"... What really unnerves China's leaders is the thought of mass unrest on live international TV. Chinese embassies around the world are already besieged by human-rights activists demanding big changes before the Games. Street demonstrations in China are practically everyday events lately, and activists are sure to get more feverish as 2008 approaches, bringing 30,000 international journalists to Beijing. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to push for [their] interests," says Carnegie Endowment China watcher Minxin Pei. No one wants a replay of Mexico City in 1968, when security forces opened fire on student protesters, killing at least 30 on the eve of the Games. China's leaders wish even less for anything like the 1988 Seoul Olympics: mass protests leading up to those Games ultimately helped force South Korea's military rulers to give way to a freely elected civilian government.
Chinese officials insist that a Seoul or a Mexico City can't happen in their country, and grass-roots support for the Games is overwhelming. Even so, they confess, the idea has crossed their minds. Beijing's vice mayor, Liu Jingmin, says the leadership is ready for anything, including demonstrations. "We've researched all the problems that might arise," says Liu, who's also a member of the Olympic Organizing Committee, "and we'll solve them according to law." The upcoming Games haven't created any social problems that didn't already exist, he argues: "Society is moving forward. We're simply a boat in this big stream..."
Hay que recordar que fuera de las grandes ciudades como Shangai y Beiging, China sigue siendo un país pobre, y la desigualdad hace ver las diferencias mucho más notorias, y la gente en China las ve, y le molestan. Espero que los Juegos de 2008 sirvan para que el gobierno chino aprenda a escuchar más su gente... que tiene mucho tiempo ya amordazada.
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