Olympic Games Beijing 2008

July 7, 2008

In 2001, China’s Communist leaders promised the International Olympic Committee to allow free press access to both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the country as a whole. So far signs aren’t good that Beijing will stick to its word.

Witness the case of Norman Choy, a senior reporter with Hong Kong’s Apple Daily who was turned away at the Beijing airport on July 1. Mr. Choy intended to cover events related to the Games; he is one of more than 20,000 journalists expected to report on China in relation to the Olympics over the next six weeks. Yet upon landing in Beijing, immigration officials pulled him aside and questioned him about his travel plans. They then confiscated Mr. Choy’s “home return” travel permit - which allows Hong Kong Chinese visa-free access to the mainland - citing national security law, and put him on the next flight home.

Mr. Choy and his editors still await a formal explanation for which section of the law he might have violated. It’s a smart bet Mr. Choy’s “offense” was working for Apple Daily, a vigorously pro-democracy paper that publishes editions in Hong Kong and Taiwan. But he’s not alone. Reporters Without Borders says it’s received several complaints in recent months from European journalists, mostly free-lancers, who are encountering inexplicable snags in applying for visas to enter China around the time of the Games.

This is all part of a nationwide pattern. Whether it’s this spring’s uprising in Tibet or the torch relay in the restive western Xinjiang province, foreign correspondents have run into a wall of official restraints and resistance, as Phelim Kine of Human Rights Watch documents here. Even when Beijing has briefly allowed foreign reporters into trouble spots, such as the areas hit by the Sichuan earthquake in May, it has quickly tamped down again. Reports of various kinds of intimidation all over the country are rife.

Starting tomorrow, the roughly 5,600 journalists accredited to cover the sporting events are supposed to be able to enter using their Olympic press cards in lieu of visas. They will file stories on the athletes and events. But that will be only part of the China story this summer. Beijing promised to allow journalists to cover the rest of it - not least in a new press law issued in December 2006 that was supposed to provide easier nationwide access to foreign reporters. The next few weeks will show whether it intends to keep its word instead of delivering only “press freedom” with Chinese characteristics.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday he might attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if talks announced Sunday between the Chinese government and representatives of the Dalai Lama make progress.

“If there was continued progress and if the Dalai Lama and the Chinese president acknowledged the progress, then the obstacle to my participation would be lifted,” Sarkozy said on French television, Monday night.

He said the situation in Tibet is “not acceptable” but added, “We absolutely must not push a population of 1.3 billion people into wounded nationalism.”

After the March riots in Tibet and the government crackdown that followed, Sarkozy said he might boycott the opening of the Games.

The scene took place in Mexico in 1968. Two Americans, John Carlos and Tommie Smith were given their medals. During their national anthems, both showed their fist high in the sky, wearing a black glove. A legendary gesture showing their support for the Civil rights in the US. A legendary gesture that would destroy the career of both athletes.

Forty years later, both men haven’t changed. They are still fighting for the Human Rights. They demonstrated against the 2008 Games, like John Carlos in San Francisco.

Tommie Smith recently said it took him time to overcome the result of his action, but that he would still do the same thing today.

The two are calling the athletes to show their support during the Games in Beijing. Few will have the courage and the guts to do it.

Many artists were quiet on the Olympic games/Human rights problems. Steven Spielberg recently decided not to supervise the production and the screenplay of the opening ceremony. A famous British street artist, Banksy did an artwork in London on a post office near Oxford Circus. It says “One nation under CCTV”, CCTV being video surveillance and also the name of the main Chinese broadcaster. Banksy criticizes the position of the Chinese government against the freedom of speech.

With a estimated budget being more than 30 millions dollars, the Beijing games will be the most expensive games ever. In a fast changing country, economically and socially, the choice of partners and sponsors is very important for the companies.

For more than 80 years, every Olympic edition have had a different image. Every host do it their own way. Money is spent in the organization of the games and , also, in the bid to host the games, without being sure of getting them. The city of Los Angeles spent a million dollar for the construction of the Coliseum in order to get the 1924 games. They failed. Another million was spent to renovate the Coliseum in 1932. This time they won. The Nazi regime spent a huge amount of money in order to promote itself in the 1936 games. This edition is still one of the most epic edition due to the political dimension. More recently, the city of Montreal spent 1.6 million C$ in hosting the 1976 games. The 1 million C$ debt was paid by taxes by the people of Montreal throughout 2005. Today the Olympic stadium is not used. Soccer, Football and Baseball teams have left the old building. The Montreal games were one of the worst games, economically speaking. In 1984, Peter Ueberroth changed the economy of the games forever. The 1984 games were the first financed by private funds only. They were the most successful edition with a profit of 223 million $. These “made in USA” games were the first huge sporting event ever. On the other hand, we can note that the 1996 Atlanta games, dubbed as “the Coca-Cola” games were the worst edition ever. The organization was bad and they cost the city a lot of money. The Beijing game is a rare opportunity for the brands to be recognize, to enter the market and to have a positive image in China. They will be able to sell a lot of products to the Chinese consumers. They also help financing the games. Having the Olympic logo on its can or bottle is very helpful but also very pricey.

Sponsors, partners, providers have come and gone since 1984. First the top companies: Some have been historical Olympic partners. They have contracts with the IOC and are there every 2 years. Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Omega, Visa, Samsung, Kodak are some of the Top partners or Worldwide Olympic sponsors.

