China

Intelligent discussion on China's political, economic, and cultural aspects go here. Nothing like the Sauna thread we had earlier.

Food for thought:

Olympics
Politics
Economy
Human Rights

I'm hoping this won't turn into a flame war.

They're stopping the rain for parts of the olympics. (sounds outrageous at first, but its simple technology if you read into it)

They're stopping the rain for parts of the olympics. (sounds outrageous at first, but its simple technology if you read into it)

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Omg, I read about that a while back

Reaction: o___________o;;

And.. think it's kinda whack that they spent more on the Nest than healthcare :/[/COLOR]

Olympics - awesome so far

Politics - still need works especially between the communication between the people and government

Economy - they're doing alright imo, i think they got back around or at least 50% of the money they used for making the Nest

Human Rights - needs to be worked on a lil or at least show the world it's being worked on, only thing i remember the Chinese government did was stop serfdom in Tibet; and changed executions to lethal injections instead of a gun shot to the head; people shouldn't go into the religious aspect so much, most of the people usually choose to go/stick with the old traditions, hell my parents moved to the West and still chose old traditions xD

12 days necroposting? I hope not, because sure as thousand-year-old eggs, China has been on the brain.

I must admit, I am one of that contingent which is just waiting to pounce on China tripping up, especially - and I must apologise to the pro-Chinese - in regards to the Olympics. Disclosure: I am ethnically Chinese myself.

Being fair to everyone, I do feel that they don't deserve to host the Olympics. They have put on a fabulous performance on the world stage, yes; but in terms of that elusive ideal, I think they are very poor indeed at encompassing "The Olympic Spirit."

Although I heartily disapprove of dictatorships as well, my primary objection is to their treatment of human rights and humanity generally. I can allow them their tight control over their citizens, and indeed every beautifully orchestrated detail of their Olympic games... but I cannot overlook the fact that athletes are not allowed to blog during the games, or the iron fist with which (what I consider) valid objection regarding Tibet has been quelled, without even a thought as to the purpose of these objections.

Oh, and I'm not American. I have no emotional ties to the women's gymnastics (New Zealand doesn't even have a gymnastics team that I'm aware of). However, as regards the drama with He/YYL/Jiang's alleged underage competition - while I would not fault them intrinsically for being an autocracy that would allow this sort of thing, it represents far from an attitude of fair play. This is at the very heart of Olympism - the whole celebration of coming together as equals of different backgrounds. I feel strongly - justifiedly, I think - that China has not put these ideals at the fore.

Am I too outspoken here? I hope I am not the only one who feels disquieted by Beijing 2008.