Beijing Olympics 2008 On 13 July 2001, the International Olympic Committee
voted for Beijing to host the Olympics in 2008. This decision ended a
period of intense lobbying, in which at one point the Chinese
government stated that hosting the Olympics constituted a human right
for the Chinese people. China's candidacy met with fierce opposition
from various quarters. The country's human rights record in particular
was mentioned most often as a reason for not honoring Beijing. In 1993,
human rights, and the repression of the student demonstrations in 1989,
had been reasons for China's loss to Sydney to organize the 2000
Olympics.
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Millions of yuan and dollars were invested in the publicity campaign. Complete sections were sponsored in major news papers,
including the International Herald Tribune, in order to sway public opinion. The posters shown here seem to have been produced for
domestic consumption only.
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With the slogan "New Beijing--Great Olympics", the
government now is faced with more capital outlays: US$12 bn. is
earmarked for a huge environmental cleanup, which will include the
closing down or relocation of polluting factories. Another US$22 bn. is
set aside for the construction of Olympic stadiums and transport
improvements. According to officials, construction will include work on
Tian'anmen, where beach volleyball and triathlon races are scheduled.
Click here for the official New Beijing, New Olympics-website. The five official
mascots, the Fuwa, the designs of which were hotly debated,
can be found here.
Source:
Judy Polumbaum, "Capturing the flame: aspirations and representations of Beijing's 2008 Olympics", Chin-Chuan Lee (ed) Chinese Media, Global Contexts (London, etc.: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003)
s.r.landsberger@let.leidenuniv.nl
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International Institute of Social History