The Morning Delivery

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]

A Czar Is Born: Make Way For Dmitry

        In less than a week, 42 year-old Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin�s hand-picked successor will be inaugurated as Russia�s new president to deal with a whole host of troublesome issues: what to do about the country�s declining population (already causing an acute labor shortage); how to mend a failing education system; dealing with the recent wave of hate crimes (57 have been killed in Russia, and another 116 injured by skinheads in 2008); having to decide whether to make the branches of government more independent (don�t laugh, he�s thinking about it); and the mighty task of launching a pipeline project, which will link Russia to Europe.
        A very tall order, indeed, for the five-foot-four president-elect.
        Since it�s a little early in the day to ponder such weighty issues that have been placed on the youthful bureaucrat's plate, Pravda has provided readers with everything you wanted to know about Medvedev but were afraid to ask primer.
        Here are a few highlights
        1.) He doesn�t land in the sack until the wee hours of morning, around 2:00 a.m.
        2.) Swears off the spirits (ok, a little red wine now and again), but much prefers an ``Al Gore'' highball over a ``Molotov cocktail', which is to say, he like his green tea.
        3.) He�s a homebody: prefers to vacation in his motherland, he doesn�t even like to venture out to a movie theater, favoring instead to stay at home and watch European dramas and American comedies.
        4.) He enjoys his share of classical and jazz music, takes a strong liking to the Heavy Metal bands: Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin; and shows no passion with the music of American pop tarts: Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, or Mariah Carey.
        5.) He doesn�t like to drive. In fact, Pravda reports he hasn�t been behind a wheel for a number of years. And who�s to blame him?  Russia has 10 times more traffic accidents per vehicle than Germany or Britain, according to a 2007 Reuters report, resulting in 36,000 deaths annually.
        While Medvedev, a former St. Petersburg lawyer, and son of two university professors, sounds downright warm-and-fuzzy, compared with the stoic, steely-eyed Putin, who ruled with an iron fist--I�m still suspicious about Russia�s new benevolent dictator, even with his new and improved brand of ``controlled democracy��.
        Nowhere in this Pravda article does it mention he�s head-over-heels in love with Maria Sharapova, or is planning to dump his wife, Svetlana, for a young gymnast.
        -Bill Lucey
         [email protected]

There's Something About Harry

           As was widely reported, blogger Matt Drudge committed the unpardonable, yelling fire in the theater to let the world know that Prince Harry was serving in the front lines of Afghanistan as an air controller in southern Helmand, prompting his quick removal from the Taliban foothold for his own safety as well as fellow combatants, who could have been sitting ducks for Al Qaeda forces. The third in line for the British throne arrived back in the U.K. on Saturday.
        Harry, a Second Lieutenant in the in the Household Cavalry, disappointed his tour of duty ended so abruptly, made it known he wants to return to the front lines, although that possibility isn�t likely to happen, at least not within the next 12 to 18 months, according to Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt , head of Britain's army.
         Prince William, however, according to The Sun in London was making plans to serve on the front lines aboard the Royal Navy ship in which he�ll hold the rank of Sub-Lieutenant, making him the first monarch to serve in the front lines since 1916.
         It�s interesting to note it used to be fairly common having members of the royal family serving on the front lines. In fact, one of the primary responsibilities of a British monarch was to lead the country in times of war. King George II, who reigned for 33 years, for example, is best known for being the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle, while dangling a sword from his hand, in the Battle of Dettingen (1743) with the defeat of the French. Prior to that, William the Conqueror (1087) and Richard the Lionheart (1199) both were �killed in warfare; while Richard III in 1485 became the last English King to die in action near Bosworth in Leicestershire        
        Prince Arthur of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria, served in South Africa, Egypt, India, Ireland and Canada, during the Red River Rebellion of 1870, and became Field Marshal.
         Maya Jasanoff, Associate Professor of History at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, points out as Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII joined the army and  wanted to serve in the front lines of WWI, but was prohibited due to the enormous ``security and political risks��
         Also in the 20th century, Prince Albert (crowned George VI in 1937) served time at sea on the battleship Collingwood in the battle of Jutland in May, 1916. And Prince George, the Duke of Kent, a great-great uncle of Harry, was killed in World War II as a senior commodore in the Royal Air Force 
        Most recently, Prince Andrew served as helicopter pilot in 1982 during the Falklands War.
        Though future monarchs aren�t likely to be thrown into trench warfare, most serve their fair share of military duty.  Charles, The Prince of Wales, and father of William and Harry, for example, learned how to fly with the RAF (Royal Air Force) and spent a year with the British navy.
       When asked for his reaction to the media circus that developed over Harry�s tour of duty in Afghanistan, Paul Kennedy, professor of History at Yale University, and author of  the ``Rise and Fall of the Great Powers�� responding through an email, wrote: ``I can't help feeling a bit sorry for the bloke:  if he wears the Queen's uniform and DOESN'T fight, he'll get criticized for being an adornment; if he is in combat, there'll be criticism for exposing him as a special target to the foe.��
         Adrian Gregory, professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, on the other hand, who is currently working on the social and cultural history of the British Home Front from 1914 to 1919, observed that ``there is in fact a clear historical expectation that someone in Harry�s position OUGHT to serve in combat if the army/navy is involved at the time.''
         Still others are trivializing the troublesome 23 year-olds�s time in southern Afghanistan as nothing more than a public relations stunt, to divert attention from his rebellious ways: raucous romps in the London pubs, donning a Nazi swastika at a masquerade party, and the paparazzi and blogs following his every move, arm-in-arm with his Zimbabwean girlfriend Chelsy Davy
         Actually, for one brief shining moment, while Harry was in the theater in Afghanistan, directing coalition air attacks onto Taliban targets, he must have felt for the first time in his young adult life, that he belonged, that he was just one of the boys, that his comrades didn�t give a lick about his royal blood, only that they were united in a common purpose: defeating the Taliban.
         No wonder Harry so felt betrayed by the media for busting his cover as he made his way off the plane and headed back with his father and elder brother to their country home at Highgrove. He�s no longer just one of the boys.
     -Bill Lucey
      [email protected]

