The Marathon After the Olympics
By Dr. Jackson Janes

Just an Athletic Competition? Hardly.
The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing are in theory designed to signal a break from politics and a chance to focus on an unabridged athletic competition. Of course that artificial distinction cannot hide the fact that the Olympic platform has been and is never isolated from the political and economic interests of both the hosts and the participants of the Games. Hitler used the 1936 Olympics as a vast advertising scheme for the Third Reich. During the Cold War, battles between the U.S. and the Soviet Union on the ice rink or in the gym were often framed as proxies for the East-West standoff. The Games have also been the stage on which the world's threats are played out for all to see, such as the murder of Israeli athletes at the games in Munich in 1972. The U.S. and some of its allies boycotted the Games in Moscow in 1980 after the Russians invaded Afghanistan; the Russians did the same four years later when the games were held in Los Angeles.

Sometimes the Games can help make transparent the hypocrisy of governments seeking to exploit the games. China's crackdown on dissent is no different from that which it has already been practicing and will continue for the foreseeable future. And that is all very visible to the world now.

World Leaders in Attendance
One question surrounding this year's Games in China is how the attendance of over eighty world leaders - a record attendance at the Olympic Games - can add legitimacy to a regime while also trying to focus attention on its shortcomings. President Bush is in Beijing, as are other European leaders, but Chancellor Merkel, who is on vacation, is not.

Bush has said he wants to pay his respects to the Chinese people while publicly criticizing the violation of human rights by the Chinese government. French President Nicolas Sarkozy originally called for a boycott of the Games - he later changed his mind and is now in Beijing.

So does that mean that Merkel does not care enough about the Games? Or enough about using them to both engage and criticize the Chinese people and their government? Maybe the answer is that the Games in Beijing are not the real stadium in which the races to be run can be won.

Economics as Motivator
The mix of motivations in various national capitals reflects how each evaluates its relationship with China. Bush is there because the U.S. needs China for multiple reasons, many of which are related to the complex interdependence of economic ties but also with long-range strategic considerations in mind. One need only think of the negotiations with North Korea in the past few years where China's participation was of central importance, or of the critical importance of maintaining open sea lanes and stable security structures throughout Asia.

At the same time, U.S. relations with China are always complicated by Taiwan, which maintains a strong lobbying presence in Washington. Nevertheless, Bush has come a long way from his confrontational approach at the beginning of his presidency eight years ago. He has now met with Chinese leaders more than any other president before him. That reflects a reality of an increasingly complex and important relationship with Beijing.

Other foreign leaders are attending the games for similar reasons, perhaps not as intense as the U.S. but rather still expecting to explore more relations in the future with the largest market in the world.

Increasing Ties Between Beijing and Berlin
For Germany, there has been a continuous stream of visits to Beijing from Berlin and interest in expanding economic ties remain of importance to Germany. China is Germany's second-largest export market and Germany is the largest importer of Chinese goods in Europe. Germany is also Europe's largest investor in China. The ties are also expanding in other areas; for almost a decade, China has the largest number of foreign students studying in Germany at over 27,000 enrolled in German institutions of higher education.

That neither Chancellor Merkel nor Foreign Minister Steinmeier is attending the opening of the games will not alter these developments or interests in Berlin or Beijing. The recent meeting between the Chancellor and the Dalai Lama caused an interim political hiccup but that will not interfere either.

Yet the long-term questions about relations with China have as much to do with the ability of Germany and Europe to forge not a singular, separate relationship with China, but a coordinated one across the Atlantic. For starters, that does require a more coordinated approach within the European Union, which is, to say the least, a work in progress. Germany's leading role in regard to trade relations with China means that it should take the initiative in forging a more unified approach.

Seizing the Opportunity of New Common Ground
With a new administration about to take office in Washington, the opportunity to explore common ground can be renewed with Germany and Europe. As the post-Kyoto negotiations proceed, China needs to be engaged in that process. Here Germany and the EU, along with the U.S., have shared interests. Above all, Germany and the United States share a common commitment to maintaining secure, free, and fair trade within a system of both values and interests which also include our social and environmental goals. Whether it is looking at the enforcement of a set of regulatory regimes which protect all of us, not just some of us, or whether we can identify a way to guarantee a framework in which global economic competition can lift all boats, there needs to be a concerted effort to pursue World Bank President Robert Zoellick's admonition to make China a "responsible stakeholder" in the fair and responsible global system. The challenges out there - burden sharing in alleviating poverty, facing the dangers of global warming while attending the shared needs of rich and more countries, the continuing threats of nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and the protection of human rights - are all occasions to rethink how we deal with them together. That would suggest that China ought to be engaged in a revitalized structure which, for example, could be more representative than the G8, which excludes not only China, but also India, Brazil, Indonesia, and South Africa.

Without such an effort, the temptation of the Chinese could be to challenge prevailing international regimes and try to restructure them along their own preferences worldwide, given the enormous economic power it is building up and spreading throughout Africa and Asia and perhaps the Middle East in the future. The fact that the authoritarian capitalist model seems to be working for the Chinese government adds to that temptation.

Long after the Olympic Games are over, these global races will still be running. What is at stake is the integration of the Chinese and Asian economies into a global economy and a platform where we can address a common set of interests and values. That will be the race for the Gold; it will be a long marathon at that.

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This essay appeared in the August 8, 2008, AICGS Advisor.

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Want to know more?

"Light Fantastic: China's Opening Ceremony Thrills the Watching World," by Kevin Garside, The Telegraph (UK), August 8, 2008.

"Olympia der Heuchler," by Henryk M. Broder, Der Spiegel Online, August 8, 2008.

"Most EU Leaders Stay Away From Olympic Ceremony," by Philippa Runner, EUObserver.com, August 8, 2008.

See also: The War for Wealth, by Gabor Steingart.