For centuries, the Olympic Games have been an opportunity for athletes around the world to showcase superior abilities and unify nations through competition. Now, internationally, countries don't get many opportunities to gain a platform where one can grasp the attention of the entire world. China’s ultimate dream has been to gain major international influence or to “take over the world” for years now. And that may be what their Olympic stage is used for.
Within the last year itself, China has been in the media’s spotlight — for the worst of reasons. Starting with Covid-19, a virus that has killed millions, originating in the nation. Additionally, the genocide of the Uighur Muslims is an even more devastating reality in China that has been brought to light. Concentration camps. The sexual exploitation of women. Clothes removed, and hands handcuffed to leave one exposed and vulnerable. No, I am not talking about the Holocaust; I am speaking of a genocide that is occuring right now in Xinjiang, China. The few who were able to escape have reported these brutalities to news sources, and now the whole world knows. This is where the Beijing Olympics comes in. China needs a way to ‘redeem’ its name after being viewed unfavorably by much of the world. By highlighting aspects like the country's beautiful cities, and extravagant culture, the nation can distract from the uglier events that are occurring there. The nation has evidently taken part in abysmal activity, and it makes sense that they now want to be known for something else. China has a strategic plan to attain international influence. So the question that more people should be asking is, what else can the 2022 Olympics do for China?
Hosting the Olympics gives host nations the opportunity to gain prestige and influence on the international stage. China gets to display its culture through traditional clothing, pop culture, and food, which appeals to other nations because it shows China through a particular lense— a lense that other nations may really like. It displays China’s humanity, showing its status as a nation like any other person’s home country. Appeal is everything when it comes to soft power—appeal and attraction. Soft power is when a country has the ability to persuade other nations to do what it wants. This is in contrast to hard power through military and economic strengths. That very attraction is fundamental to gaining international influence; a box that has resided on China’s wish list for a long time. Being puissant creates a system where other nations follow another's ideas and decisions. This ability to influence certain decisions can have more power than any gun, ultimately making soft power extremely significant. The United States also has industries like Hollywood and franchises like McDonalds, which has given the United States a big voice on the international level. With China lacking major industries like these, the Olympics may be their ‘big break.’
As discussed, the Olympics are a significant international event that can highlight a country, and that can be seen through history too. In Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China, Dayan and Price write, “Following World War II. . . Both London in 1948 and Helsinki in 1952 presented their Games as gestures of national recovery”(Dayan, Price 122). China can do the same for the Beijing 2022 Olympics following the Coronavirus pandemic. Through this, a very clear narrative is created— China is the nation that aids in restoring reality post covid. Yet another point in history, can display another aspect of Olympic history. In 1936, the games were held in Berlin and the Nazi’s were in power. The games were used to showcase Adolf Hitler’s regime, and with Germany winning more medals than any other nation, Germany and the Nazis gained prestige. With prestige comes power. History tells the rest of the story of what happened. The Nazis may have been slowly gaining power for a while, but this international recognition in the Olympic games is a soft power like no other. And in the modern day, hosting the games is more valuable than winning any event. While the games are meant to unite nations and create diplomatic relations, any country that desires supreme global power can use the nationalism and prestige created from hosting the Olympic games, and turn it into something else. The question is, what will China turn it into? According to the Holocaust Museum, “The Nazis promoted an image of a new, strong, and united Germany while masking the regime's targeting of Jews. . . as well as Germany's growing militarism.” To emphasize, the Nazis portrayed Germany as a nation that it was not at the time, to attract positive attention, and hide what was really happening behind the scenes. The situation is alarmingly similar to what is seen in China right now— China celebrating their culture in the 2022 Beijing Olympics while millions of innocent people are dying in China’s concentration camps. It is no secret that the country is potent and capable of becoming the next ultimate superpower, similar to how Germany was at the time. Germany did awful things with that power. China can not repeat that mistake.
In efforts to gain power through international relations, China has created Panda diplomacy. The panda, a native bear to only china, has been seen as a ‘powerful weapon’ rather than an animal itself in modern days. Pandas are now seen as a symbol for friendship and peace— so much so that the practice of panda diplomacy was created: the Chinese government sending Pandas to other nations as a sign of diplomacy and harmony. In truth, Pandas could have been a huge attraction to appeal to tourists, especially if they were found nowhere else in the world. It is disheartening that Pandas have now become ways to help political figures, instead of political figures helping the pandas. It is outrageous that pandas were forced to leave their home and adapt to a new environment completely because political figures could figure no other way to demonstrate peace. And people aren’t trying to save this adorable animal solely because it is indeed a living organism, but instead because they are needed politically. Any person can understand the immoral aspect of panda diplomacy. Therefore, the fact that the Chinese government would go to extreme measures to appeal to other nations shows what they are willing to do to gain soft power. When the Olympics present itself as an opportunity to do the same, will China take it?
Soft power is the key to international influence. But in this day of age, how much international influence is too much? And at what point does the quench for power become a quench for something else? Edmund Burke says, “The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.” That is clear through the Holocaust. Now, it is up to China to rewrite this proverb; with great power what else will come?
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