Comments on: The Beijing Olympics: A Fifteen-Year-Long Ride http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:20:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: scholar http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html/comment-page-1#comment-21761 scholar Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:01:27 +0000 http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html#comment-21761 Chris, I am just as pleased and proud of China's achievements, and indeed as an expat family we all have benefited from those resulting opportunities. I just think that for all the reasons mentioned, e.g., scale, complexity, history, etc., China is still very much of a powderkeg. I personally feel we are not used to China's sheer scale, and recently that scale of success compared to anything we have ever seen in our home countries, is so overwhelmingly impressive that it's easy to be blinded by it. I'm not smart enough to know what confluence of factors might trigger this powderkeg, but until enough people take pride more in their potential influence as moral authorities rather than their material achievements the civil socety can be easily destabilized. So I get a twitch when you say China has "moved on", and while on the surface this may seem reasonable, I personally it can very easily "move back" as well. No China bashing here, but no candy-coating either. Chris, I am just as pleased and proud of China’s achievements, and indeed as an expat family we all have benefited from those resulting opportunities. I just think that for all the reasons mentioned, e.g., scale, complexity, history, etc., China is still very much of a powderkeg. I personally feel we are not used to China’s sheer scale, and recently that scale of success compared to anything we have ever seen in our home countries, is so overwhelmingly impressive that it’s easy to be blinded by it. I’m not smart enough to know what confluence of factors might trigger this powderkeg, but until enough people take pride more in their potential influence as moral authorities rather than their material achievements the civil socety can be easily destabilized. So I get a twitch when you say China has “moved on”, and while on the surface this may seem reasonable, I personally it can very easily “move back” as well. No China bashing here, but no candy-coating either.

]]> By: Chris Devonshire-Ellis http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html/comment-page-1#comment-21402 Chris Devonshire-Ellis Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:29:29 +0000 http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html#comment-21402 Thanks for your comments One World. It was a very different time in those days, and some of it was a lot more fun! Bicycles everywhere...girls on one side of the disco, boys on the other..."Changee FEC"...ah the good old days. But the new post Olympics Beijing looks in pretty good shape too... Thanks for your comments One World. It was a very different time in those days, and some of it was a lot more fun! Bicycles everywhere…girls on one side of the disco, boys on the other…”Changee FEC”…ah the good old days. But the new post Olympics Beijing looks in pretty good shape too…

]]> By: One World http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html/comment-page-1#comment-21186 One World Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:49:40 +0000 http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html#comment-21186 Congratulations to your achievement! Congratulations to Beijing, China. Everything in the article is true and real - remember Jian Guo Hotel's Sunday branch with live concert? It was always packed with people from different countries, and it was the only place to go. Remember the old Silk Valley where 1 dollar use to worth 10 RMB? It has been a lot of struggle for China and people to come to today. Also, congratulations to all people from different countries who try to be possitive to China, who understand the culture and understand progress is more important than getting somewhere overnight, you know you are part of China growth. We all know China has problems, who doesn't. Congratulations to your achievement! Congratulations to Beijing, China. Everything in the article is true and real – remember Jian Guo Hotel’s Sunday branch with live concert? It was always packed with people from different countries, and it was the only place to go. Remember the old Silk Valley where 1 dollar use to worth 10 RMB? It has been a lot of struggle for China and people to come to today. Also, congratulations to all people from different countries who try to be possitive to China, who understand the culture and understand progress is more important than getting somewhere overnight, you know you are part of China growth.

We all know China has problems, who doesn’t.

