Editorial: One World, One Dream, one big gamble in Beijing

Some call it a joke.

Others say it is a lie.

But one thing is for sure.

China’s official motto for the 29th Olympiad that opened in Beijing this week — One World, One Dream — is a reminder to the rest of the world of its totalitarian arrogance.

As the most politically contentious Olympics in history gets underway, China has shown time and again that it will do anything to project a false reality of hope and harmony.

Sure the $40 billion games will be heralded as a great success and the inspirational stories of athletes going faster; being stronger and aiming higher will dwarf some of the negativity.

But rest assured these games have come at a high price.

The International Olympic Committee awarded China the games with the great hope that it will spur political change in this communist behemoth.

So far that has proved a futile gamble.

Since the IOC gave the 2008 Olympic franchise to Beijing back in 2001, China has been on a war footing, rounding up beggars and shipping them to rural provinces, forcing tens of thousands of people to move from their homes, cracking down on dissent and jailing protestors.

Media "troublemakers" and "suspect" visitors have been denied visas while Chinese authorities have reneged on promises of press freedom by curtailing Internet access.

The Chinese Olympic torch relay muscled its way around the world escorted by a ring of Beijing bouncers, to show off its powers of control in foreign lands.

The imposition of repressive policies continues unabated as blacks and Mongolians were banned from Beijing bars last week, because some of them sell drugs and are prostitutes.

All demonstrations, messages of dissent and protests are strictly prohibited and to ensure the rules of the unelected leaders are obeyed, China has deployed over 100,000 cops and soldiers to ensure "harmony."

On the global front, China has paid scant attention to the chorus of condemnation of its actions in Darfur and Tibet proving yet again that its version of international brotherhood involves repression and violence.

If anything, the Olympics have led to more repression in China.

This summer as 10,000 athletes from some 200 countries gather in Olympic pageantry, China will treat citizens who refuse to participate in its coming-out party with ruthless efficiency.

Beijing’s actions mock the IOC charter which states the goal of the Games "is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

The IOC gambled that the games would give China a pedestal to display its architectural superlatives and economic prowess while paving the way for democratic reforms.

Beijing 2008 was meant for the world to see China in a new light.

But that new light only illuminates an old warning.