In retrospect
Have you ever invited people round and then worried beforehand that no one would show up, and that even if they did they would probably hate the food, criticise the carpets, break all your glasses, and possibly even throw up on your sofa?
That may be a little bit like what China felt before the Games began. Here's a guess at the country's worst fears as the Olympics approached.
* World leaders would boycott the opening ceremony. The VIP seats in the Olympic stadium would have to be filled with volunteers or with world-leader lookalikes to hide the embarrassment of so many no-shows.
* The city's pollution would be so bad that the marathon runners would have to carry head torches and maps to make their way along the route. In the unlikely event that anyone actually finished the race, no one would be able to tell who won, since the photo-finish equipment would be unable to see through the smog.
* Pro-Tibet/democracy/Falun Gong protesters would rush onto the track in the final steps of the 110m hurdles and trip up Liu Xiang just as he was about to cross the line to win a gold medal.
* Chinese athletes would be attacked by nerves and fall off the diving board/crash off the uneven bars/drop the weightlifting bar onto their feet, and fail to win any medals.
But those worst fears have not been realised. Plenty of world leaders came to the opening ceremony. Not a single country has boycotted the Games. Beijing's pollution hasn't forced any endurance events to be postponed (thanks, in part, to a lot of rain). Protesters haven't disrupted any Olympic events. Chinese athletes have won more gold medals than anyone else. Beijing has even hosted two of the most astonishing performers in Olympic history : Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt.
In other words, phew.
But, of course, there have been a few problems. Journalists arriving to cover the Games found that China was still blocking a number of news and human rights websites - breaking the Communist Party's promise that there would be complete freedom to report during the Olympics (after a bit of a row, many of the websites were unblocked a day or two later).
In many venues there have been large numbers of empty seats - a puzzling contrast to the scenes of desperation we saw in the days before the Games when local fans queued in the heat for two days to get tickets.
Then, there was the revelation that the pretty girl who sang at the opening ceremony was actually miming to the voice of a not-so-pretty girl (there's been a mini-campaign on the internet to persuade the Olympic organisers to allow the not-so-pretty girl to sing at the closing ceremony).
There's also the case of the two grandmothers who have been sentenced to a year's re-education through labour, after they applied to demonstrate in one of the parks set aside for protests during the Olympic Games. One of the grandmothers has no teeth and only one good eye - it's hard to imagine how she could get by in a labour camp.
And one problem still lies ahead. The International Olympic Committee is investigating whether or not some of the Chinese female gymnasts who did so well during these Games were under age. If the IOC finds that China faked the age of some of its gymnasts, this country could lose at least two of its gold medals.
Do these problems - blocked websites, empty seats, a miming little girl, grannies sentenced to a labour camp, an investigation into gymnasts - overshadow China's numerous triumphs at these Games?
It entirely depends on how confident China now feels. I've learned that this is a country which is acutely sensitive to any kind of criticism - however minor. But it also seems that China has gained a huge amount of confidence during these Games. Nobody has stopped this country from putting on its dazzling show. There's been no international conspiracy to do China down. Everyone has come - and most appear to have been hugely impressed by what they have seen - the city, the architecture, the performances.
Still, every event has its mistakes. How this country handles criticism of its Games will tell us a lot about the confidence of a post-Olympic China.
I’m 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~53~RS~)
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Everything remains to be seen.
How China will perceive itself during the post-Games era will be influenced by the way other countries view China.
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"Do these problems - blocked websites, empty seats, a miming little girl, grannies sentenced to a labor camp, an investigation into gymnasts - overshadow China's numerous triumphs at these Games? It entirely depends on how confident China now feels. "
Not sure about this. I think it entirely depends on how much you like or dislike China. People who like China will remember the bright side of the story and work on the things that need to be improved. People who dislike China, with or without a reason, will always remember the negtive things no matter what China achieves.
It is only natural that people from both sides will just defend their own beliefs. Confident or stubborn? Being proud or bing unable to take criticism? It more depends on where you stand.
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Still fussing about the 'miming little girl'? Give us a break!
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Why is there such moderation and censorship?
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These sound more like what you were hoping for but not what Chinese really worried about.
It is also wrong to say China is acutely sensitive to any kind of criticism - however minor.
I agree sometimes some of us are maybe too sensitive, but I would say it is more a emotional response to some western media's biased, blind and unconstructive criticism.
There are a lot of problems in China and many, if not most, Chinese know them and are finding solutions for them. The reason most Chinese don't like you and BBC is because you know too little about the facts and reasons behind every problem and your reports often contain many mistakes, you often make very subjective judgements, you are not thinking in Chinese' perspective and you have got too much ideology in your mind.
I don't know if you know or have heard of John Pomfret. He criticizes China more often and more seriously than you but I have to say he does a far more better job than you.
However there are some reports to which I want to give credits, e.g. the one about the two old ladies. I did feel a shame and hope their case can be treated fairly.
Another report I want to mention is from BBC "Paralympics boost for China's disabled" which has spotted a big and real problem that needs our attention.
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Read this if you haven't and see how many of these guidelines you have been following :P
http://time-blog.com/china_blog/2008/07/a_reporters_guide_to_covering.html
“Reporter Guidelines for Covering the Beijing Olympics:
1) On arrival, set the scene by saying a few nice things about the infrastructure—the high rises and the multilane highways, the interchanges. Developmenty sort of stuff.
2) Make an amusing, self-deprecating comment about your inability to speak or read the funny language they have in China. Play down the fact that you are dependent on a translator for quotes and newspaper reading. Never admit in print to getting story ideas or borrowing quotes from the China Daily.
3) Get story ideas and borrow quotes from the China Daily. Make sure you do this discreetly. For background only.
4) Now for reportage. After saying the nice things about the new buildings, get your translator to find a Beijing yam seller whose slum was knocked down to make way for the Olympic badminton hall. Do a few paras on him, and how all the money thrown at the Games is not helping the poor, and how terrible the huge income gap is. Make sure you write at least three times as much about the yam seller whose slum was pulled down as you do about all the new apartments, new metro lines, the growth in car ownership, the expanding health insurance and all the other good news about China that nobody in the west really wants to know about.
5) Say how horrible the air in Beijing is, even if it isn’t on the days you are there. Everybody says Beijing air is horrible, so play along.
