If you saw the American athletes arriving in Beijing this week donning scary-looking face masks to keep the city’s famous pollution from corroding their finely-tuned lungs, then you probably got a feel for just how political these 2008 Summer Olympics promise to be.
Of course that’s not new news—-in the run up to the Games we’ve heard plenty about China’s environmental woes and serious human rights issues. But there’s a ton more to this vast, fascinating country, and we have a brief primer for you.
The population problem
One of the world’s oldest civilizations, China is also the most populous—with 1.33 billion people it makes up about one-fifth of the world’s population. To stem its booming population, the government introduced the strict, somewhat controversial “one-child” family planning program in 1979, leading to 400 million fewer people today. However, as a result, China is also one the world’s most rapidly aging countries.
Despite many areas of intense, grinding poverty, life expectancy is 73 years (compared with 78 years in the U.S) and the literacy rate is 91%.
Religious “freedom”
You may have seen the news that President Bush will be worshiping Sunday at a “government sanctioned” Christian church. The issue here is that while China’s Communist government is officially atheist, it allows just five “registered” religions and limits how many people can join those churches. Other unregistered churches may be reportedly repressed. Surveys show tens or even hundreds of millions of Buddhists, Taoists, and lesser numbers of Catholics, Protestants and Muslims live in China.
The Asian economic tiger
China has been ruled for nearly 60 years by a Communist government but starting in late 1970s, the government instituted a series of liberal market-oriented reforms, introducing private ownership, encouraging free enterprise and opening the economy to foreign trade. The result is something of a paradox: a vibrant but tightly-controlled, capitalist economy. China’s economy has been surging at a torrid pace for years, growing more than 11% in 2007. Its economy is now the second largest in the world, behind only the United States.
Of particular note to many Americans, China also holds a lot of our debt, owning more than a half trillion dollars worth of U.S. treasury securities. This is second only to Japan.
About that pollution …
All that economic growth–-think factories and coal-fired power plants belching out smoke and fouling the waters—has led to serious, dangerous environmental issues. The World Bank says China has 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, mostly because of coal use and cars. A recent article in The New Yorker says the country adds about four coal-fired plants each month!
The big picture
China wants to win the gold medal count this year. In 2004 it came in second to the U.S. tally of 36. Since being awarded the Olympics, China’s sports ministry has been on a mission to identify potential athletes, sending them to state-run sports academies for training. They’re particularly focused on events such as rowing and canoeing where high medal counts might help knock Americans from the top spot.
China also wants to showcase itself to the world as newly modern, dynamic, and somewhat more open. Although press freedoms are already being curtailed, and the government is not likely to tolerate any real protesters, the new “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium, and the “Water Cube” National Aquatics Center have already been hailed as architectural marvels. It is this face that China wants the world to see.
