Spray Painting the Past

I don't know why, but commies seem to love the Olympics. The Soviets used the '80 games to legitimize themselves. The East German government actually set up a ministry to provide athletes with performance enhancing drugs for the Montreal games. And the Cubans, well, they just stick to cigars. Still, it should come as no surprise that the Chinese are going all out for their 2008 Olympic bid. But there's a problem: when you hear China, you think Tiananmen Square. Over a decade later and the image of Chinese troops firing on over one million peaceful protesters still remains. The Chinese ban of the yoga-esque Falun Gong movement, and the arrest of its followers, has only made matters worse; over one hundred followers have died in custody. Throw in the Tibetan occupation and you've got yourself one ugly picture.

But the Chinese aren't about to let that stop them. They spared no expense sprucing up Beijing for a recent visit by IOC delegates. Painting the buildings, painting the grass, planting flowers, dolling up the prostitutes. China hasn't looked so good since, well, its last Olympic bid. But you can be sure all the western delegates had Tiananmen Square in the back of their heads.

But what could the Chinese do about that? They couldn't erase the past, could they? Maybe not, but they could paint it over, just like the grass on Beijing's highway embankments. And that's exactly what they've done. This week, the Chinese released a report that concluded that the "new" China is a far cry from the one that opened fire on protesters armed with placards. After all, how else could they have won twenty-eight gold medals at the Sydney Olympics? But wait a minute, since when have we judged quality of life by athletic accomplishment? I mean, if Olympic performance were a gauge of a nation's quality of life, Canadians would be right up there with the Ukrainians living next door to Chernobyl. All twenty-eight medals say is that twenty-eight athletes out of 1.3 billion people have a good quality of life. Oh wait, I forgot, China's communist, so if the gold medalists have a high quality of living, everybody else must, right? I didn't think so. And let's not forget that Chinese swimmers are notorious for doping. And what do the Chinese have to say about Falun Gong? Why, they're simply protecting their people from a dangerous cult that threatens to reduce the stress of citizens nationwide.

But the funny thing is, the Chinese used to justify human rights violations by claiming them necessary to safeguard the advances of the revolution. Now they're saying they can't protect human rights because it could stifle economic development. Did I miss something? Economic development? Last time I checked, commies made their own economic development. Make up your mind, are you a heinous capitalist regime or a heinous communist regime?

The whole thing is a farce. I mean, there are much more effective ways to persuade IOC officials. You're communist! Hand out some bribes for Mao's sake. How the hell else could Utah get the Olympics?!

But when it comes right down to it, who gives a crap where they hold the Olympics? Let the Chinese flush a few billion dollars down the toilet. Toronto certainly can't afford it at the moment. Actually, I take that back. Give the Olympics to Cuba. The U.S. will boycott, Canadians will win more medals, and Chretien can claim he's actually done something to help the standard of living. Everybody wins. Except the people.