6) The political bit. Interview a token party member, but reword him subtly to make it sound like he is just spouting the party line. Bend the translator’s words to fit—it’ll be rubbish English anyway. (Ditto in all quote treatment). Then find a good Chinese, one who is fluent in English, has lived in America or Britain, and is prodemocracy. Give them lots of space, let them sing. Martin Lee types, but preferably younger and female, for the mugshot. If you can get an interview with the Olympic artist, Ai-whatsisname, who is an anti-Commie quote machine, give him full throttle. Hopefully, he hasn’t been arrested yet.
Lastly, please remember: Chinese who love their country are called “nationalists.” Never use this word for Americans, French, Tibetans and other civilized peoples who love their country or territory. When demonstrators protest over Tibet they are acting in a heartfelt, spontaneous way, waving pretty flags you would be happy to see woven into your granny’s bedspread. When Chinese counter-demonstrate, they are always “bussed in,” the mood is “ugly”, and they are draped in intimidating red flags that can be made to look a bit Hitler Jugend-ish with the right kind of photo. (They probably did arrive in buses as this is the cheapest way of moving numbers of not-very-well-off people around, but you don’t need to prove the insinuation that the regime laid on the vehicles). Beijing is always a “regime,” by the way, and is not to be confused with western “governments.” (But: Hong Kong is an exception. Because it was under benign, enlightened British dictatorship for a long time, it cannot be a “regime.” “Regime” only applies to dictatorships in rubbish countries).
That’s about it. Don’t be deceived by all that friendly smiling and optimism, that’s just a front. It’s your job, with your long days of experience of the Far East and your fluency in a language spoken by nearly 0.005% of the locals, to get under the radar and ferret out the truth. Did I mention how bad the air in Beijing is?”
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James,
I think the Chairman of IOC make a very clear point. It is not a party London, not a party for British. It is a party for all the players. !!!!!! I certainly do not welcome you in China and hope you leave my country very soon! Pls !!!!!
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James, lol I really like your sense of humour.
True, China took quite a number of missteps , but as you said no one is perfect and indeed I think China has trying so hard to be perfect that these mishaps happen. But what I really hate though, why sentence old grannies to labour camp ? one is crippled, the other one is almost blind, what kind of manual labour work can they do. The Chinese government is really crossing the line here.
About the underage Gymnasts, I think it has something to do with the American sour grape, even the UK Times wrote about it, it is all about American indignation, if that American girl won the gold and the Chinese ones won the silver or Bronze, the American media would not blow it like they are now. At least those girls are not doped like Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, Damu Cherry, Torri Edwards, Paul Hamm.... and all are proudly from the USA.
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* If you read the comments flying around the internet, you would have found that no one cared who did or didn't turn up to the opening
* Yeah the smog was worrying, but that story was exaggerated
* "Pro-Tibet/democracy/Falun Gong protestors would rush onto the track in the final steps of the 110m hurdles and trip up Liu Xiang just as he was about to cross the line to win a gold medal."
They would have been mobbed and punished by the crowd (I don't agree to it, but it would have occurred).
* "Chinese athletes would be attacked by nerves"
No.
"In other words, phew."
Lots of things could have gone wrong, I'm happy that it went mostly smooth. Let's see how we receive the torch eh? Maybe Big Boris will wear a Free Tibet T-shirt.
"many of the websites were unblocked a day or two later)."
Did anyone actually use them? I would be interested in that statistic
"In many venues there have been large numbers of empty seats - a puzzling contrast to the scenes of desperation we saw in the days before the Games when local fans queued in the heat for two days to get tickets."
I'm not surprised. I wouldn't go to see horses jump, but I guess some people wanted to make a buck on resale.
"Then, there was the revelation that the pretty girl who sang at the opening ceremony was actually miming to the voice of a not-so-pretty girl (there's been a mini-campaign on the Internet to persuade the Olympic organisers to allow the not-so-pretty girl to sing at the closing ceremony)."
This is a moral high ground farce. What about the girl who came out on stage? She was picked first, THEN the decision was that her voice wasn't good enough. Most people focus on the other girl to make themselves feel better. Although I do agree that both should have performed, I disagree with the loud and obnoxious self 'satisfiers'.
"There's also the case of the two grandmothers who have been sentenced to a year's re-education through labour, after they applied to demonstrate in one of the parks set aside for protests during the Olympic Games. One of the grandmothers has no teeth and only one good eye - it's hard to imagine how she could get by in a labour camp."
Do you know what happens in a labour camp? The semi-full story.
"Despite their frail appearance, both women have been arrested five times and have staged protests outside the Beijing compound of the nation's top leaders.
The authorities appear to have lost patience with the two when they applied to stage a demonstration at one of three Beijing "protest parks".
These parks were set aside by the government for ordinary people to vent their feelings during the Olympic Games.
After applying to stage their own demonstration, Mrs Wang and Mrs Wu both received an official notice giving them a clear warning.
It gave them a one-year suspended sentence and told them to abide by "relevant rules".
Chinese citizens can be sent to re-education camps for up to four years by the police without first having to be convicted in a court of law.
The notice received by the elderly protesters, who now live in simple brick homes, did not state clearly what the relevant rules were.
But it added: "If you break the rules… you will be taken to a re-education-through-labour camp to serve the sentence."
'There's no justice'
"It's not fair. There's no justice," said Mrs Wang, who is nearly blind and is registered as a disabled person.
The treatment meted out to the protesting grandmothers is only one aspect of the extraordinary lengths China has gone to because of the Olympics.
Migrant workers have been sent away, open-air markets have been closed and drivers have been forced to leave their cars at home.
Beijing residents grumble, and sometimes joke, about these temporary measures, but they mostly bear them, believing in the overall benefits from hosting the Olympics.
Mrs Wang and Mrs Wu have also seen some Olympic events.
Mrs Wu watches at home and Mrs Wang, who has no electricity, hobbles down to a nearby shop to watch the games.
Even those at odds with the government can be Olympic fans."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7576240.stm
"And one problem still lies ahead. The International Olympic Committee is investigating whether or not some of the Chinese female gymnasts who did so well during these Games were under age. If the IOC finds that China faked the age of some of its gymnasts, this country could lose at least two of its gold medals. "
I agree... they did well, we can only wait for the outcome.
"There's been no international conspiracy to do China down. Everyone has come - and most appear to have been hugely impressed by what they have seen - the city, the architecture, the performances.
Still, every event has its mistakes. How this country handles criticism of its Games will tell us a lot about the confidence of a post-Olympic China."
James, there has been no international conspiracy, but the Western intrusive style of journalism has lacked a certain deal of respect. It is obvious that some of the coverage of the protesters were pre-meditated given the timing. The journalists didn't report these to the authorities - this is going against law. If journalists think they are above the law, then change your job title to either superhero, or sociopath.