“TOP companies receive exclusive global marketing rights and opportunities within their designated product category.
Sponsors are able to develop marketing programs with various members of the Olympic Movement including the IOC, the NOCs, and the Organising Committees.
In addition to exclusive worldwide marketing opportunities, partners receive:

• Use of all Olympic imagery, as well as appropriate Olympic designations on products
• Hospitality opportunities at the Olympic Games
• Direct advertising and promotional opportunities, including preferential access to Olympic broadcast advertising
• On-site concessions/franchise and product sale/showcase opportunities
• Ambush marketing protection
• Acknowledgment of their support though a broad Olympic sponsorship recognition program

The strength of the TOP sponsorship program is evident in the fact that the program enjoys one of the highest sponsorship renewal rates of any sports property. The International Olympic Committee thanks the sponsors for their continued support.”

The Beijing 2008 sponsors are partners on the 2008 edition only. They are mostly national companies in the country where the games are held. For the Beijing edition, we have Air China which is the official air carrier, Bank Of China, the main Chinese bank, CNC and China Mobile the national telecommunication and cell phone providers, Sinopec the national gas provider. Others are also on the list. At a lesser level are the sponsors and suppliers. There are some smaller companies or groups that could not enter the top sponsors due to others contracts with the IOC. We can find Budweiser, UPS, Haier, Tsingtao, GreatWall wines and mostly national products. The games will also be financed through TV revenue and marketing product.

It will be easy to measure some of the impacts of the games, others will be harder to quantify. Like the Tokyo and Seoul games, the Beijing edition will boost the Chinese economy. It will also show the world what China has to offer and their ability to organize an event. Future generations will benefit from the games on a technological, economical, environmental and political standpoint. China is marching on.

On July 13th 2001, Beijing was awarded by the IOC, the International Olympic Committee, the 2008 Olympic games. For the first time, they will be staged in China, a very particular country.

During the 112th IOC session held in Moscow, one of the last of, then IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, the Chinese capital Beijing was awarded the organization of the 29th summer Olympic Games. Beijing which had already lost to Sydney by 2 votes for the 2000 games was selected after the 2nd round, winning 56 votes against 22 for Toronto, 18 for Paris and 9 for Istanbul. Some said that the French and Canadian bids were superior to the Chinese one. But the IOC president was eager to see China play host to the Olympics. The Beijing Games will be staged from August 8th-24th, with the starting point being the opening ceremony which will start on 8.08 at 8h08min08sec. 8 is the lucky number in the Chinese culture and around Asia. These games should, as quoted by now IOC’s president, J.Rogge “be excellent games” and “leave a unique heritage to China and to sports”.

Next to the 10500 athletes, 303 gold medals, 18000 media, the Beijing games are first a strategic, political, economical, diplomatic and financial stakes. The world will watch the almighty communist party for 2 weeks. The games are an unbelievable opportunity to show the world what China has become and the party knows it better than everyone else. No one should talk about human rights or Tibet, the water should be clean, the sky blue, people friendly and polite, China must rule…the perfect postcard. “Beijing, one world, one dream” that is the games motto. So let’s start dreaming.

Sports: from dream to reality.

24-08-08: medals count, for the first time, China beats the US in the medals final count. Here is the way the communist party wants the games to be. China is the most ancient civilization, being more than 4500 years old. After so many years under foreign regimes, it is time for that country to regain its leadership. The whole country will be behind its athletes for national greatness. There is no way in supporting the Japanese or any more glamorous team. The objective of the Chinese Olympic team is double: Being represented in every competition and to defeat the USA in the number of medals.

1 party, 1 China, several opponents.

The autonomous region of Xinjiang, the Muslim part of China is today’s Beijing target. The party wants to increase its power in this non Han region, the Hans being the main inhabitants of China. Hence, several terrorists’ attacks have been prevented this past week. One of them was to be on a China Southwest Airline connection between Beijing and Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. The terrorists groups are said to have links with Al Qaeda. Fact or fiction from the Chinese government? None of this information has been confirmed so far. Is the government trying to start a terror policy thanks to the controlled media? Anyway, it seems clear that the party has been controlling the Xinjiang for more than 50 years.

China: Under construction

Beijing spent a lot of money to become a 21st century capital and to get in Olympic shape. 40 billions dollars were spent for the construction of stadiums, each one being more extravagant than the other…the bird nest, the cube. The city gave 25 billions dollars to modernize and create urban and environmental projects. The number of metro line has tripled, the new airport terminal has opened, and the old red taxis have been replaced by brand new Hyundai with AC. The growth rate is up and the GNP has doubled over the last seven years, up to $8000. The industrial machine, which China is, raises some doubt on environment. The good news is that the Beijing Olympics tend to be an environmental model for the country and future events such as the 2010 Shanghai world expo. Are the days when the BOBICO, before the IOC examination, did repaint the greyish Beijing grass greener over? Will athletes be able to perform in spite of the pollution? Will missiles be launched to get rid of the clouds? Will the environmental rules be respected, as the world expects it during these games and after? Many athletes have their answer. Olympic champion, Haile Gebresselassie decided not to run the marathon due to respiratory risks due to the pollution.

Winning, doping

“There is only room for number 1.” We are far from Coubertin’s ”the important is to participate”. Doping is and will be very present for the years to come. We have discovered the BALCO story and we know that the old Communist bloc had very particular supplements. The Beijing games will try to be clean. “Beijing, one world, one dream”. I am sure that some athletes will do everything they can to pursue their Olympic dream, including the wrong thing.