http://www.j2fi.net/2008/04/24/chinas-naivete-proves-international-opinion/
China=92s Naivete Proves International Opinion
Written by Jason in Politics, World
With all the news and outrage over the nation=92s history of human
rights offenses and oppressive maneuvering, China=92s leaders issued a
plea asking the world to stop mixing s****ts and politics. This comes
as the possibility of a general boycott of the opening ceremonies by
various governments gains momentum, which threatens to seriously
jeopardize the excessively symbolic song and dance where China
positions themselves as an emerging world power with a central role in
the planet=92s affairs. What China doesn=92t seem to realize, though, is
that s****ts and politics have been closely linked for thousands of
years.
One obvious example is found in the 1936 Olympic Games held in
Germany. There was far more Nazi propaganda during the two weeks in
Berlin than there were games. The same can be said for East and West
Germany=92s decision to send a unified Olympic team in 1990. Germany is
not the only nation to use the Games for political reasons either, as
Japan, Russia, Brazil, Colombia, and the United States have all done
the same.
To say that international s****ts and politics could be separated in
today=92s ever-interconnected world of sensationalist media than it was
70 years ago is so far beyond optimistic it=92s deemed idiotic.
Beijing was granted the dubious honor of hosting The Games due to an
abnormally imbalanced mixture of politics, economics, bribery and
greed. What we see in the biased media today is just the culmination
of prejudice, hypocrisy, incompetence and a damn near criminal lack of
foresight on both sides of the Great Wall.
The protests and demonstrations occurring around the world on the
Tibetan and Xinjiang insurrections should come as no surprise. Just
like the UN, the Chinese government is just not capable of self-
reformation. The nation had bribed the hardest to get the Olympics as
a means to an end, and nothing more. In this case, the end involves an
incredibly choreographed symbolic op****tunity to celebrate their
status in the world, while also showing the planet=92s leaders that
China is willing to take on a giant role in international affairs.
That said, with the surprises in Tibet and Xinjiang, the nation=92s
leaders have resorted to the traditional tools of authority: turning
their citizens against the foreign threats beyond their borders.
Ignorance Is Bliss
What I find odd is the =93what did we do?=94 attitude exuded by political
leaders, such as Hu Jintao. China has only recently come out of their
1000 year self-imposed isolation with the hopes of being part of the
global village and, while the world is in a better position to solve
problems if everyone has a place at the table, the Chinese have yet to
fully understand what it means to be a fair and balanced society. This
isn=92t to say that any other nation has a perfect political and social
system in place, because that would mean my ignorance bordered on the
ludicrous rather than just near-sighted idealism, but the communist
regime within the Great Walls often encourages their people to hold
massive demonstrations against anyone that would dare to say that
China=92s collective gas doesn=92t smell like a fresh bouquet of roses.
Of course, Western nations are just as guilty of hypocrisy and
incompetence. The IOC hadn=92t even finished their speech granting China
the luxury of hosting the 2008 Games before America and several
European nations started slinging the monkey dung. They argued that
China held human rights, democracy and a fair standard of living in
low regard, while at the same time building massive factories to
pollute the land and hire the cheap labor at a fraction of what it
would have cost in their home nations. It does make one wonder just
what the western governments expected of China, though. Were they
expecting the massive nation to suddenly become America 2.0? Built on
the same foundation of classical democracy, equal op****tunities, and
referring to itself as =93one nation under God=94 ?
Anyone who actually thought this would happen was either the king of
wishful thinking, or incredibly stupid.
In China, the Status-Quo is the Way To Go
For all its ups and downs, China is a status-quo rising power that
does not want to infuriate the international scene just yet. At the
same time, although they are beginning to see the cracks in their
political system, they=92re not quite at the point where instituting
some type of reform is necessary. Western nations also need to keep in
mind that China is not likely to bend to foreign pressures. If
anything, they=92ll start putting restrictions on the number of ex****ts
and foreign-owned businesses within their borders. For better or for
worse, many of the world=92s largest companies are in bed with the
Chinese, and they don=92t want to push too hard for fear of disastrous
reprisals.
Just like we saw with Germany in the half-century after the Second
World War, no amount of external pressure will turn China into the
country the West wants to see. The only way this ancient and proud
nation will reform their political system or improve their human
rights record is if they realize that their lack of fair laws and
proper enforcement jeopardizes their long-term goals of being a
respected key member of the global village.
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