the tiger's tail
The China Rises blog notes that the Beijing Olympic Games has constrained China's behavior in an interesting way:
This is an intriguing development. I've been somewhat leery of the Olympics providing legitimacy to China's approach to human rights. However the reverse dynamic is also at work, whereby China must moderate its own behavior to safeguard its own prestige and enormous investment into the Games. The Games thus become an instrument of policy in a sense. I wonder if this reticience on China's part will last much beyond the Closing Ceremonies, though.
Looks to me like countries once reticent to invite the Dalai Lama are now doing so with open arms, and making a big show of it.
They know China will come back and blast them for “severely hurting the feelings of the Chinese people,” threaten “severe consequences” and maybe even cancel some meetings. But foreign diplomats calculate that a window has opened to welcome the Dalai Lama.
[...]
Beijing has reason to be wary. It seems that with the Olympics looming, wherever the Dalai Lama travels, he is received in grand fashion. And Beijing’s warnings don’t carry much weight. After all, how can it retaliate against the West without harming itself?
This is an intriguing development. I've been somewhat leery of the Olympics providing legitimacy to China's approach to human rights. However the reverse dynamic is also at work, whereby China must moderate its own behavior to safeguard its own prestige and enormous investment into the Games. The Games thus become an instrument of policy in a sense. I wonder if this reticience on China's part will last much beyond the Closing Ceremonies, though.
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