]]> By: Chris Devonshire-Ellis http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html/comment-page-1#comment-20983 Chris Devonshire-Ellis Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:23:11 +0000 http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html#comment-20983 Hi Onder, I'd agree with that. China does always tend top attract an excessive amount of criticism, much of it not justified. And as a I pointed out, the China, and world of 1989 was a very different place - the Soviet Union had just collapsed for a start. If China had crumbled at the time of the Tiananmen protests, there would be no cheap goods today, nor any Olympics. Someone should write a book about what could have happened if the protests had led to a democratic China. You'd have civil war in Xinjiang, regional instability across the Himalayas, Yunnan seeking independence, Taiwan making trouble...it would have been a mess. But it isn't. The difference between China then and China now is quite plain to see. A remarkable transformation. Sure there are problems - we write about them - but there are more opportunities and good things happening here than bad. We don't try to scare people about China to promote our services, we tell it how it is - we all live and work here. At least the Olympics has enabled other journalists to take a view. Here's Rosemary McLeod of the New Zealand Sunday Times "Acting Like Western Bulls In a China Shop" http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4667154a16077.html. Perhaps the China bashers will finally run out of steam, they've been sussed. China = automatically bad is not so true now, times have moved on. Thanks for your comments - Chris Hi Onder, I’d agree with that. China does always tend top attract an excessive amount of criticism, much of it not justified. And as a I pointed out, the China, and world of 1989 was a very different place – the Soviet Union had just collapsed for a start. If China had crumbled at the time of the Tiananmen protests, there would be no cheap goods today, nor any Olympics. Someone should write a book about what could have happened if the protests had led to a democratic China. You’d have civil war in Xinjiang, regional instability across the Himalayas, Yunnan seeking independence, Taiwan making trouble…it would have been a mess. But it isn’t. The difference between China then and China now is quite plain to see. A remarkable transformation. Sure there are problems – we write about them – but there are more opportunities and good things happening here than bad. We don’t try to scare people about China to promote our services, we tell it how it is – we all live and work here. At least the Olympics has enabled other journalists to take a view. Here’s Rosemary McLeod of the New Zealand Sunday Times “Acting Like Western Bulls In a China Shop” http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4667154a16077.html. Perhaps the China bashers will finally run out of steam, they’ve been sussed. China = automatically bad is not so true now, times have moved on.

Thanks for your comments – Chris

]]> By: Onder http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html/comment-page-1#comment-20881 Onder Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:55:38 +0000 http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html#comment-20881 Aug 26, 08 Chris, As you keep witnessing the dramatic transformation in China for many years, my understanding from your recent articles about Beijing 2008 : China now has proven its ability to provide both hardware and ``software``together... It is fair to go with highlights and not just stick with downsides while there is always a room for improvement. Onder Aug 26, 08
Chris,
As you keep witnessing the dramatic transformation in China for many years, my understanding from your recent articles about Beijing 2008 : China now has proven its ability to provide both hardware and “software“together… It is fair to go with highlights and not just stick with downsides while there is always a room for improvement.
Onder

]]> By: Chris Devonshire-Ellis http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html/comment-page-1#comment-20791 Chris Devonshire-Ellis Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:14:51 +0000 http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html#comment-20791 Janus: I was in Beijing at the time of the Tiananmen protests, I saw what happened, and I saw things I never want to see again. Calling it the Tiananmen incident works just fine for me; I was there. However, this article, and this site, is not about that moment, which although nasty, was in a different time, and a different world. We all need to move on from that. The Beijing Olympics in my mind showed both China and the rest of the world largely have. This is a very different China to the one in 1989. Janus: I was in Beijing at the time of the Tiananmen protests, I saw what happened, and I saw things I never want to see again. Calling it the Tiananmen incident works just fine for me; I was there. However, this article, and this site, is not about that moment, which although nasty, was in a different time, and a different world. We all need to move on from that. The Beijing Olympics in my mind showed both China and the rest of the world largely have. This is a very different China to the one in 1989.

]]> By: Janus http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html/comment-page-1#comment-20777 Janus Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:18:32 +0000 http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html#comment-20777 "Tiananmen Square incident," ahem. Say what you want to do business, but I hope you people know better... “Tiananmen Square incident,” ahem.

Say what you want to do business, but I hope you people know better…

]]> By: lizq http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html/comment-page-1#comment-20768 lizq Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:20:00 +0000 http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/08/25/the-beijing-olympics-a-fifteen-year-long-ride.html#comment-20768 very good ,true changes in Beijing showed to readers, hope to find more articles. have a nice day very good ,true changes in Beijing showed to readers, hope to find more articles.

have a nice day

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