OPINION> Commentary
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OPINION> Commentary
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Despite grief, China cannot wait to embrace athletes
By Stephen Barnes (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-15 07:38 Welcome to Eugene, Olympians. From over here, in Beijing. I was on a subway platform in Beijing on May 12 when a colleague called my mobile phone and told me to take cover. There has been an earthquake and there are going to be some aftershocks, he said. He could feel them from his office on the 16th floor. I could feel nothing underground. This, I thought, was another one of those false alarms. Several hours later, Chinese television stations began to broadcast from Wenchuan county in Sichuan province, the epicenter of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake. Like millions of Chinese, for the next several days I was numbed by the staggering toll reported by the media. The fatalities rose to near 70,000 (about half the population of Eugene) and the homeless to more than 4 million (more than one and one-half the size of Oregon's population). Many of the victims were children trapped in schools, representing the end of the family line. The Olympic torch relay - which had just reached China after some turbulence abroad - was suspended during the mourning period.
Since May 12 (5/12, the Chinese call it), Chinese, by the millions, have been donating generously to the victims of the quake. I have colleagues in Harbin who have donated more than half of their monthly salaries to unknown people in Sichuan province. That's like teachers in Astoria donating half of their salaries to a Hurricane Katrina fund. Business people, factory workers, government employees, teachers - private citizens from all walks of life - have given more than $1.2 billion to relief efforts. The Olympics, the Chinese government thought, would show the world the New China. In fact, the government's efficient response to the quake and the everyday Chinese citizen's extraordinary generosity has shown the world a truer picture of the New China. Eugene has a special link to the New China. On June 27-July 6, you, America's elite athletes, were in Eugene to prove your marks for the Beijing Games. I tell my Chinese friends that in America, if you want to go to Beijing to compete, you have to come through my hometown. You, who pass through Eugene en route to Beijing, have made extraordinary sacrifices. If qualified in Eugene, you get to wear red, white and blue singlets and receive "Jia you" ("Let's Go!" in Chinese) chants during warm-ups and bell laps in Beijing. Many of you will be honored on medal podiums. But this year, you have an opportunity to do something that transcends your athleticism: the opportunity to help lift the spirits of the Chinese in the earthquake's aftermath. These Olympics, perhaps more than any other in recent memory, demand extraordinary compassion and humility from the athletes. The Chinese have collectively sacrificed to provide a stage for you. While building this stage, the Chinese incurred massive, tragic losses from the earthquake. The Chinese are laying out the red carpet for you during a grieving period. You, perhaps more than any other personalities in the world, have a brand of charisma and confidence that the Chinese, young and old, admire. This year during the Olympic Games, that brand really matters. So, welcome to Eugene, Olympians! Enjoy the Hayward Field glow and your training runs on the Pre Trail. Soak in the Olympic Trials festivities that Eugene has prepared for you. Then, get ready to wear your country's colors in Beijing and support the Beijing Olympics theme of "One World, One Dream." The Chinese have planned this world event for a long time. And now, they await you to inspire their own dreams. The author is a Eugene resident and visiting law professor in Beijing at the China University of Political Science and Law. This article originally appeared in the Eugene, Oregon newspaper The Register-Guard (China Daily 07/15/2008 page9) |