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This is the best post since I read your blog.
Many years ago, Chinese government use Olympics to boost self-confidence. (You can accuse them politicizing sports.)
But now, Chinese can face the golden medal without exaggerated nationlism.
To catch up with developed contries, China has a lot to do.
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I feel bad for the two old ladies. Good points on the confidence China seems to gather on a daily basis. Other than that, the rest is just there to stir up western fears of the Chinese nation and portray our culture and society as inferior and archaic by western standards.
I often the views of James Reynold are pessimistic to the point of sarcasm. There is a reason for these opinions been made on a blog as surely they would not past the editorial process of a impartial news organisation such as the BBC.
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so british people has done enough to be confident? and GBR's excellent athletes is so open to all the critisize and become, what would be the proper word, shameless at the end? have u ever known David Davies, the one who poured water to a chinese female volunteer. should we do that from now? or is it the case to show how confident we are that we do not care what the situation really looks like?
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While the leadership of China will most likely handle the critisism with at least a bit of decorum and dignity, I doubt the same can be said for other commentators on this blog.
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James, you are really NB, can link everything with politics, but also SB, can not understand the basic rules.
>'In many venues there have been large numbers of empty seats'.
Some sports are not popular in China, it is hard to image people will not buy tickets to watch what they are not interested.
I can image there will be plenty empty seats in Table Tennis/Basketball games in London 2012. but those two sports are immensely popular in china and hard to buy tickets.
>World leaders would boycott the opening ceremony...
This has been your dream, but I knew Bush would come from the very beginning, and I knew all African, Asian, South American leaders would come from the very beginning.
Don't use the word ''world'', should change the word to ''the West'' at the least.
>Pro-Tibet/democracy/Falun Gong protestors would ... to win a gold medal.
Good imagination, you should do more organization work to make this happen.
The successful Beijing Olympic is finished at last, Beijing Olympic as a hostage has been release without paying anything. Now it is London's turn, all the best to London.
Everything is changing, but James will never change...
P.S, James, ask your Chinese translator if you don't understand what NB/SB mean in Beijing.
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We are a little sensitive but i think that will change as we gain confidence and start to put our shameful past of being dominated by the west behind us. However more irritating than anything else for the average man on the street, not just in China but also other developing countries is the utter hypocrisy of those criticizing. I don't mind when people like Kevin Rudd make a well thought out genuine criticism of China. Those criticisms are from the heart and as a "friend". But when i hear countries like the UK, US and France make such pointed criticism i can't help but think of all their dirty laundry (ranging from Iraq and South American interventionist policy for the US and UK and genocide in Rwanda for France). That is not to say that their criticism is incorrect. But it certainly makes it a lot harder to listen given who is doing the talking. Personally i think the route taken by Rudd is the correct path to take, not just with China but also countries like Iran. It is no good wagging the finger saying "this is bad, do as i say!" because all you will get back is a stiff middle finger in the face. It is far better to criticize constructively as a "friend" and to do it from the heart than just to score political points.
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James:
I think you did a good job. This "In Retrospect" did all the praising first and then pointed out some facts or criticism. It is very reasonable and logical. How else can China know its shortcomings? Doesn't China want to marry Taiwan? To woo a mate into a formal marriage is not as easy as China thinks. There is the "world family" to earn approval from. There is definitely Taiwan itself to say "I will." China's proposal must include better living standards and more freedoms. It also applies to the whole of China so that there is true freedoms for relocating among other things. Taiwan does not want a too crowded situation (already so) like in Hongkong. When the inner Mainlanders are well-off they would come to visit and go home. By then, maybe China would be truly confident as a great nation that it wouldn't need to woo an island with not much resources left. If China is truly great, personally I think all the neighbouring countries would want a federation. This is a humble individual opinion.
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Those 4 points by James despite the fact that it would never happen have been actively encouraged to happen by the BBC including James who predicted it would be a failed Olympics because of those points.
What I like to see is BIG HEADLINE NEWS
"BBC GOT IT WRONG ABOUT CHINA OLYMPICS!!!!" followed by a lengthy unreserved apology to the Chinese people and praise the success of the Beijing Games in which also enable Britain to do well for 100 years and learn for 2012.
Somehow I doubt the BBC has the courage to do this. In the gold medal table the BBC along with CNN will come bottom!
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"Beijing's pollution hasn't forced any endurance events to be postponed (thanks, in part, to a lot of rain)."
Come of it James, Beijing often rains and the smog dont always clear. Why cant you credit this to government measures to reduce traffics and factories, also local people using public transport?
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Its been an excellent games that China can be proud of. It is hoped with this huge success and barriers overcome China will feel more confident, more trusting of free expressions and move ever more in the right direction.
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James you're reporting/blogging is like a broken record, tibet, falun gong, democracy, press freedom, activists, protestor etc etc...
when are you and the rest of the press pack of wolves going to actually come up with something new and original.
it's all getting rather boring and repetitive.
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I'm so shocked by BBC's moderator today!!!
Is it so-called freedom of speech?
Well, Mr. James,
Before your onging stereotyping about China, I just wanna know what do you think of the misbehavior of David Davies?
Many thanks!
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It is absolutely important to reveal well-hidden problems in China especially when the country is beaming with hubris and confidence now, perhaps more so in the future. The ordinary Chinese would benefit from that endeavour in the long run.
It is incumbent upon a good journalist to have both the courage and the expertise to put pressure to the Chinese government to improve its governance.
Compared with others, James's journals are insightful but they would be better if he chose languages more carefully.
For example, it is 'the state', a small group of politicians in power, NOT the vast majority of ordinary people, who can't handle criticism. As I commented elsewhere, journalists should be sensitised to the danger of confusing the state rhetoric or popular assumtion with the reality of real Chinese people who are no less diverse ans strategic than Brits.
The problem seems small, but as a journalist who has the ability to use linguistic symbols and is endowed with the power to disseminate ideas widely, it sometimes invites big trouble, thus deflecting attention from what a journalist can really contribute.
A 'criticism' that I hope James can handle well...
James, Jiayou!
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Hey, bbc moderator,
If "sensitive" words and comments can appear in James's article, why can't them be in the comments?!
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When is China going to see Falun Gong as a non-threatening movement?
30 years from now? Or 90, or150?
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"grannies sentenced to a labor camp" -
I don't see why they couldn't quietly give the grannies a false promise of compensation after the Games, and then reneged on the deal and dished out the harsh penalty when the foreign media left.... seems more like their style.
