The Summer Olympics are only days away and what the Chinese had hoped would be their coming out party to celebrate all that is good, may instead become quite the opposite.The air pollution in Beijing is so bad that even reducing automobile traffic by 50% has not helped much. China is now considering a 90% reduction according to news reports. Athletes are staying in other countries until the games begin so that they may train somewhere they can breathe. There are also reports that many athletes involved in stamina events will be forced to wear masks to protect themselves from the particulates in the air.
Now Reuters is reporting that "Some International Olympic Committee officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites despite promises of unrestricted access, a senior IOC official admitted on Wednesday."
So the world media will not be able to do their jobs in a manner they are accustomed to. But who are we actually referring to? Western media, of course, because half the world still limits access to information to some degree.
Latest Olympics Photos
Brazil's soccer player Diego (R) fights for the ball with Vietnam's Vu Nhu Thanh during their friendly match at the My Dinh stadium in Hanoi August 1, 2008, in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. REUTERS/Kham (VIETNAM) (BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 PREVIEW)
Reuters
Brazil's soccer player Pato (C) celebrates with his teammates Ronaldinho (L), Diego (R) and Anderson (top) after scoring against Vietnam during their friendly match at the My Dinh stadium in Hanoi August 1, 2008, in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. REUTERS/Kham (VIETNAM) (BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 PREVIEW)
Reuters
Brazil's soccer player Ronaldinho (L) fights for the ball with Vietnam's Huynh Quang Thanh (C) and Nguyen Minh Phuong (R) during their friendly match at the My Dinh stadium in Hanoi August 1, 2008, in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. REUTERS/Kham (VIETNAM) (BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 PREVIEW)
Reuters
Brazil's soccer player Ronaldinho (L) controls the ball as Vietnam's Huynh Quang Thanh watches during their friendly match at the My Dinh stadium in Hanoi August 1, 2008, in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. REUTERS/Kham (VIETNAM) (BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 PREVIEW)
Reuters
Italian fencer Andrea Baldini during a press conference in Milan, Italy, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. Baldini will miss the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for a diuretic during last month's European Championships in Ukraine. Baldini won a silver medal in foil at the 2006 and 2007 world championships and was considered a gold-medal candidate for Beijing. In the press conference Baldini said he "did not take anything". (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AP
Italian fencer Andrea Baldini reacts during a press conference in Milan, Italy, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. Baldini will miss the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for a diuretic during last month's European Championships in Ukraine. Baldini won a silver medal in foil at the 2006 and 2007 world championships and was considered a gold-medal candidate for Beijing. In the press coference Baldini said he "did not take anything". (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AP
Italian fencer Andrea Baldini arrives for a press conference in Milan, Italy, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. Baldini will miss the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for a diuretic during last month's European Championships in Ukraine. Baldini won a silver medal in foil at the 2006 and 2007 world championships and was considered a gold-medal candidate for Beijing. In the press coference Baldini said he "did not take anything". (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AP
Italian fencer Andrea Baldini during a press conference in Milan, Italy, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008. Baldini will miss the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for a diuretic during last month's European Championships in Ukraine. Baldini won a silver medal in foil at the 2006 and 2007 world championships and was considered a gold-medal candidate for Beijing. In the press coference Baldini said he "did not take anything". (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AP
A night view of the National Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest", is seen during a water columns show in Beijing August 1, 2008. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar (CHINA) (BEIJING 2008 OLYMPICS)
Reuters
A total solar eclipse is seen in Jiuquan, in China's western Gansu province Friday Aug 1, 2008. Millions of Chinese along the ancient Silk Road gathered Friday to gaze at a total solar eclipse, an event traditionally fraught with superstitious meaning coming one week before the start of the Beijing Olympics. (AP Photo) ** CHINA OUT **
AP
The biggest problem for the Chinese and the West is, and has always been, one of communication. The Chinese have made great strides to improve the paltry conditions that I will not even refer to as a living standard for their people. And yes, they are control freaks. I have witnessed that here too, although it is the western media that tries to balance this out. But we want to impose our rules and our timetable on another country and another people without walking a mile in their shoes.
They too do not understand much about the West and have been a closed society for so long that what some see as limited progress is actually gargantuan. Then there is Tibet, another controversy that will not go away in our lifetime.
In the meantime, investors the world over have been supporting Chinese markets and most large companies can't stop salivating over the expansiveness of China's market potential. I own Chinese stocks and our site has posted a multitude of stories on the subject. Some of the companies worth watching include:
- Aluminum Corp of China ADS (NYSE: ACH)
- China Life Insurance ADS (NYSE: LFC)
- China Med Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CMED)
- China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL)
- Huaneng Power Intl ADS (NYSE: HNP)
- PetroChina Co Ltd ADR (NYSE: PTR)
- East West Bancorp (NASDAQ: EWBC)
- Honeywell Intl (NYSE: HON)
- International Business Machines (NASDAQ: IBM)
- Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)
- Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI)
- United Technologies (NYSE: UTX)
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of ACH, HNP, JNJ, PTR.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-31-2008 @ 11:21PM
olmlo said...
Have you come to Beijing?Do you think you know very well about china? I feel sad for there is persons like you in American.You have prejudice against China!Welcome to China .You will fall in love with this great country.
8-01-2008 @ 1:48AM
Sheldon L said...
Some travels, know the country, have many friends there and my office manager is from China. I am also sponsoring a young architect from China. I can comment about China from many different perspectives. My comments would be kinder then many of it's citizens.
8-01-2008 @ 6:51AM
al coholic said...
Good post. I think you have brought up some important issues. Aside from some extremists, I think most Americans have a much better feeling about the chinese than they did during the cold war.
In the end, they have plenty of problems to solve to make their society better. So do we.
8-02-2008 @ 11:17AM
nickerson said...
People forget this is a close country. They are still ruled by an iron hand. They want to rule at least their part of the world, and maybe the whole world. They feel they can take us over by IOU'S. The US is put in a box on about every issue at the UN by China or Russia. Folks got to watch these folks real close, they have more spys in the US than move people understand. It's cheaper for them to steal or buy US secrets.
8-26-2008 @ 12:14AM
Tom Higgins said...
It is a country that is developing very fast with government reserves increasing by $100mil every hour, you sound like you fee threatened :P. Western companies are investing in this growth more and more, the Chinese market is the thing to get into if your a western company.