The Hindu Business Line : The true face of China is still unclear

China recently concluded hosting the Olympic Games and received high praise from several quarters around the world for an amazing performance. And by that I don’t mean just topping the gold tally in the medals table, which in itself is a considerable achievement.

A lot of things were expected to go wrong in this Olympics. The now ubiquitous threat of a terrorist attack loomed large and provided the justification for strict scrutiny at all levels. What better venue for an evil mind to make a splash! It made it difficult to get a visa to visit China during this period. But that apart, many of the signs leading up to the events were troubling. The Tibetans in exile had organised a successful and coordinated protest around the world along the path of the Olympic torch, drawing attention to the plight of their countrymen. This attracted a lot of attention and celebrities were even calling for a boycott of the games. As though that embarrassment was not enough, the earthquake that struck the Sichuan region in May left about 70,000 dead and close to five million homeless. It stopped the Tibetan protestors who wisely judged the mood not right for their protests, but brought fears that China would be distracted and not be able to pay attention to the Olympics.

Breathtaking performance

They need not have worried. China has been in preparation for almost a decade to host this event. What the world saw over the period of the games was remarkable. Impressive venues like the Bird’s Nest stadium and the Water Cube for the swimming events were not just built on time but of a style that set new standards in architecture. The opening and closing ceremonies not only took place with clockwork precision but with a synchronicity that was breathtaking. Reports suggest that buses ran on time, communication and results systems worked flawlessly. The hospitality was warm and friendly, and volunteers pleasant and in superfluous quantities. We have grown to expect that efficiency from the Chinese.

The other side

Behind it all was another face that people saw. Vast communities, including about 1.5 million people uprooted, with inadequate rights or compensation, to make way for the construction of the venues or just the general cleaning. Protest zones were set up for those who wanted to protest, which assuaged foreign pressure groups, but they stayed empty because permission was not given to those 77 or so applicants who applied for permission to protest. Selected internet sites were blocked in keeping with the government’s censorship rules, especially if they referred to the Dalai Lama. Journalists were followed, and some deported. Reporters covering an incident of near rioting during sale of tickets were roughed up. And so on.

Image was very important to China at this event. And it had its own way of dealing with problems that interfered with the desired image. Thus, the child selected to sing at the opening ceremony was then relegated to the background because her teeth were deemed to be crooked and not worthy of being presented to the audience. She provided her voice while another child, with better looks, lip synched. Walls and stage sets were erected to hide sections of the city that the authorities decided did not project a clean image. Industries were ordered shut with no compensation, and vehicles ordered to stay off the streets to maintain acceptable levels of pollution during the period of the games.

Beijing’s track record

Some people were disappointed because they felt that there was more to the Olympics than a bunch of sportspeople showing their mettle. Human rights activists and environmentalists were upset when Beijing was selected as the venue given the nation’s track record on these two fronts. On the other hand, the optimists argued that the Games would help foster democracy, improve human rights and have a lasting effect on China. They were to be disappointed. Others who thought a repressive regime will fall on its face and expose the soft underbelly of its society were also disappointed.

While China bent over backwards to ensure perfection, one wonders if it was the precision of a regimented society. After all, wasn’t it the Chinese sports machine of identifying talented youngsters early and keeping them on a strict regimen of training that showed its success in the medals table?

Some medal winners, reportedly, have been kept from going home in four years. Rehearsals for the opening ceremonies were reported to have lasted 50 hours, with the news report adding that there was little rest or shelter from the downpour. It is noteworthy that some performers trained over 16 hours a day for several months to get it right, but the same reports also suggested that the artistes could not leave the army barracks where they were quartered to train and get it right. Some wonder if, rather than the Olympics helping the Chinese loosen controls on their society, the desire for perfection made them tighten controls even more than in the recent past.

The International Olympic Committee President, Jacques Rogge, commented that London, the venue for the 2012 games, has a tough task ahead to match the success of the Beijing Olympics. “Whether it is the village or the venues, they’ve done an incredible job,” he gushed about the Chinese.

On the balance, I still do not know the true face of China. The contradictions are vast: A repressive police state with high levels of courtesy and hospitality; a top-down political and bureaucratic structure that seems to motivate excellent performance at individual levels where it counts; a rich ancient culture rapidly shedding it to wear modern clothing.

Economically viable?

Sure, the bean counters would argue that Olympics are not an economically viable proposition. The returns do not justify the costs, they say. But in China, almost the entire bill of $40 billion (Rs 1,72,000 crore) was picked up by the government and it is but a small slice, given its almost two trillion dollar reserve. It was more than twice what recent Olympics’ have cost but a small price to pay to show not just to the world that it had arrived but to prove to itself the same. And it worked.

One poll shows that Chinese who believe that their country is on the right track have increased, over a six-year period, from 48 per cent to 84 per cent. Autocracy seems to work, especially if it is in the hands of a no-nonsense leadership.

China chose an auspicious day and time to start the games — at eight minutes past eight on the lucky day, 08-08-08. But it left little to chance. It is exciting to see that a developing nation set for itself a high standard of excellence and achieved it through extraordinary attention to detail. That is worthy of emulation.

(The author is a professor of international business and strategic management at Suffolk University, Boston, US. Feedback to blfeedback@thehindu.co.in)

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