The mili vanilli thing -
I wonder if any of the Chinese officials actually really "get" what people around the world are thinking. Do they feel ashamed that their lack of integrity has been exposed? Corrupting the faith of the Jack-o-lantern kid?
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Quote----------
"I've learned that this is a country which is acutely sensitive to any kind of criticism - however minor."
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James, having spent 3 hours plus reading your blog and some of the wonderful comments, and started to cheer for your progress in understanding the Chinese people, I am now very disappointed that what you have learned in China turns out to be something like this.
As a Chinese currently in the UK I can assure you that the Chinese criticize other Chinese a lot. Perhaps you have also found that my compatriots criticize each other quite often in the comment section, and few of them have proved to be unreasonable. (If you do read the comments... It's not your fault if you don't though, as it IS time-consuming.)
It is, rather, the way that we criticize that is very different from what the Europeans and the Americans have got used to. Maybe it's just incomprehensible to you?
But I will try my best to communicate:
1. Criticism from people who have authority (not limited to the political sense of course) is better received and less disputed. That's why the colonial history of the West matters to the Chinese even now (that history scores low in authority). When some foreigners get pissed off by the Chinese reactions, and post something like "the Chinese cannot take criticism", they lose more authority and are less likely to be taken seriously.
Authority depends on age, status, wealth,...and behavior...(the list can go on)
Unfortunately you are not senior enough (the senior are automatically more respected), and being a BBC reporter does not help (and I assume that nowadays it does you more harm than good in communicating with the Chinese), and wealth? The Chinese used to think that the West was way more wealthy than they were--not so much today. And last of all, you (and many of your colleagues) do not behave as if you really know a lot about China to be authoritative.
2. I don't know if this is a global rule but at least for me, I tend to criticize so the intended target will listen and hopefully change in the desirable way. As this coincides with Confucian ideas, I assume that most Chinese do follow similar principles. In this sense, the current trend in Western media is not particularly helpful (in getting your criticism listened to, but very helpful indeed in getting attention to the BBC).
3. When a Chinese criticize in a friendly way, he/she does not try to embarrass the other person. This is the basic social skill in China whether you like it or not. The approach of the Western media (unbalanced coverage of bad things) in a Chinese eye is a sign of enmity. You can argue that the Chinese government should adopt a more "globalised" (or do you mean Westernised?) approach to criticism, but the same cannot be said to the common Chinese people. They are just being Chinese, any way.
4. A little off-topic, but the term "respect" is nevertheless worth mentioning. It appears to me that the Western interpretation of "respect" would typically go like this: It has to be earned. One has to prove oneself respectable.
As a Chinese, however, I have always interpreted it the other way: one is always respectable until proven otherwise.
So it is only natural that in some forums one would find a Chinese demand due respect before they have proved to be respectable in a Western eye.
Western people may not like the above points, and may find them redundant or even absurd, but---
It all comes down to this: people are different. They follow different rules and value different things.
I would assume that in the West it is very important to be politically correct and not to claim your superiority over other cultures and peoples (even if you do think that you are superior)? Why would this not apply when you are (so it seems) trying to understand China and the Chinese people? What prevents you from (even) thinking a bit about the possibility that the Chinese are not wrong after all? Have you considered that there are people who behave (and in this special case, criticize) in a different way than yours? Would you still say that the "Chinese cannot take any kind of criticism"?
So what can you do to make your criticism more useful to the Chinese? (I assume that you really wish so)
1. Do your research. Many people from the West have claimed that the Chinese cannot take criticism without understanding the Chinese culture (or even realizing that culture matters here) and they do not even pretend to be politically correct. Repeating this line is just cheap. It is fine if you do not admire a culture so distinct from your own, but it is necessary to sense the cultural aspects of the issue and try to take account of it.
2. The Chinese do not like embarrassment. If you can save them from that, they will be willing to listen to you. Establish yourself as a friend first, and you will find that the Chinese people are willing to listen to criticism from a friend, (and reporting the ostrich strategy of the Chinese media on the torch relay is not the way to go; I hope that now you know you were wrong in that particular report.)
I suggest you write more about the good things, and mix them with practical advices on areas where the Chinese can improve. It is good that you are not suggesting toppling the Chinese government as the way to go, but there's more to do than simply pointing out that there are problems like pollution, etc.
3. If you do not have any good plans to share with the Chinese, at least show some sincerity in helping us out.
(And the proof of a lack of sincerity or concern? Talking about pollution, I spent 4 years in Beijing, and I know that the air quality is not as good as that in London, but the smog? No. Stop reinforcing the false image! And mind you, the very construction of the word "smog" suggests its origin in the English speaking world. We simply do not have an accurate counterpart in the Chinese language.)
4. The bottom line---be more open-minded and understand that people are more different than wrong.
As apparently the Europeans and Americans can take very blunt criticism, I have no doubt that my opinions will not be viewed as offensive and can be taken with good consideration.
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1. In accordance with established protocol, world leaders were invited by their respective national Olympic committees, NOT by China, to attend the opening ceremony.
2. Beijing's pollution problems before and during the games were grossly exagerated by the western media, particularly the BBC and CNN. Foreign athletes, spectators and tourists were surprised to find that Beijing's air quality was not like what was reported in the western media. A classic example of media distortion is provided by none other than James Reynolds who wrote in his blog on July 8 that he used a hand-held machine to test Beijing's air quality from July 1 to 7 and the readings were 121 microgrames/cubic meter (01/07), 172 (02/07), 122 (03/07), 351 (04/07), 112 (05/07), 27 (06/07) and 242 (07/07). But in James Reynolds' report on BBC TV news on July 8, he only reported the reading taken on July 4 (i.e. 351) and said it was 7 times above the WHO recommended level.
3. The IOC has informally requested the international gymnast federation to check the age of all the Chinese gymnasts. According to Chinese news media, the Chinese sports body had submitted the birth certificates, identity cards, and the old and new passports of its female gymnasts to the federation.
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Oh dear poor James, if there is any international conspiracy to do the China down, then surely it is from the British media, BBC in particular.
At a time when China is opening up to the World, British media is trying to grab UK/London headlines and trying to find faults in Beijing.
I saw on BBC news the other day that few BBC reporters were commenting on how London can do better in certain areas of the Games than Beijing.
Fearing that London can't match Beijing, this is a sign of desperation and lack of confidence from British side. Lets not talk about how confident China feels!
