Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Background Notes

        Over 20,000 foreign journalists, 10,500 athletes, 18,000 accredited staff, and 230 VIP�s, will gather in Beijing, China, beginning Friday for the start of the Olympic Games, one day after the first day of Autumn, according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is expected to bring cooler breezes.
        Since the People's Republic of China is a Communist state, there�s obvious concerns about press freedoms, privacy restrictions, and the cultural shock, particularly for Americans, visiting China�s capital, a country not known for its human rights and tolerating freedom of expression.
The BBC has already reported press restrictions even before the opening ceremony, with censorship being imposed over reporting about uprisings in Tibet and blocked sites that deal with the spiritual group Falun Gong.
         Despite a steady increase of Internet users (China had 210 million online users through 2007, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project--second only to the United States), the government has made no secret it regularly monitors emails, text messages, faxes, and phone conversations, including accessing the communications network operated by the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and wireless providers working from the Chinese Mainland. In addition, the government employs thousands to patrol the Internet; bloggers, in particular, fall under the watchful eye of the government with most blogs being blocked, according to the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC).
         To calm concerns over press restrictions, the International Olympic Committee promised long ago there would be uncensored access to the web, and restrictions typically forced on journalists would be lifted. Still, China president Hu Jintao made it clear recently that he wouldn�t allow the games to be politicized, a not so subtle reference to groups like Falun Gong sympathizers, hoping to advance their causes in front of an international stage. The Chinese president told the media on Friday ``they should comply with the laws of China�.
         While American tourists aren�t likely to bump into government authorities clamping down on their liberated lifestyles during their stay in Beijing, they shouldn�t be surprised, either, to see their privacy invaded while relaxing in their hotel rooms.  The U.S. State Department informs visitors to its website that China regularly monitors hotel rooms with on-site or remote technical monitoring equipment around the clock--without the occupants consent or knowledge. It�s also worth noting, many hotel rooms were constructed under sub-standard guidelines, to such an extent it�s not uncommon for facilities to be without emergency fire exits, including standard security equipments, such as locks, alarms, while security personnel is often nowhere to be found.
         Tourists should also be advised to stay healthy during their stay. Ambulance service is reported to be frightfully slow in Beijing, not surprising when you consider 1,200 vehicles are added to the road every day, with inexperienced drivers uneasy behind the wheel, clogging the streets, causing delays and getting into frequent fender-benders, making the response time for emergency service unbearably slow. What�s worse: emergency personnel lack the equipment and typically don�t have the proper EMT training normally found in Western Europe and the United States.
         And though Americans might be surprised to learn crime is low in Beijing, which includes a low level of terrorist threats against Americans, Joanna Waley-Cohen, Professor of History at New York University, warns one of the biggest cultural shocks Americans might encounter in Beijing is ``the ubiquity of prostitution, manifested in phone calls to your hotel room and solicitations in the hotel lobby and on the street��; while Andrea S. Goldman, Assistant Professor of Modern China at UCLA, thinks the ``biggest shock to Americans will be to discover that Beijing is such a modern, thriving and international metropolis, with all of the advantages and disadvantages that go along with big city life.��
         So in preparation for the Olympic Games, The Morning Delivery has compiled a few historical nuggets about China.
 
� The People�s Republic of China was established on October 1, 1949, with Beijing as its capital city. 

� China�s Population (July 2007 est.): 1,321,851,888

� The largest ethnic group are the Han Chinese, representing approximately 91.9 percent of the total population. The remaining ethnic groups, include: Zhuang  8.1 percent or 16 million;, Manchu (10 million), Hui (9 million), Miao (8 million), Uygur (7 million), Yi (7 million), Mongolian (5 million), Tibetan (5 million), Buyi (3 million), Korean (2 million)

� There are seven major Chinese dialects and many sub-dialects. Mandarin (or Putonghua), is spoken by over 70 percent of the population.

� Buddhism is the most widely practiced religion in China, with an estimated 100 million adherents. Official figures show there are 20 million Muslims, 15 million Protestants, and 5 million Catholics practicing their own religions in China.

� The life expectancy in China is 73, according to 2006 government statistics

� There are over 100 colleges and universities in Beijing, primarily state-run, with just a handful of private institutions.

� Education levels in Beijing are among the highest in China, with an average university enrollment rate of 53 percent in 2005 for youth aged 18-22.

� U.S. exports (in 2007) to China totaled $65.2 billion, more than triple the $19 billion when China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.

� China gained a seat in the United Nations in 1971; and the United States formally established diplomatic relations with China beginning in 1979. As of 2008, 171 nations have diplomatic relations with China.

� The Motto of the Olympic Games: ``One World One Dream''

� The Olympic Games have cost Beijing an estimated $40 billion, which includes upgrading the airport terminal, subway lines and other state-of-the-art facilities.

� China will have 639 athletes represented at the Olympics

� China, so far, has earned 32 gold medals, second to the United States, who have won 35.

Websites to Keep in Mind:

Overall Medal Count

United States Olympic Committee

Olympic Summer Games Fact Sheet

Olympic Maps

Olympic History: Athens 1896-

Olympic Fact Sheet from the U.S. State Department

Embassy of the People's Republic of China

The China Meteorological Bureau

The China Daily, (largest English online newspaper site)

China Internet Information Center

English-Chinese Dictionaries

Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics

Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau

Maps of Beijing (from WorldAtlas)

Current Local Time in Beijing

China Money & Currency Converter

U.S. Asian Population: (2000 U.S. Census Bureau)

-Bill Lucey
[email protected]

Comments

[Gary Baumgarten]

Mediachannel.org News Dissector Danny Schechter will talk about press restrictions surrounding the Olympics as my guest on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com Friday August 7 at 5 PM New York time. To talk to Schechter please go to www.garybaumgarten.com and click on the link to the show. There is no charge.Thanks.

[Mckinley]

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