Centre of the World

The four-hour long opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing were widely covered in the international press. Simultaneously, war between Russia and Georgia broke out. China ignored all political turbulence by creating a programme which completely focused on the history of the country and the most important Chinese inventions. Fireworks, printing press, paper; it all played a prominent role in the Olympic opening. All means were used and long rehearsals paid off its hard work. The show ran smoothly and China was for at least 4 hours the centre of the world.

The chief of the opening stated before hand that the opening was supposed to be an artistic statement, to show China’s artistic and cultural capabilities, while politics were to be left out. Remarkable then was the “hidden” statement of including an old-professional with Tibetan origins next to the Chinese old-professionals who carried the Olympic flag into the stadium. What does this mean? Or more so, what does it mean that the Chinese emphasized this in their information for the international press?

By now many have said that sports and politics should be separated. Of course, this is not possible during the Olympic Games. China’s so-called statement was an empty, hollow message, in a programme which completely focused on the glory of the host country. It was not a poor decision to include the Tibetan old-prof, but more so to emphasize it this way in the information provision. In the context of all the glamour and hyper-organized Olympics, this “statement” made the whole happening looke like a farce.