If Beijing is not doing any good, why are so many British officials in Beijing during the Games, surely they are there to learn a few things from the Chinese.
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How about this:
Toward 2012: is it a good strategy for the GB government to be confident?
Have you ever been invited to parties with high expectations and then came back feeling utterly disappointed?
How do you feel about someone who is good at boasting beforehand but always fails to deliver promises in the end?
Being confident may be a virtue in the anglo-saxson world, it pales in comparison with being modest in Japan or China.
Some British friends told me that even it sounds good to be confident, there is a fine line between confidence and complacency.
I am wondering how the world will look at GB in 2012 and in retrospective, which type of strategy will be more popular?
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I cannot help waiting for London games coming and see how brilliant British (mainly English I guess) will handle the games, human rights, terrorists, iraq etc....
Chinese saying: Friends comes, welcome; wolfs comes, gun...
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You shoud see the American press! They have reported nothing except bad things about the games. They can't accept the fact that China did a great job hosting the Olympics!
It seems that the USA Olympic Commitee is nothing but a bunch of bad losers!
They were complaining about everything. When they lost a gold medal, it's because others (according to Americans: China) stole from them.
Why can't somebody say to the Americans: Get a grip and accept reality!
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The simple answer would be: we really dont care much about what others are saying. We might care about that before, but not anymore.
Whilst the West keeps pointing its figures at China and doing some bashing or lecturing job, China and its people are working hard to make their dreams come true.
China has its problems, but those problems can only be dealt with by the Chinese people. No one needs any lecture from western governments, media and so-called rights group anymore. Enough is enough.
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Are you really in Beijing?
Have you really been in Beijing?
You can write such articles in London, depending on your own (or the west media's) imaginary story (like the ridiculous story of Tibet). BBC actually don't need to pay for your tour. It's a waste.
You have a question about Chinese, and you are in tens of millions of them, why don't you just interview them to get the answer? (don't tell me that you don't speak Chinese)
If you want to get it from your subjective judgement , you can go back to London and save your boss's money.
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We are sensetive to critisim? come on james, because most of them are pure political biased bitching.
You see Chinese all aound the world protest because of the lie from CNN and BBC related with tibet but you won't see we protest because you report two grannies get punishment because of trying protest during Olympic.(I'd rather thank BBC for report things like that in China if it's true)
Besides, the IOC investigate He kexin's age because of an American computer expert?...
Aaron cook blame the judge of been biased on his match yesterday and think of being a victim, now please watch the vid again James and tell me do you think the judge is biased?(3 take down by Zhu Guo)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/taekwondo/7577085.stm
Today's Taekwondo decision reversed by IOC for Sarah Stevenson and thank god for that otherwise I'm afraid someone will bitching all the 49 gold medals China won is not legitimate after the game.
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"It entirely depends on how confident China now feels. I've learned that this is a country which is acutely sensitive to any kind of criticism - however minor. But it also seems that China has gained a huge amount of confidence during these Games."
First of all I would like to point out that maybe one reason why China is so sensitive as people have yet to learn that all big nations are criticised and China, a emerging superpower, is no exception. As a Chinese, I can understand as well why Chinese people may seem sensitive as there are certain media who are intent on bashing China for its flaws and yet fail to applaud and recognise China's success.
It is entirely true that China has gained huge amounts of confidence because of the Olympics. I have to say when I say the opening ceremony I was extremely proud of what we pulled off that night (as well as impressed with the Beijing Olympics) and can now confidently say that the Beijing Olympic Games have been one of the best yet.
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Some people will tell you that how they handle criticism has nothing to do with their confidence, they have a very unique culture, they themselves haven't been keen on criticising others so they don't deserve all these criticisms etc. etc.
My thought is, if you are confident enough, you wouldn't be bothered by these criticisms, however justified they are or not.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
China's push for the perfect Games
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7576240.stm
James, Please help me here, why I can't find the story on the BBC Chinese version site? Or it this just for forgien reader? Why not let Chinese reader read this?
Or there is something dodgy that if Chinese reader found out they will make some noice BBC don't want to hear?
If the story is true I hope the Chinese version of BBC news site can put this report to the front page. If they already put the story somewhere in Chinese version site but I failed to locate my apologize in advance.
Cos this is important compare with talking about the game.
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James, the worst fear of all was that the winner of each event (except the Chinese)carries around the stadium the pro-tibet flag rather than their own national flag.
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I found this a hilarious blog to read this time around.
Poking fun at the Chinese aside, I must say that apart from the little things which we would still expect from China at this point of time, I have been very impressed overall.
They've spent an enormous sum of money into the games and as they say, you really do get what you pay for. The venues look fantastic and everything I've watched has carried on smoothly. The Chinese even threw hundreds of their best athletes into the competition and they've really shown the world how good they can be.
I do hope China takes the Olympics as a positive step forward, and hopefully respond more appropriately to comments directed at it.
Now then, let's hope London 2012 looks anywhere near as fancy as Beijing 2008! I doubt we're going to fork out 200 million quid for the Olympics!
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One more fear was that Boris Johnson would not come to Beijing to take over the Olympic flag.
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REPULSIVE:
"the two grandmothers who have been sentenced to a year's re-education through labour, after they applied to demonstrate in one of the parks set aside for protests during the Olympic Games.
And one [VERY LARGE] problem still lies ahead. The International Olympic Committee is investigating whether or not some of the Chinese female gymnasts who did so well during these Games were under age. If the IOC finds that China faked the age of some of its gymnasts, this country could lose at least two of its gold medals.
NOT ONLY DO THESE CRIMES AGAINST THE GAMES AND AGAINST HUMANITY RUIN THE ENTIRE CHINESE GAMES, THEY HAVE BROUGHT DISHONOR ON CHINA--IN THE END THE ONLY THING THESE GAMES WILL MEAN IS MORE EVIDENCE, PILING UP ALREADY, OF CHINA'S NEED TO DO OR SAY ANYTHING POSSIBLE TO GET THE CASH! THAT IS THEIR TRUE GOAL. NEVER MIND HONOR, NEVER MIND COMPASSION--JUST GET THE CASH. THE GAMES SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN HANDED TO CHINA AND THE IOC IS SOMEWHAT TO BLAME AS WELL!
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While I think it's unfortunate, I don't see what the grannies or blocked websites have to do with the success or failure of the Olympics. China has it's own laws, and whether democratic or not, they should be followed.
As for the miming girl, I don't know what the big deal is. I feel bad for the original girl but it is a PERFORMANCE after all.
