Making their lists, checking them twice...

Now it can be told: during the recent Olympic Games, the Chinese dictatorship acted...well, like a dictatorship:

"The Chinese government, concerned about the possibility of demonstrations during the Beijing Olympics, created a list of nine U.S. athletes and one assistant coach it thought might cause problems, USA Today reported Thursday."

What they should have been doing was making sure their gymnasts were actually of age, instead of breaking the rules and using girls who sure looked to be under the age of 12.

Congrats, by the way, to the USOC for standing strong on this:

"USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel told USA Today in an e-mail Wednesday that the concerns were "entirely unjustified and unwarranted." "As such, we rejected the request to address this with our athletes," Seibel told the newspaper. "We saw absolutely no need to burden our athletes with this."

Summing up the Beijing Olympics

Excellent Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom does it well:

"Has there ever been an Olympics like this? So impressive and so suspicious at the same time? From the Opening Ceremonies, which set a high for visual awesomeness, yet were questioned about lip-syncing children and video-enhanced fireworks; to the gymnastics, in which China hauled in massive gold, but was suspected of using underage children; to the track, in which China’s biggest sports star, Liu Xiang, lined up in the blocks and then pulled out with a sudden injury, which some claim was a national tragedy and others claim was a ruse to avoid losing to a Cuban rival; to the city of Beijing itself, which was full of celebration, yet was virtually devoid of predicted protests because, according to the government, the protesters hadn’t filed the proper paperwork.
I have never, in a 16-day period, witnessed so much and been less sure of what I’ve seen."

Indeed. But we saw some terrific individual and team performances; and I hope also more Americans were made aware of China's human rights abuses, and both came to understand that the Chinese people have a lot to offer us, but their government is a dictatorship and we must continue to remember just what that means.

UPDATE: here's a way to remember what it means--read the Washington Post's Tom Boswell and his summation of the Olympics. Read the whole thing--but for now, begin here:

"The current Chinese culture doesn't just reveal itself in the middle of the night. All day long, every 20 minutes (to the split second), hundreds of buses run back and forth from media hotels to the Olympic venues. There's even a special "Olympic lane" for all official traffic to the Games. Because the Chinese are obsessed with appearing efficient, the number, size and frequency of buses comically exceed the need. I often had a bus to myself. However, I can barely believe what I saw Saturday when, by accident, I had to return to my hotel at 1 p.m., when almost no reporter has reason to leave the Olympics. Several football fields full of buses all pulled out simultaneously, headed to hotels all over Beijing, theoretically transporting media. But I was the only rider on any bus I saw. Dozens were empty. They still made their runs. They still wasted fuel. They still clogged traffic. But nobody, in an activity as state-controlled and Communist Party-scrutinized as these Olympics, would deviate from the original plan, no matter how stupid it might be. In decades at The Post, this is the first event I've covered at which I was certain that the main point of the exercise was to co-opt the Western media, including NBC, with a splendidly pretty, sparsely attended, completely controlled sports event inside a quasi-military compound. We had little alternative but to be a conduit for happy-Olympics, progressive-China propaganda. I suspect it worked."

Remember Boswell's anecdote. Because this is the problem with communism, with rigid state control, with rigid state planning and bureaucracy. It leads to waste, to doing stupid things merely because they are in accordance with the plan--and nobody has the freedom to deviate from it. This is exactly what those such as Russell Kirk and Friedrich von Hayek and others wrote about so long ago. They remain relevant to us today.

Beware of China-love

NY Times columnist Tom Friedman is a little bit in love with China, following these successful Olympic games:

"That said, there are some things we could learn from China, namely the ability to focus on big, long-term, nation-building goals and see them through. A Chinese academic friend tells me that the success of the Olympics is already prompting some high officials to argue that only a strong, top-down, Communist Party-led China could have organized the stunning building projects around these Olympics and the focused performance of so many different Chinese athletes. For instance, the Chinese have no tradition of rowing teams, but at these Games, out of nowhere, Beijing fielded a women's quadruple sculls crew that won China's first Olympic gold medal in rowing."

Hmmm. Read the whole thing. Be careful. Yes, China accomplished a lot in hosting these Olympics, and created some impressive facilities and amazing spectacles. But at what cost? Sure, the air was clean in Beijing--because the government ordered motorists off the streets and summarily closed factories. The people affected had nothing to say about it. Sure, the Cube and the Bird's Nest were something--but they were built at least partially because the Beijing government ordered people out of their private homes and then bulldozed them. The people affected had nothing to say about it. Yes, Friedman acknowledges this and says he just wants American democracy to "work better." But I worry when people complain about our media and our "news cycle", and imply that our democratic fractiousness harms us. Yes, such divisions make legislative accomplishments come slowly. But you know what? I'll gladly take that--because conservatives know, as Russell Kirk taught us long ago, that change ought to be slow. It ought to come with difficulty. It ought to come with deliberation. Only then can we be sure that we've considered all alternatives and done the right thing.

Don't despair about the stuff that comes along with democracy, like a lot of debate in legislatures and slow progress and the back-and-forth in the news media. Don't get tempted to wish for some strongman to come and sweep it all away and "get things done." That's what the German people wanted once. They got Hitler. That's what some Chinese people still want. They got their dictatorial government. Yes, some of the accomplishments of the Chinese people are impressive. But beware what you "learn" from it.

The face of dictatorship (continued)

Once again the Chinese government shows it's true colors, Olympics or no:

"Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of “re-education through labor” after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, according to family members and human rights advocates. The women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, had made five visits to the police this month in an effort to get permission to protest what they contended was inadequate compensation for the demolition of their homes in Beijing. During their final visit on Monday, public security officials informed them that they had been given administrative sentences for “disturbing the public order,” according to Li Xuehui, Ms. Wu’s son. Mr. Li said his mother and Ms. Wang, who used to be neighbors before their homes were demolished to make way for a redevelopment project, were allowed to return home but were told they could be sent to a detention center at any moment. “Can you imagine two old ladies in their 70s being re-educated through labor?” he asked. He said Ms. Wang was nearly blind. A man who answered the phone at the Public Security Bureau declined to give out information about the case."

I'm glad that some in the news media are continuing to publicize cases like this, despite all the good feelings engendered by the Olympics. Perhaps it's good that the Olympics were held in China--it's served also to remind us (again, because we always need it) of just what dictatorship is.

The face of a dictatorship (Chinese version)

The Chinese authorities, prior to the Olympics, said that sure, there can be protests--but you have to apply for a permit, and protest only in certain designated areas.

So--so far, there have been 77 protest applications. None of them have been approved.

Update: the Chinese government is also reported to be confiscating Bibles from incoming missionaries.

Perhaps the Chinese decided that, since they're displaying their dictatorial ways, they might as well go all the way and show their lack of commitment to religious freedom, too.