China and the Games The Olympic Games have stood the test of time. Over the centuries, countries around the world hope to win the bid to get to have the chance to host the Olympic Games. This chance is a perfect opportunity to show off whatever host nations offer. The Games put a country on international display to host thousands of athletes from around the world. On July 13, 2001, the International Olympic Committee awarded the honor hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics to China. More specifically, in their capital city of Beijing. This put the country on an international stage and would require years of effort to ready the city. This readying of the city for the Games was important. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing had many impacts on the economy,
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A Beijing Olympics official promised that the games would be "an opportunity to foster democracy, improve human rights, and integrate China with the rest of the world" (Mooney). These attempts of cleaning up the environment did not always have a positive effect on the people of China. For example, Takashi Sekiyama states that migrant workers and homeless often faced problems during this state of urban renewal. To expand, at first, 1.25 million citizens were displaced because construction, and grew to 1.5 million by the time the torch is lit on August 8, 2008 (Zurlo). In addition, these citizens had little to no warning of their removal and did not receive any funding for the losing of their housing. By the end of the construction period, 512,100 homes were leveled (Zurlo). This forced removal hurt the residence in China and opened the door for other countries to realize that China might not have been as stable as the front they were putting …show more content…
While getting ready for the Games detained people who spoke out against the Games and the social changes that were resulting from hosting. Per "People’s Republic of China: The Olympics Countdown—Broken Promises," the government repressed rebellious voices of those drawing attention to human rights violations that took place while getting ready for the Games (Tu). This social change was an attempt to make the country seem stable from the outside; however, it only made conditions in the country worse. In fact, president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, stated that he hoped hosting the Games would help improve China’s human right issues (Tu). However, this improvement did not happen. The developing of arenas and stadiums often lead to long-time residents of the city being forced to relocate to a different location that was not a central area (Wasserstrom 101). This then, in turn, created a sense of hardness against not only the developers and builders, but also the government for winning the bid. The social change of relocation affected the games by moving prospective paying fans away from a place where they could easily attend the
A Beijing Olympics official promised that the games would be "an opportunity to foster democracy, improve human rights, and integrate China with the rest of the world" (Mooney). These attempts of cleaning up the environment did not always have a positive effect on the people of China. For example, Takashi Sekiyama states that migrant workers and homeless often faced problems during this state of urban renewal. To expand, at first, 1.25 million citizens were displaced because construction, and grew to 1.5 million by the time the torch is lit on August 8, 2008 (Zurlo). In addition, these citizens had little to no warning of their removal and did not receive any funding for the losing of their housing. By the end of the construction period, 512,100 homes were leveled (Zurlo). This forced removal hurt the residence in China and opened the door for other countries to realize that China might not have been as stable as the front they were putting …show more content…
While getting ready for the Games detained people who spoke out against the Games and the social changes that were resulting from hosting. Per "People’s Republic of China: The Olympics Countdown—Broken Promises," the government repressed rebellious voices of those drawing attention to human rights violations that took place while getting ready for the Games (Tu). This social change was an attempt to make the country seem stable from the outside; however, it only made conditions in the country worse. In fact, president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, stated that he hoped hosting the Games would help improve China’s human right issues (Tu). However, this improvement did not happen. The developing of arenas and stadiums often lead to long-time residents of the city being forced to relocate to a different location that was not a central area (Wasserstrom 101). This then, in turn, created a sense of hardness against not only the developers and builders, but also the government for winning the bid. The social change of relocation affected the games by moving prospective paying fans away from a place where they could easily attend the