For the Chinese gymnasts; I honestly don't think there would have been an investigation if the US had won gold. Sore losers? Maybe. Jealousy? Perhaps. Sometimes it seems like the Western media has a "gotcha" mentality with China: always hoping to find something wrong for the sake of self-affirmation. Just a thought.
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James has been reporting on the Games and politics for two weeks.... Getting a bit boring for audients.
I look forwarrd to his fresh new topics about China after the Games. Would you go back to Sichuan again?? Or maybe visit Tibet? if you can get a permit to enter...
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One comment to James Reynolds' China piece on August 23rd.
One terrible thing that occurred which you did not mention is someone was murdered !!! The in-laws of the USA volleyball coach were visiting a local temple with a local Chinese guide and were stabbed.
I think this was horrific ommission from your piece.
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James, you wrote: Do these problems - blocked websites, empty seats, a miming little girl, grannies sentenced to a labour camp, an investigation into gymnasts - overshadow China's numerous triumphs at these Games?
It entirely depends on how confident China now feels.
Comment to your comment: you have made a not very impressive point. As you listed above, if those were truth and you could prove them, why chinese should not feel shame and then see the shadow over their triumph on gold gathering. I think Chinese people don't use confidence to cover their feelings, and won't say "I am fine" while they feel sorry like you might do so every day. After all, did you mean "China" should or should not feel uncomfortable on Beijing Olympic Games?
You wrote: I've learned that this is a country which is acutely sensitive to any kind of criticism - however minor.
Comment to your comment: the reason could be you have not find a really sheer and unarguable point to make so far.
Have you worked on and wrote enough about the girl who was not allow to present in the openning ceremony, and the miming girl? Have you fund out why there were so many empty seats even you've seen crowds queuing for tickets before the Games? please do not just seat in your Beijing office writing blogs, even a story on how you were stopped or followed by uniformed or no-uniformed police, or some footages of how the officials refused your interview enquiry would be better. Please make my TV licience fee worth more. Besides, what does sensitive reaction you said really mean? is your reaction in your writing toward the sensitive reaction you said sensitive?
You wrote: Not a single country has boycotted the Games. ....... Nobody has stopped this country from putting on its dazzling show. There's been no international conspiracy to do China down.
Comment to your comment: a defeated attempt doesn't mean it never happened at all. Your logic has got an unbalanced problem with your title of the journalist from BBC.
Finally, please do concern the point so many people have made to you: do not confuse the concerpts of Chinese Government, CCP, Chinese people and China. Don't try to put those responsibilities bearing by CCP onto Chinese people, knowingly or unknowingly. If CCP is doing good, Chinese people will support it on that point, but this doesn't mean Chinese people should be counted for CCP's wrong doing. If you use logic in a way that because Chinese people are with CCP and their government, even not all the time and on all issues, they are responsible for all things done by CCP and Chinese Government anyway, the same thing applied back to Britain and America could be: British people and American people elected Tony Blair and George Bush, so they bear the same responsiblity for these two. If you go further in this way, things are becoming very awkward. By the way, as you know Chinese people have never really elected CCP.
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The comments from Chinese are the most interesting part of the Olympics, though not for the reasons most would assume.
The Chinese nation's leadership has barely budged from its policies. It largely ignored criticism of its human rights record and continued its repression of free speech. Its harsh rule in Tibet has been downplayed,
political dissidents locked up, beggars pushed out of Beijing and journalists covering protests roughed-up. It did not grant a single protest permit. It serves the government for China's people to forget about the excesses of Mao's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. The games' lavish opening ceremony, vetted by party leaders, barely touched on communism and the tumultuous decades after the Communist Party came to power in 1949. The ceremony focused on China's ancient culture — Confucius was quoted, Mao was not.
The above was very good PR but the free world has not forgotten nor is it likely to. The free world knows the history of China and its actions and does not like them. It may have not stopped China from taking over Tibet but it knows the history of both countries and what China did in the takeover. That China insists on telling the free world a different story may be believed in China [survival in a non free country depends on not going against the government] but the free world does not like Chinas actions nor does the free world like the Chinese governments lies.
However Beijing also has another audience to please, the millions of Chinese who have benefited from the economic boom through growing personal wealth and greater access to the outside world via limited television and the censored Internet. It is in their new interest to support the government and forget the past. A past that they either were a victim of by losing loved ones to the government madness towards the 10’s of millions who died, or were one of the millions of participants of the madness that the free world watched despite the great attempts of the Chinese government to conceal their actions from the free world. Or, were both. What happened is known, not the details but the overall figures, patterns, and the government sponsorship. Until the government comes clean to the free world the free world will have concern and little respect for China.
Just to be fair the free world has not forgotten what Japan did during WWII and the fact they do not teach their role in their schools, or what Germany did, who do teach their children what they did. China is in the eyes of the world in the same boat and doing nothing to change. Any country that does not recognize this does so at their long term survival. And, most of all, the people of the free world do not really care what the people in China are saying because they are saying what the government is telling them to say. Some are actually employed by the government and of course they will not admit who their employer is. The Chinese government has been proved to be responsible for internet attacks on sites they do not like around the world, they block sites they do not like, and could not even live up to their commitment of a free net for the games with out relying on double speak worthy of Orwell’s ‘1984’.
NOR, [caps intended to shout this] does the free world have clean hands, but the free world knows what it has done, admits its past mistakes, and at least attempts not to repeat them. This is singly lacking in China and until China admits its past mistakes it will always be perceived as a brutal dangerous dictatorship with communist leanings.
It is in the hands of the Chinese to alter this perception and not the role of the free world to believe what the current Chinese government wants the free world to believe, there is too much blood of their countrymen [and women] on them.
Finally, the free world has freedom, something people of a non free country can not understand, if they do their lives are short and brutal. The long term outlook for freedom in the world is not known, there is as much data showing that freedom will not survive or dominate as data showing that it will. Only the free knows this, controlled people do not because they are being controlled.
Sad to say the above because I value freedom over everything and the world is going into a very difficult time as it will run short of energy very soon and non free countries are easer to direct into war. The recent US invasion into Iraq shows this to be true.
That said, the comments to these blogs from Chinese, are the most interesting part of the internet freedom now temporally available to mainland Chinese, taken as a whole reaffirms my opinion of China, sad to say.
