Hen hao de Olympics

In a controversial move that most people are by now aware of, Beijing was selected to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. Supposedly, the Communist regime's notorious list of human rights violations that continue to this day should have prevented this from occurring, but as we all know, money and influence trump ethics in the world of global politics, and this is exactly what happened.

If Communists are good at anything, it's presentation. They know how to use image and propaganda to their full extents, and China is no exception. Already the city is undergoing campaigns to clean up the pollution, teach the taxicab drivers English, and even curb the ubiquitous habit of spitting on the streets. There are also stories of "undesirables" being kept away from the Olympic grounds. The Beijing presented to the world next year will be a cleaned-up, gilded, larger-than-life version of the best China has to offer. Expect the next Olympics to be the most impressive yet. China is looking to secure their new reputation as an emerging world power, and the international spotlight of the Olympics is the perfect opportunity. Stories of the impressive main event constructions are already circulating, and this is only the beginning.

When the world tunes in to watch the Olympics next year, will they fall for the theatrics and facade? I, for one, am already bracing myself for the fawning coverage that I have come to expect of the mainstream media. They will do China's self-promotion work for them, for free, just as they did for the Soviets. Going along with China's giant Olympic-shaped image marketing campaign, they will swallow the bait and infer that this is the true face of China.

We know differently.

The persecution of Christians and other religious groups continues. Though in some areas this has lessened, new reports of abused and arrested church leaders and house church members come in weekly. The internet is strictly censored, and websites that criticize the government are shut down and their writers arrested or silenced. Hundreds of missiles are aimed at Taiwan, a fledgling democracy over whom China has no real legal claim to ownership. The Chinese Army has even suggested that nuclear weapons would not be ruled out as an option if the US chose to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Though the deluge of foreign investment has weakened if not destroyed the Communist economic principles used by Mao to wipe out millions of Chinese through famine and poverty, it has not weakened the government's grip on the nation, and China increasingly looks less Communist and more Fascist as time goes by.

It seems destined that China will rise to be the foremost economic power in the world eventually, though India is not far behind, due if nothing else to its massive population.
The US has many options on the table at this point, but has chosen to forgo these in favor of courting China's vast potential markets. Corporations such as Google and Yahoo have chosen to give in to the Communist government's demands for state censorship, in exchange for access to a rapidly growing percentage of Chinese internet users. These compromises will surely come back to haunt us.

I will be following the Olympic preparations with interest. The spectacle will be impressive, no doubt, but don't forget to keep in mind that the spin-machine is churning overtime.
China has a responsibility to use its growing power and influence wisely and peacefully. This is a responsibility it has shown little intent to keep.

Now the question is, what, if any, will our response be? That may be decided by the choice of our next president. And I'm still waiting on a candidate I can vote for...