When Lights and Might make Right

Watching the truly epic display of the opening ceremony for this year's Olympics. 2,008 Chinese drummers beat 2,008 square drums calling down thunder, amazingly choreographed with sweeping stances, the skin of the drum lights up with the strength of the beat and the strikes of the rhythm.

It sounds like war. I can't help but think of the Nobel prize winning Hitler Youth; Gunter Grass and his novel, Tin Drum. Whenever the war strikes near the child in the story bangs his drum as a protest and warning of what's to come. What scares me is the military power of 1.3 billion people and the arrogance of their leaders should they decide to expand beyond their own borders.

Everyone knows that China has endured/undergone super-massive growth in recent years but I think it's still been all too easy to underestimate, speaking purely in condescending colonial tones, just how far the country would come; both in terms of its' modernization and obvious its' desire to form a solid cultural identity, to be recognised on the world stage.

But I don't think anyone should necessarily doubt that China deserves its' Olympics and the bright future of a country brave enough to go against neo-classical Western chauvinism and its dominance of world politics and economics. What is hard to stomach is any attempt by China to engage in international relations with the world are always carried out on their own terms. If China were a handshake it would grip too tightly, try to out-shake you, and make sure that somehow, its' hand was always wrapped over yours.

China makes claims to transparency, at least while the Olympics are on, but to my mind its own conception of the freedom of the press is thoroughly jaundiced. We only ever see the right side of China, the rest remains hidden in shadow. China's history is similarly obscured; all of the nation's mistakes, old and new, are neatly wrapped up in the phrase: "Human Rights Issues" which helps to maintain the charade of a silk curtain we will probably never see behind.

A little girl in Red is singing, she doesn't fidget or cry, she has obviously been well-trained; but she is also smiling. A Communist red flag marked with five yellow stars, representing the five united districts of the country, is stiffly marched along, a nod to the past.

I appreciate China's attempts at opening up to the world. It seems the best we can hope to do is cooperate and try to ingratiate ourselves with China. The commentators note that there have been no boycotts of the games by any country thus re-enforcing the claim that the politics and the sports should be kept separate. In principle, like so many other things, I agree with this claim. Little or no advantage would be gained by certain international teams not attending the Olympics. The main consequence of this would be further alienation from a country that has only just attempted to build bridges. I'm not saying we should forget what China was, nor should we ignore what it might become. My point is simple; that an uneasy alliance with China is better for the world at large, than total alienation and deepening feelings of enmity.

All over the city colored fireworks shoot up along the roads, some of them in large circles representing giant's footsteps moving toward the stadium. Blinded by the lights, silenced by a crowd cheering and united; in this setting its no wonder we forget Tiananmen, Tibet, and the many workers who were injured building the "Birdsnest" stadium (some workers are also rumored to have died during its construction), which for a few days at least, the eyes of the world will be focused upon; all of the controversial issues it raises well out of sight.