Enjoy your net freedom while it lasts because it will be short lived.
namaste
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Do you remember how Manchu or Ching Dynasty adopted to Han Chinese culture? The Manchu group only kept their dress in which Madam Chiang Kai-shek charmed the Allied forces in WW II. The Han gave up the Ming or Tang style dress (sort of like Japanese kimono) and adopted themselves to the high collor dress. You have already adopted to blue jeans polo shirts but you can't expect the whole world to adopt to your process of thought. Because you with your 1.3 million population still don't measure up to 1/2 of the total population and cultures. The vast majority of the world don't think like you. You might have to do what Manchu people did: assimilated into the already established cultures on world stage like the Manchu people, on Middle Kingdom stage. The Manchu were only a tiny percentage of Middle Kingdom. Do you think Manchu Government would have been able to force their culture on the vast majority in China?
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Well, is this post meant to be funny? There's lot of literature in there :)
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It's unfortunate some of China's "worst fears" weren't realized, or better still that those so-called "worst fears' were not actually their best hopes. Not only did the odious Bush have to mar the Opening Ceremony but his repugnant picture has to once again besmirch this blog sight. It's unfortunate in fact, that there were VIP boxes at all in a 'peoples' republic', or that brutes like Bush and Putin and Hu should be in them. It's equally unfortunate that there wern't more - or any - protestors there from Tibet and Chechnya and Iraq and Palestine and elsewhere. That's really what the whole airbrushed show was lacking. But since the Olympics are about crude national jingoism and VIP privelege, it's not surprising. And while the Chinese elites hobnob with Western elites and "gain a whole lot of confidence" - the peasants and workers in China and their counterparts around the world go on toiling and moiling all day long far from the VIP boxes, as if the whole thing never happened.
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This is James' last effort to provocate some thoughts before this Olympic ends;then no one will pay any attention to him.
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James,
It is already become our routine reactions in the face of any criticism, real or perceived:
- Anti-Chinese elements outside of China;
- Internal counter-revolutionary or separatist cliches;
- Human rights? Iraq war! Abu Ghraib!!
- Problems? Western media bias!
- Crime? Shootings in the American inner cities!
- Pollution? London in the turn of the century!
- Darfur? Racial discrimination in the US!
- Uncivilized mass behaviors? Opium War!
- Authoritarian regime? Rape of Nanking!
- Faked Olympic girl? Hollywood!
- Poisonous food? counter-revolutionary slanders!
Until we can look into the mirror of ourselves , we will never be civilized nation, even if we win 100 gold medals in any of the Games.
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Well, it is now down to the closing ceremony. The Beijing authority should have learnt from the mistakes of the opening ceremony.
I noticed that in the opening ceremony, the Olympic flag was raised by Chinese solders in full military uniform. This was utterly different from previous opening ceremonies where the Olympic flags were all raised by ex-athletes in courtesy uniforms. The Olympic flag raising should in no way be felt to have nationalistic and military implications. I hope they won*t make this mistake when they lower the flag.
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Seriously, how mean could you be when talking about china?
Empty seats, lets just wait 4 years and see how many people will show up in london for every games?
9 years old chinese girl and prerecorded firework footage? Ask any 9 years old UK girl to mime during the opening ceremoney 4 years later, if she could give a wonderful performance like the chinese girl, i believe all chinese and people from all over the world will give her a big praise, intead of poking all the time.
air pollution? Lets face it. That thing is a pure overdescribled issue by some western media.
underage problems? Having provided birth certifications, passports, faimily booklet, personal ID, numerous others documents from local governments, training centres, schools, etc, not only in chinese and in english, but also several times., what else are you looking for?
Trying to make CCP or china look bad does not mean you could lose your gentlemanship and use every possible way you could find.
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Chinayan from Beijing.
It is the last day of Olympics, eventually.
As our dear journalists critisizing China, it seems that they also forget it is just a game.
I love this game.
Beijing is not bad. The climate has been nice and cool, except the day of opening ceremony.
Sorry for the noise made by spectators.
Chinese's favorate athlete is Shawn Johnson from US. Smiling is international passport.
China gets more gold medals then the previous Olympic, partially because it is the host country. Don't pretend to be shocked or hurt, it is your old tricks! you know it!
perhaps BBC website will be blocked
again but I don't miss it, for now UK media is so out, just like Chinese media in the 90s.
Hope you enjoy the food in Olympic village. Good luck to London and I wish our athletes could be properly fed there.
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Hahaha! 64 comments still awaits moderation!
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I read this posting up to ... "breaking the Communist Party's promise that there would be complete freedom". I lost my interest to read the rest of it.
Instead of saying "breaking the country's promise ...", James said " ...breaking the Communist Party's promise ...". This is designed to blame the government and spare the people. What he is trying to do is dividing the government and the people - a malicious tactics of "divide and conquer" in my view.
I don't believe he would have said the same, if it's other country.
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Thomas Daley - a 14yrs old male diver from GB, absolutely UNDER AGE !!!!!!!!!!
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1.empty seats: some seats are reserved by the government for special purpose and not for sale. It's true that many ppl here queueing just to get one tickets(I want to get tickets myself too. But there's none left). Why those empty seats bothers you?
2.miming little girl: they just want to give you a perfect ceremony vocally and visually. What's wrong with it?
3.two old women: will you allow the insanes to go inside the Buckingham palace and protest against your queen?
One year re-eudcation through labor: how did you get this news? I can't believe that a news reporter take rumor as a fact and make it headline.
4.under-age anthelet: this is not confirmed by Olympic commitee yet. Why you are telling people as if it has been true? Do you think, as a reporter, you are misleading the readers?
5.blocking news: No, it's not blocked. I can read your critism here in China everyday from Internet. It's free for everyone to surf the webpages.
But sometimes, I think maybe blocking news is a good thing. We can be protected from the "real pollution"- a hostile and twisted report like this.
We chinese are open to accept critisicm. But we don't accept the comments based on falsity and hostility
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"local fans queued in the heat for two days to get tickets. ", let me explain a little for you James, who claims to be an China expert. The fans were probably waiting to get tickets for basketball or table-tennis games. However, we are not so much into games like cycling and dressage. You can't blame them for empty seats.
By the way, we were not really worried that world leaders might not show up. Well, we did care about whether George Bush would boycot. But, to be honest, no one is getting anxious to know whether Gordon Brown was gonna show up. If he hadn't come, we could save a good seat.
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Ordinary Chinese people may have had those fears, but I don't think the government or the organisers had any doubts at all. Maybe a bit on the pollution, and that's about it.
