The Beijing Olympics is slated to define the future moments for China. It would be a lesson for India, which is gearing up to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
Both the emerging economies, India and China, compete with each other, having a population of over one billion. The political systems are different in the two counties, with India having a multi-party democracy and China having a one-party rule. The internal situation is, however, gradually under change in China after Mao Tse-tung and with Deng Xiaoping introducing reforms.
The direction of the change in China was clear from the XXIX Olympics Games in Beijing. China wants to wed its past glory with its modern achievements. The sayings of philosopher Confucius, which were shunned in the days of the cultural revolution under Mao Tse-tung are now a matter of pride.
At the opening ceremony of the Olympics at the Bird?s Nest Stadium on August 8, an army of 2,008 drummers chanted Confucius?s sayings??Friends have come from afar, how happy we are?. The time chosen for inauguration was 8.08 pm Chinese time, as Chinese consider number eight to be auspicious, which brings wealth, prosperity and fortune.
China has invested over $45 billion on the event. According to some estimates it would be $70 billion, making Beijing Olympics the costliest so far. In the last Olympics in Athens in 2004, Greece invested $15 billion.
Nationalism and national pride seem to be gradually replacing Maoism. The inauguration witnessed 29,000 traditional fireworks and dance performances depicting ancient Chinese maritime adventure, silk-route trade and martial art by about 14,000 performers, including school children. With about seven million tickets sold, the event has a participation of 10,500 athletes from 204 countries in 308 disciplines from 38 sports. The inauguration ceremony was attended by 90 heads of state.
Analysts in western countries view that China may further open up to the world after Olympics. Some who have been critical of China?s human rights record have even drawn a parallel between Beijing Olympics-2008 with Berlin Olympics-1936 under Nazi rule. But China faced with recent devastating earthquake, unrest in Tibet and terrorism in Xinjiang Uyghur province went undeterred in hosting the Olympics, but with unprecedented security measures.
The most spectacular scientific achievement came to the fore when the Chinese government fired a volley of rockets in the sky to disperse rain-causing clouds on Saturday?the largest such operation in China and first such operation in an Olympic event. Millions of dollars have been spent to keep the air clean, about 3.3 million cars were off the road and some polluting factories closed.
China has taken an early lead in the medals tally by winning nine gold, three silver and two bronze by August 11. Expectations are high that China would give a tough fight to leading teams like US, Germany and Russia. India, which has sent a small contingent had been lucky to make a dent when shooter Abhinav Bindra created a history for the country by winning the first individual Olympic gold medal.