Organic Olympic vegetables growing in importance
BEIJING--Most of the organic vegetables to be delivered to the athletes' village and press center during the Beijing Olympic Games and ensuing Paralympics will be grown in the village of Donglongwan, about 100 kilometers northwest of Beijing.
Organic eggplants, tomatoes, onions and other vegetables will be grown in a 30-hectare field surrounded by a two-meter-high steel fence.
An official of the company that operates the field said: "We've agreed with the Olympic Organizing Committee not to publicize our activities to ensure the safety of the vegetables bound for the Games. We'll give no interviews."
The Beijing Olympics is a golden opportunity for China to prove to the world that it has become a major power. For Chinese, who attach importance to the concept of "mianzi" (dignity, reputation and prestige sometimes referred to as "face"), the Olympics are a large and significant mianzi-related project. They want the Olympics to run smoothly so as not to be spoken ill of.
But recently, the safety of Chinese food products--from maritime products to diet foods--has been called into question.
Shen Mingming, chief researcher at Peking University's Research Center for Contemporary China, said, "If we're hit by more food safety scares, we'll lose face as the Olympic host country."
Other preparations also suggest China is aiming to protect its reputation by ensuring the event is viewed as a success both domestically and overseas.
China's citizens have a reputation for not lining up in public places. As such, the city has designated the 11th of every month to promote the habit of waiting in line.
A 55-year-old woman waiting in line at an amusement park on July 11 said, "As residents of the city hosting the Olympics, we should learn manners."
In September, Chinese newspapers reported the city was considering forcing about 1 million migrant workers to return home during the Games. The city was quick to refute the allegation, perhaps in the hope that foreign media would abstain from condemning the city for its disregard of human rights.
A diplomatic source said, "When a problem arises and the international community becomes increasingly remonstrative, the Chinese government suddenly accelerates the pace of its countermeasures." China may be trying to prove it has met international standards. But the country is not necessarily acting out of concern for its perception in foreign eyes, or worrying about measuring up to world yardsticks.
When the Security Command Center for the Olympics invited Beijing-based diplomats in late June to an information session on security at the Games, Tian Yixiang, director of the center's military bureau, apparently was irritated by mounting criticism of China over its dealings with Sudan.
Criticism is mounting in the United States that China, the biggest buyer of Sudanese oil and a major investor in the country, has not been doing enough to pressure Khartoum into ending the bloodshed in the Darfur region. Activists are calling for the Olympics to be boycotted.
"Some international nongovernmental organizations plan to use the Beijing Olympics as a tool to pressure the Chinese government," Tian said. These words hinted that China will not tolerate any criticism of the government, even for the sake of the Olympics, and revealed an iron fist concealed within China's velvet glove.
China may care about how it is perceived abroad, but after all is said and done, it will reject criticism of issues such as human rights, because they touch at the core of the Chinese Communist Party's monolithic rule.
In this sense, the country has not changed its stance.
