From openDemocracy:
… China certainly has the ability to host the Olympics. The country is more powerful than for many years, and already has the experience of hosting large sporting events. The Olympics will not be a financial burden on China as they were for a small country like Greece in 2004. Moreover, the public has been marinating in nationalism for over a decade now, and the Olympics can satisfy many of its demands for international recognition. For this reason, there will not be any large-scale political protests, and a few intellectuals asking for improvements in human rights will not have any real impact.
For its part, the International Olympic Committee is concerned only to have a smoothly run Olympics and make a financial profit, so it has no reason to pick a political fight with the host nation. Unless an important country like the United States boycotts the Beijing Olympics (the likelihood of which is tiny), the Chinese government will not feel any need to give way on domestic political issues. [Full Text]
Li Datong (李大同) is a Chinese journalist and a former editor of Bingdian (Freezing Point).
