The recent violent protests in Tibet could not have come at a worse time for President Hu Jintao and his Communist Chinese government. This was supposed to be a great year for China, a year when the world would watch a new China during the Beijing Olympic Games, the new China that has risen from the days of Mao and the Cultural Revolution to become one of the world’s largest economic, political and military powers. Extensive efforts have been made to improve China’s image leading up to these games.
This is very similar to what West Germany wanted to do with the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. West Germany wanted to show the world how much it had changed since the days of the Third Reich, while at the same time drawing a clear contrast between itself and its Communist neighbors. But despite extensive preparations, the Munich Olympics were permanently scarred when Palestinian terrorists took hostage and killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches.
While different in some key ways, the Chinese crackdown on the protests in Tibet has the possibility to the do the same thing to the Beijing Olympics as the Munich Massacre did to the 1972 Olympics. This possibility is a great thing for the United States. The Tibet protests and the resulting Chinese crackdown are making China look terrible in the international spotlight leading up to the Olympics. It is strongly in the American interest for China to look as bad as possible this year.
This is because while the United States and China are not enemies, they are adversaries in a variety of ways. China, with its rapidly growing economic and military strength, is starting to pose a challenge to American hegemony in Asia and around the world. The Chinese seem to view world affairs as a zero-sum game between their country and the United States. Thus, the U.S. would be wise to adopt the same outlook.
The Chinese are secretive about their military, which has been undergoing a huge buildup during the past few years. In late 2007, the Chinese denied port calls to several U.S. Navy ships, despite previous agreements and even denied safe harbor to two American ships during storms at sea. The granting of safe harbor to any ship is one of the basic tenets of international maritime policy, and the fact the China would not grant it to American ships speaks volumes about their potential to provide the U.S. with a real enemy in the future.
China has accused the Dalai Lama, an Emory faculty member, of trying to sabotage the Beijing Olympics. This is something the Dalai Lama vigorously denies, but for America’s sake, I hope he is sabotaging them. China is losing respect in the greater international community because of their actions in Tibet. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has suggested that he might boycott the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. President Bush called President Hu to express his concern about the situation.
This was supposed to be China’s year to shine. Now the Olympics could be seriously disrupted by these Tibetan protests. A pro-Tibet protestor interrupted the lighting of the Olympic Torch in Greece last week, drawing more attention to the protests.
These protests are making the world examine China’s abysmal human rights record more closely, and it does not bode well for the Chinese because it will make their country look terrible at a time in which they were hoping to burnish their image on the world stage. The United States should just sit back, relax and watch China suffer as they struggle with Tibet and an ever-declining moral authority.
China is indeed far from shining right now!
Posted by: Tom | March 30, 2008 at 09:13 AM
China is indeed far from shining right now!
Posted by: Tom | March 30, 2008 at 09:13 AM