Reaching the finish line

Last Modified: 18 Aug 2008
By: Bessie Du

Channel 4 News' China producer Bessie Du looks forward to China after the Olympics.

In a week's time, it is all going to be over - the hype, the worries, the glory and the pain. Beijing will be back to its normal self. A lot of Chinese people are really looking forward to that normal self.

While waiting in the long queue for a ticket to the Games, I met a Chinese journalist. Mr. Gao is open-minded, rational, thoughtful and patriotic. "The world will do us a favour by looking away from China after the games", he said.

This is not the official spokesperson's standard line: the west should not interfere with China's internal affairs. That's often used to brush away criticisms by foreign countries, but Mr. Gao is genuinely concerned with where China should be headed in the post Olympic years.

Beijing has tried very hard to fulfill its promise to host the most successful Olympics ever. Over 1 million cars have been taken off the roads; 40 million pots of flowers put on display; 100 million US dollars spent on the opening ceremony which attempted to pack 5000 years of civilization into a one hour light and sound show.

The guests are impressed. The hosts are exhausted. All in the name of the national interest!

In the years leading up to the Olympics, the national interest has been equated with the national image.

Many "internal affairs" are put on hold in order to show the best face to the world in 2008. After all, the success of the 29th Olympic Games will not be measured by how many factories are shut down and the number of rights activists put under 24 hour surveillance.

The athletes and tourists will remember the blue-sky days and the smiles of the uniformed volunteers during the three weeks they're in Beijing.

When we no longer worry about China's image in the outside world, perhaps we can focus on issues inside China and take care of the interests of the Chinese people.

Next week, the guests will be gone and we won't need to stretch ourselves to please the world anymore. The world is a big thing to answer to.

Maybe we can catch our breath and re-assess our definition of national interest. When we no longer worry about China's image in the outside world, perhaps we can focus on issues inside China and take care of the interests of the Chinese people.

There's plenty to do - stabilize the economy, fix the environment, close the gap between the rich and the poor, ease the restrictions and censorship on the media, and put in place a functioning legal system.

Like Mr. Gao, I also hope that without the distraction of meeting the expectations of the world, the government can focus on what the Chinese people need. The national interest may finally become the people's interest.

Being the "rising power and a responsible nation in the international community" sounds wonderful. But it is accountability to its own people that should earn a nation credibility and recognition.