Max's Politburo

Spineless, shameful IOC

Much fuss has been made about the extreme lengths China is going to manage the Olympic games. The lip-synching little girl, the fake firework footprints in the sky, the mild roughing up of an ITN reporter... hardly the stuff of scandal and probably not even infeasible at London 2012. 

The real atrocity of these Games thus far has been China's blatant abuse of the deal cut with the IOC regarding authorised protests.  Under pressure from the Olymic Committee and following much diplomatic negotiation, China set aside several zones in Beijing for 'legal' demonstrations. 

Authorities have since then systematically and pre-emptively arrested anyone actually applying for a permit to protest there.  In effect the IOC has set up a very useful trap to eliminate reformers.  This makes a mockery of the agreement and is an embarrassment for the IOC, which continues to toe the line that everything is just rosy.

This article in yesterday's FT puts it well.  The IOC really makes a strong case for being the world's most unreformed, undemocratic and unethical organisation.  Decades of well-known corrupt practices (remember the systematic bribery for Salt Lake City?), plus this year's debacle of the poor Iraqi Olympic team, most of whom were callously barred from Beijing because of the 'political influence' on Iraq's Olympic Committee (which didn't seem to matter when Saddam's brutal son Uday Hussein was running it).

There is little hope of respite for China's arrested protesters, although some diplomatic pressure would help.  The IOC should be ashamed.

The beginning of the end of the Olympics?

You read it here first: these Olympic Games are going to be a mess. 

In 10 years we will look back and see them as the top-of-the-market for large international sporting events.  At $38bn and counting, the Beijing Olympics will cost 3 times what was spent in Athens.  And the Greeks are still paying for that shindig, with most of the longer-term economic benefits having failed to materialise.

With hindsight I suspect many Chinese regret having won the Olympics in the first place.  London beware...

The spotlight has shown us China at its best and at its worst, with plenty more grief to come.  A side effect of globalisation in this decade has been the globalisation of protest.  Any event with media attention is a target: WTO, Davos, Olympics, you name it.  Countries will start thinking twice about volunteering to attract so much cost, hassle and media spotlight.  I think we're seeing the beginning of the end of large, international events.

What's going to happen in the next few weeks?  Let's see. 

The Chinese have already arrested 82 "suspected terrorists" for plotting on the games (and executed 2).  OK, maybe.  They all happened to be in Xinjiang, which has a large Muslim population wary of central Han Chinese influence. 

Millions of visitors are streaming into China, and undoubtedly many are thinking up ways to trick the authorities with a little protest -- by wearing a pro-Tibet T-shirt, or perhaps laying a flower at Tienanmen.  The heavy hand of China's security services will be closely scrutinised as it deals with these small transgressions.

China is already swarming with Western journalists looking for a story that will embarrass the hosts.  There is no shortage of material: desolate parents seeking justice for children buried in their schools in the recent earthquake; millions of people jobless without pay as their factories were forced to shut down to clear the air ahead of the Games; the eerie quiet that has settled over Tibet; etc.

It's going to be interesting, that's for sure...