They are a pretty confident bunch, and I am proud of them. When an algal bloom occured just a week before the sailing competition, no one in the government said a thing- they just cleared it. Same with the pollution and security. I remember there were so many anxious people in the Athen's Olympic committee about wether they would be ready on time that they started bickering among themselves about what was going to happen. In the end the opening ceremony was watched by people with no seat cushions. Still looked nice, though.
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"There are two case of old ladies..." I have send an email to BBC about this article but my comment was not published. I will repeat what I wrote again here in this column:
This is a one dimensional report which lacks depth and is a discredit to BBC. In the first place, the old laides were NOT sentenced, but were given a warning.
What is more important is that there is no mention of the following facts which is important for a reader to come to the conclusion whether the old ladies behaviour is reasonable or not:
1. Is there offer of compensation to the old laides? If there is what is the offer?
2. What is it that the old laides demand in return for moving out?
3. How many people in the area where the old laides live is affected?
4. How many have accepted the compensation?
The original article about the two old laides made no attempt to present facts from both sides. Instead, it played on the emotional side of the readers which is the standard trick of the tabloids. The BBC used to be considered the upholder of journalistic standards. How time has changed! It seems that the author's aim is to present the Chinese governement in bad light. No wonder the BBC website is banned by the Chinese government.
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The Beijing Olympics were a success. My congratulations to the People's Republic of China for great games.
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TaiyuanRen #60
If you look into the mirror, I bet you would see a James Reynolds look-alike.
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51. At 11:09pm on 23 Aug 2008, denzil39 wrote:
James has been reporting on the Games and politics for two weeks.... Getting a bit boring for audients.
I look forwarrd to his fresh new topics about China after the Games. Would you go back to Sichuan again?? Or maybe visit Tibet? if you can get a permit to enter...
no plz.
as a native from sichuan,personally he is not welcome from me because this guy's world is in the dark obviously and he lost my respect. if bbc want to send reporter to my hometown, find someone honest and straight please (if there is one in bbc).
p.s i paid my tax in uk, but where is my right of showing my view? i thought pre-moderation is only for articles for children according to bbc's moderation rules.but why all the comments on james' blog are pre-moderated?another kind of censorship here in uk?in china, u can post comment on any blog without moderation and we can post our comment to any news which we can't do here,so i guess we have more freedom in china than uk at least at this point:).work on it,bbc!i believe u can make a development here as the human right song u always sing!
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60. At 05:50am on 24 Aug 2008, TaiyuanRen wrote:
Until we can look into the mirror of ourselves , we will never be civilized nation, even if we win 100 gold medals in any of the Games.
are u still dreaming?!
Until we can be whatever western governments want us to be, we will never be civilized nation.
do u really think they can do better?so many young man who are able to work are on the street begging' chang,plz'; so many old people living alone without their children by their side taking care of them;so many youth stay outside taking weeds and drinking;bad hospital services;huge difference between the rich and poor;big financial pressure for those who want to afford a house to stay;lots of crimes and freaks;soldiers who went to wars for their government's ambitions didn't get good care after the back;racial problems;consumer price index growing up while ppl's financial situation doesn't get better....
every country has its own problems, western countries as well, lots! but what we are looking for is working at those problems. so why to blame who is making the progress?if everyone can save the time on critic about others to make their own job better done,our world will be more peaceful and more wonderful!
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to those who like to mark other 'brain-washing':
in chinese culture, family is the most important thing to us, our motherland is a big family.we love our motherland so much.it's a deep emotion and don't ever never call that 'brain-washing' if u don't understand our love.don't use ur cold heart to blaspheme our love!
plz show me ur good personality to gain my respect for u and ur comments or so-called critiques.
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77. At 7:19pm on 26 Aug 2008, aibaobao wrote:
to those who like to mark other 'brain-washing':
in chinese culture, family is the most important thing to us, our motherland is a big family.we love our motherland so much.it's a deep emotion and don't ever never call that 'brain-washing' if u don't understand our love.don't use ur cold heart to blaspheme our love!
Dear aibaobao,
I understand you love China very much. I also love China. But China is not a family. If you see how Chinese government has treated its poor rural people, you will understand at least it is not a good family. Chinese government has separated rurual peole from urban for more than 50 years. Although it has done something to improve rural people's life, the fundmental segaration policy has not been changed. The segration policy to the rural people is comparable with the apartheit policy performed in South Afarica. Do you still think your motherland, also my motherland, is a good family? Your loved government discriminately treat your brothers and sisters in your BIG family, is it still a good family?
Martin Luther King made a famous lecture for the black people's freedom in 1963, Aug, 28. Can we borrow his idea and request similar freedom for our rural people, in our big family? Should we give those rural peole same citizen rights, thus they can live in the city pursuing their dreams like those urban people? My brother or sisiter.
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robertzhao,‘If you see how Chinese government has treated its poor rural people, you will understand at least it is not a good family.’
just wanna let you know that 20yrs ago my grandparents are all those poor rural people as u metioned above living in north part of sichuan,but last year they just traveled thoughtout europe.that's why i believe in our great future.we are still a developing country and what i can see is government is working hard on how to make our poor rural people better living,volunteers and charities are helping childrens there with better education.we are a family and we are working to the same aim together as we have the same name 'zhongguoren'.so let urself left behind and save the time u wasted on blaming,but do some real thing for them with what u can,ok?
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anyway, this is the last time i go to this bbc website,coz i've seen enough here,freedom is just their mask,but story maker would be their face. in 20yrs we will see who gonna make a better life.
clownage can't slow down other country's development,but just a big joke for the audience.
save some pride for ur own sake.bye!
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79. At 7:24pm on 28 Aug 2008, robertzhao wrote
But China is not a family. If you see how Chinese government has treated its poor rural people, you will understand at least it is not a good family.
have you ever imaged that "how difficult it would be to manage 1.3 billion people, and making all people happy?"
China only has more peace for 30 years ago, and pls. remember, they started almost from "Zero".
Your country had started so well from say 19 Century (should be earlier), I don't think your govt' has made everyone happy yet, given you have 1/10 of our population.
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“But those worst fears have not been realized.”
Is that much to your disappointment?
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54. At 03:44am on 24 Aug 2008, Corvus4u wrote:
"Only the free knows this, controlled people do not because they are being controlled.
Sad to say the above because I value freedom over everything and the world is going into a very difficult time as it will run short of energy very soon and non free countries are easer to direct into war. The recent US invasion into Iraq shows this to be true."
Is the US one of "the free" you mention in your comment? How do you define the UK then? Is it the free or non-free that are easier to direct into war anyway?
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