expansion of industries creates greater dependence on imported oil and coal, meaning that environmental problems get harder and more expensive to address. However, a major slowdown would incite social unrest, threaten economic growth and alienate the Communist party from its supporters.
In China’s own backyard, public health is reeling. Only 1% of the country’s 560 million urban inhabitants breathe air considered safe. Beijing is seemingly engulfed in smog; the locals rarely see the sun and the contaminated air has made cancer the leading cause of death. For the city’s 12 million dwellers, pollution is an inescapable health and quality-of-life issue. It doesn’t get much better for China’s wild life either. The country contains some of the world’s richest troves of biodiversity, yet the reality of plants and animals reveals a bleak picture that has grown bleaker during the past decade. Scientists say nearly 40 percent of all mammal species in China are now endangered. For plants, the situation is worse; 70 percent of all non-flowering plant species and 86 percent of flowering species are considered threatened. And let’s not forget a coastline so swamped by algal red tides that large sections of the ocean no longer sustain marine life.
Environmental woes like these might be considered catastrophic in some countries. Not to China. But they are finally trying rectify the situation, in Beijing at least. In response to international concerns about Beijing’s infamous smog the Olympic organizers put into practice a series of measures to curb the lingering threat of pollution. Billions of dollars were ploughed into relocating nearly two-hundred power plants outside the city as well as substituting coal for natural gas, a cleaner alternative. Higher emission standards are also being adopted to control the poisonous fumes from Beijing's millions of cars. Beijing has nearly three million vehicles on its roads with 400,000 new additions each day. To combat this the city have taken nearly one million cars off the highways by allowing access to the city on alternate days depending on number plates. These measures have been extended to neighbouring Tianjin. In a further attempt to rid the city of its toxic demons, more than 2,000 buses and 5,000 taxis were upgraded or replaced with cleaner models, and five new urban railways added to the public transport system.
And they weren’t finished yet. A billion-dollar forest belt, stretching some 6,000 miles north of the Great Wall, was built to restrain desert movement and dust storms. If all this wasn’t enough, Beijing increased their green acreage by 50% through the ‘green rooftop’ project. The scheme was a major component of the city’s strategy to meet air-quality standards in time for the summer and saw 60 percent of low-rise buildings and about 30 to 40 percent of high-rises topped with green grass fields. You have to hand it to them, they certainly made an effort. But is all this ‘green’ goodwill just a hollow attempt to avoid criticism when China finds itself under the global spotlight?
The problems China face need more than just a short term fix. Nearly 550 million people lack access to safe drinking water, a figure that is only going to increase. Water usage has quintupled since 1949 draining two-thirds of groundwater. To make matters worse the underground water table is sinking four feet a year, and could be completely drained in thirty. One reason for this is grain. The Communist Party, reluctant to rely on imports have long insisted on crop self-sufficiency. The bad news is growing so much of the stuff consumes huge amounts of underground water. Industry in the country uses ten times as much water than developed nations. Thus, China is faced with a tough political choice as cities and farming compete for a diminishing water supply. If they restrict farming then international grain prices are affected and so are the livelihoods of millions of farmers. Limit the thirst of urbanization and China’s economic growth will be constrained.
It’s difficult to comprehend China’s complex and often muddled economy and politics. It is often assumed China is communist. It’s not. The planned economy hasn’t existed for nearly fifteen years. It’s not fully converted to capitalism either; the system reflects early capitalism in Europe around two-hundred years ago. And before the Olympics forced Chinese authorities to rethink its foreign policy, the country carried strong links to Stalinism. Previously, when dealing with them, the EU had no option but to adopt a non-confrontational approach and act on China’s terms. The Chinese leaders certainly fostered nationalistic sentiment, and the phenomenal success of their athletes has done little to restrain the patriotism. Some critics have drawn the rather harsh comparison between the 2008 games and ‘Hitler’s games’ in Berlin, a propaganda tool to showcase Nazism. In fairness to China it isn’t seeking to conquer its neighbours and has made significant advances in libertarianism and international trade.
However, there is little doubt that China has one of the worst human rights records in the World. Reported arms sales to rebels in Darfur, and the well-publicised Tibet saga have further tarnished their ailing reputation. To rub salt in the wounds, in the build-up to the games a Beijing stationary firm accused of child labour was stripped of its license to produce official merchandise. Additionally Falun Gong practitioners, a spiritual group who oppose the Communist Party, revealed that some members were stripped of their ID and banned from entering Beijing. In numerous cases, the unfortunate souls were locked up and beaten.
They weren’t the only ones. To solve the potential headache of stadium construction space, Beijing police also forced hundreds of people out of their homes, offering a paltry sum of compensation (occasionally) to the reluctant evictee. Just one case study plucked from many, Local restaurateur Ye Guozhu was sentenced to four years in jail because of his opposition to the seizure and demolition of property. He lost his café, his only source of income. Ye Gouzhu received no compensation.
Let’s not paint China in an entirely bad light. Education projects set up by the Chinese Olympic Committee have helped 400 million children across the Country. Equally commendable is the news that China has adjusted its long-standing foreign policy principle of non-interference in other nations' internal affairs, probably reflecting the intensifying influence of economic interconnectedness. To underline this progress, UN officials responsible for Sudanese affairs praised China’s efforts in motivating the Sudanese president to accept peacekeepers in Darfur.
Chinese Authorities even lifted restrictions on international journalists travelling to Beijing. Under regulations that came into effect in the build up to the games, the media has more freedom to roam than ever before. Or do they? Disturbingly, there have been 38 incidents of journalist detainment since the new regulations were passed, primarily when foreign hacks were covering sensitive issues such as land disputes and protests, which China vaguely define as ‘state secrets’. Beijing officials also compiled a database of all journalists expected to cover the Olympics. Although the authorities claim that the list will help them to better serve journalists, many foreign journalists remain skeptical about the list's purpose. Sinister, indeed.
Boosted by the phenomenal success of the Games, China has pledged to quadruple their economy by 2020, signaling the emergence of a global superpower in just over a decade. But the Beijing Olympics has merely served to paper over the cracks of a country in economic disarray and plagued with political struggles. As the euphoria of the Olympics fades, China will be desperate to remain on the World’s stage, probably at the expense of its people.
(Hiidunia.org, 2008)
It’s the opening day of the Premiership season, and in a leafy corner of West London Frank Lampard strides purposefully up to the penalty spot, before emphatically sending David James the wrong way. Punching the Chelsea badge, Lampard turns to salute the Shed End faithful with the air of a man who hadn’t just held his club at ransom for three lingering months. And funnily enough, despite having steadfastly refused a weekly sum in the region of £140,000, the Chelsea supporters responded with the kind of enthusiastic celebrations that make you think they might just have forgiven him. Fear not, Frank. You may have won them over, but the rest of us still don’t like you.
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