Deadly riots and a crackdown on protests in Tibet in March this year not withstanding, all the World leaders will squat in the 'Bird's Nest' to watch the spectacle of the Opening Ceremony of 2008 Beijing bOlympics. The ethnic unrest in Western China, brutal clampdown on resenting voices will not perturb Mr Bush and Monsieur Sarkozy as both of them have warmed up considerably to Comrade Hu.
During the torrid times of the torch relay, through a volatile Paris and San Francisco (followed by a farcical “run” in New Delhi), all and sundry cried foul over almost everything, starting from Tibet to Darfur. Nicolas Sarkozy almost threatened to boycott but later climbed down from his high horse. Maybe selling Airbus planes and nuclear equipment to Chinese customers ranks higher on the agenda of the French President. President Bush is travelling down to Beijing because he doesn't want to displease Chinese people. Maybe he doesn't count Tibetans amongst the “Chinese people”. Well there's at least one similarity between Comrade Hu and President Bush!
At the end of the day all the leaders have their reasons for not 'displeasing the Chinese people' and 'glitterati' of world leaders will be in Beijing on the 8th of August.
Sitting inside the 'Bird's Nest' watching the spectacle orchestrated by Zhang Yimou (of House of Flying Daggers fame), the 100 odd world leaders who are touted to attend the gala will hardly be bothered about what goes on in the rough terrain of Tibet.
China's regime has seized on the Olympics to boast about its development and portray itself as a 21st century global power. The Opening Ceremony will be enough to prove, as the fleeting glimpse that has been systematically leaked shows that all the artists, technicians and producers who have been working on the ceremony for years, encapsulating 100 year old Chinese history and tradition in a hour long show, that the Chinese have done a creditable job.
By attending the Opening Ceremony, will the world leaders give a sort of legitimacy to all the actions taken by the ruling regime of China? Only time will tell whether they will end up becoming some sort of props in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
This blog first appeared on the Expressblogs.
August 14, 2008
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