One World, One Dream?
by Jennifer Altavilla

The official slogan of the 2008 Beijing Olympics may be "One World, One Dream," but as of the middle of July-less than a month until the August eighth opening ceremony-international unity has seemed an unattainable illusion, a mirage cloaked in smog and political upheaval. One would hope nations would put aside their petty grudges and grave concerns in honor of this festival of fellowship, sportsmanship, and friendship, but it seems, this year at least, that even the Olympics cannot subdue international strife.

Perhaps the Olympic Committee was foolish to choose Beijing as the host of this year's games. The hopeful and possibly naïve Committee took a chance on China, believing that the Olympics might help to improve China's world image. The Committee members thought that positive publicity might dispel rumors about the continued human rights violations of the communist Chinese government, might encourage China to reduce its air pollution, and might prove to the skeptical world that China is the economic and cultural tour-de-force of the future. Unfortunately, both for the Olympic Committee and for China, that childish optimism backfired.

To be fair, the Committee could never have predicted that Tibetan nationalists would demand their autonomy approximately six months before the start of the Games. They could never have foreseen how violently the Chinese government would silence the Tibetans or how earnestly people around the world would protest. The Olympic Committee certainly would not have expected that riots would erupt along the 85,000 mile torch relay route or that 35 people, protesting the brutal treatment of Tibetan nationalists, would be arrested as the torch passed through London.

The Committee-in its innocence-might not have guessed that China would fail to fulfill its pledge to improve air quality and reduce pollution before the Games. It probably could not have predicted that air pollution would encourage U.S. athletes to choose to live and train in the city of Dalian, a city north of Beijing, and move into the Olympic village only three days before they compete.

So much for unity and togetherness, a cynic might say. It seems as if China's lingering political and environmental issues have soured rather than sweetened its Olympic-and world-image. What the Olympic Committee had hoped would be a lesson in rebirth and forgiveness seems to have turned into a circus of doubt and condemnation.

And yet, China is doing its best to defy public perception and prove that it is a friendly, welcoming country. For example, in accordance with the 2005 English Learning Campaign, all of Beijing's taxi drivers are required to learn basic conversational English. The official website of the 2008 Olympics also reports that eight-hundred and seventy thousand hotel workers, booking clerks, and private drivers have been given lessons in western etiquette. In order to encourage the use of public transportation, all Olympic ticket holders will be given free bus and subway passes. Public transportation has also been streamlined and been made more environmentally friendly thanks to the recent substitution of travel cards for individual paper tickets. Lastly, although air pollution is still a major issue, China has recently taken 300,000 high emissions vehicles off the roads.

China has also strived, simultaneously, to tighten security and expand journalistic freedom. The Olympic anti-terrorism force numbers around 100,000 officers, who patrol ground, sea, and air. Unprecedented subway security checks were implemented June twenty-ninth. In addition, from June until October thirty-first, no liquids are permitted to be sent via the mail. The Chinese government has also promised to grant foreign reporters full journalistic freedom, something Chinese reporters are not normally allowed. However, Minky Worden, media director at Human Rights Watch, warns on the official Human Rights Watch website that such a promise may be empty and that "journalists will encounter extensive government surveillance, internet censorship, and serious risks to Chinese fixers and sources."

Such speculation about the communist Chinese government's honesty, about its commitment to respecting human rights, and about its dedication to environmental improvement will continue until the opening ceremony on August 8th. Although hosting the Olympic Games may not have completely reformed China as the Olympic Committee hoped it would, it is too early to say what the legacy of the 2008 Beijing Games will be. Hopefully the Beijing Games will be remembered as three weeks of international peace, as a time when hopes were high for the future, as a time when it seemed development and change were on the horizon, as a time when eastern and western culture seamlessly fused into one. "One World, One Dream" is not a fantasy, but is rather a reality as yet unrealized. As citizens of the world, it is our duty to make it happen.