China's Great Leap The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights

by Worden, Minky; Kristof, Nicholas; Van Lohuizen, Ladir

• ISBN13: 9781583228432
• ISBN10: 1583228438
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-05-06
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Summary

An essential book for understanding China on the cusp of the Olympics, China's Great Leap draws on the expertise of many of the world's leading China experts. These writers examine the People's Republic of China today as its government and 1.3 billion people prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games. When Beijing first sought the Games, China was still recovering from the upheavals of Maoist rule and adapting to a market revolution. Today China wants to engage with the outside world-while fully controlling the engagement. How will the new leaders in Beijing manage the Olympic process and the internal and external pressures for reform it creates? China's Great Leap will illuminate China's recent history and outline how domestic and international pressures in the context of the Olympics could achieve human rights change. Learn about key areas for human rights reform and how the Olympics could represent a possible great leap forward for the people of China and for the world. With contributions from Joseph Amon, Bao Tong, Frank Ching, Jerome A. Cohen, Arvind Ganesan, R. Scott Greathead, Han Dongfang and Geoffrey Crothall, Sharon Hom, John Kamm, Phelim Kine, Jimmy Lai, Liu Xiaobo, Martin Lee, Christine Loh, Emily Parker, Kenneth Roth, Sophie Richardson, Mickey Spiegel, Wang Dan, and Dave Zirin. As Media Director of Human Rights Watch, Minky Worden monitors crises, wars, human rights abuses, and political developments in more than seventy countries worldwide. From 199298, Worden lived and worked in Hong Kong as an adviser to Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee. Worden is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, speaks Cantonese and German, and is an elected member of the Overseas Press Club's Board of Governors. She is the co-editor of Torture: Does It Make Us Safer? Is It Ever Ok? A Human Rights Perspective.

Author Biography

As Human Rights Watch's Director of Global Initiatives, MINKY WORDEN develops and implements international outreach and advocacy campaigns. Before joining Human Rights Watch in 1998, Ms. Worden worked in Hong Kong and in Washington, D.C. at the Department of Justice. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she is the editor of China's Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges and the co-editor of Torture: Does It Make Us Safer? Is It Ever OK?: A Human Rights Perspective. Worden lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Map of China	p. 12
Introduction: A Lever for Change in China	p. 17
Recent Chinese History and the Olympic Context
Overview: China's Race for Reform	p. 25
From Mao to Now: Three Tumultuous Decades	p. 39
The Promise of a "People's Olympics"	p. 59
The Ghosts of Olympics Past	p. 73
Olympian Changes: Seoul and Beijing	p. 85
Human Rights Abuses Exposed in the Olympic Flame
Five Olympic Rings, Thousands of Handcuffs	p. 101
Physical Strength, Moral Poverty	p. 107
A Gold Medal in Media Censorship	p. 115
High Hurdles to Health in China	p. 125
Worship Beyond the Gods of Victory	p. 141
A Slow March to Legal Reform	p. 155
Polluted Air, Unclean Business Practices
Building the New Beijing: So Much Work, So Little Time	p. 171
China's Olympic Dream, No Workers' Paradise	p. 181
Photo Essay: Migrant Workers Race the Clock
The Race for Profits	p. 193
China and the Spielberg Effect	p. 205
A Marathon Challenge to Improve China's Image	p. 223
Clearing the Air	p. 235
The Political Backdrop of the Beijing Games
Modern Games, Old Chinese Communist Party	p. 249
Democracy with Chinese Characteristics	p. 255
Authoritarianism in the Light of the Olympic Flame	p. 263
Dragons Win: The Beijing Games and Chinese Nationalism	p. 273
Challenges for a "Responsible Power"	p. 283
A Dual Approach to Rights Reform	p. 297
Notes	p. 303
Suggested Reading	p. 313
Acknowledgments	p. 319
Index	p. 323
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.