Diana's Death: Conspiracy Theories Abound

      Considering literature still lines bookshelves with conspiracy theories,  43 years after John F. Kennedy's assassination , it should come as no surprise that conspiracy theories continue to flourish about the circumstances under which Diana, the Princess of Wales, and her companion, Dodi al Fayed, died on August 31, 1997, shortly after tearing away from a  Paris restaurant with flock of paparazzi in tow.
      On Tuesday, an inquest into the death of Diana officially got under way in London, one that is expected to last about 6 months before a jury of six women and five men.
      So why has it taken so long for an inquest to begin?
      As this Q & A from The Independent points out, since Diana died an unnatural death on foreign soil, British law requires an inquest must take place, regardless of the circumstances.
      The French took two years to complete their investigation, which concluded Diana and Fayed died as a result of their driver (Henri Paul's) reckless driving, and identifed with having an excessive amount of alcohol in his system, three times over the legal limit.
      Then the British Metropolitan Police conducted their own investigation, which took another 3 years to complete and reached the same conclusion.
    The investigation was further delayed by a series of resignations by Coroner's of the Queen's Household.
      If you think this is an open and shut case; don't tell that to Mohamed al Fayed, the father of Dodi, who continues to believe the star-crossed couple were murdered by M16 agents at the request of the royal family, as way of preventing Charles' ex from marrying a Muslim. Another theory holds a white Fiat Uno, a car that was never tracked down, forced Paul to crash his Mercedes into an underground pillar.
      Is Oliver Stone in the house?
      When asked about the inquest, and what possible new revelations will be learned by yet another investigation, Robert Bucholz, Professor of History at Loyola University of Chicago, thought ``these suspicions were and are bound to go on for the same reason that people have trouble accepting that a single gunman killed President Kennedy, that the Twin Towers were destroyed by exploding aircraft fuel, or  that the Titanic was sunk by a lone, albeit very large, piece of ice:  it is natural to want to believe that there is a deeper story to these big events. ��
      But one striking difference between this inquest and the other two investigations, is the possibility that the royal family will be called to testify, a scenario Lord Justice Scott Baker has not ruled out, but one not likely to happen, according to Bucholz, who advised me not to hold my breath.
   -Bill Lucey
    [email protected]

Child Trafficking: Chilling New Data

      The Guardian recently published findings of a chilling new UNICEF study, which claims that over 180 children illegally trafficked into the U.K. have vanished without a trace from social agencies of their whereabouts.
    The report,   Rights Here'', ``Rights Now'' reveals every year, 1.2 million children are victims of child trafficking, and experts say, a vast majority fall prey to domestic and agriculture labor, others roped into sweat shops, still others into sexual exploitation.
       I was suprised to learn not much hard data exists about child trafficking within the United States. 
   Dr. Susan Bissell, from the Implementing International Standards Unit at the UNICEF Innocenti Research Center, said the reason for this is that the ``only real numbers that one can consult are those found in police records or in the records of so-called rescue centers, or shelters for rescued child trafficking victims. ��
      ``Clearly, Bissell points out, a review of those sources would vastly underestimate the number of children affected by the phenomena.''
          The United States Government Accountability Office published a report last July on child exploitation, in which they claim 600,00 to 800,000 persons are trafficked across international borders every year; though, the study conceded, these numbers are suspect due to the monstrous gaps in data collection methods.
           Another report available by the US Government Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in  Persons is believed to be the most comprehensive report on foreign government�s efforts to combat trafficking, but similar to the GAO report, it neglects to include the United States; which is odd, since many child trafficking experts, including Bissell, emphasized that ``there is no country immune to child trafficking.��
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]