In this article, the usual crap estimates on the 2008 Beijing Olympics:
12 August 2013 – The Olympics’ Leadership Mess – NYT
Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, edited “China’s Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/opinion/the-olympics-leadership-mess.html
Published in IHT Hong Kong 14 August 2013 as “What the Olympics can be”
Says the article:
“The 12-year term of the current president, Jacques Rogge of Belgium, will be remembered in large part for the glaring contradiction between the I.O.C.’s explicit vision of its lofty role in the world (as outlined in the rules and guidelines of its charter) and the fact that Mr. Rogge has been responsible for two Olympics with extensive human rights violations: the 2008 summer games in Beijing and the 2014 winter games in Sochi, Russia, which start in less than six months.
…
The 2008 Beijing games, which cost an estimated $40 billion, led to a host of rights violations, including abuses of domestic migrant workers who were building Olympic infrastructure and a harsh clampdown on civil society and media, with punishment (including imprisonment) for those trying to protest.”
Minky Worden, as many others. has not done his research. Beijing never spent US$40 billion for the 2008 Olympics. I was instrumental in raising funds for the construction of the major venues and helped launch the tenders, as member of the Beijing Municipal team, I was also well placed to have insight into the cost and the challenges of preparing for the Olympics. My own estimate of the total real cost in under $10 billion. Many other misgivings exist, like allegations that over 1 million people were displaced because of the Olympics: utter nonsense, as I still often explain in my seminars looking back at 2008. Was it all perfect? Surely not. But much better than what I see coming in Russia. I insisted that Beijing would not close its biggest gay bar. It remained open during the Games.
Gilbert Van Kerckhove
(Former Delegate Investment Promotion, Development Planning Commission, Beijing Municipal Government, Office for the Beijing Olympics 2008 projects)
Driving a BMW in China but…
See here from China Daily 1 August 2013:
Quotable
“Driving a BMW but drinking polluted water – that is definitely not the modernization prospect we foresee.”
Zhou Shengxian, minister of environmental protection, was quoted by the People’s Daily as saying on Wednesday. Zhou said progress in building an ecologically responsible society can be guaranteed only by implementing strict environmental regulations and the rule of law.
Actually a nearly similar quote is already mentioned in my book Toxic Capitalism
Better not to run a marathon with these running shoes
Quality issues in China can be both puzzling and disappointing.
Puzzling because it is hard to believe a brand like ASICS has such poor quality. I bought those in an “official shop” in Beijing but one can wonder: are they real or fake?
The model, here pictured, is ASICS TN238, “Made in China”. Fortunately I use those exclusively in the gym. The sole parts have been falling of several times. As it happened in the gym I was able to find them and glue them back myself. See here the latest one to fall of. Seems the glue they used must have a serious quality problem. Otherwise the running shoes are fine.
Now just imagine you are running a race with those, like a marathon. That would be a near disaster.
The impact of Global Warming: the Arctic and a Swiss village
The article Arctic ice melt an ‘economic time bomb’, 26 July 2013 – The Guardian – is one of the telling indicators.
Scientists say rapid melting of summer sea ice in the Arctic may release a “pulse” of methane, with dire implications for the global economy. See the full text:
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1290611/arctic-ice-melt-economic-time-bomb#comment-30702
Says the article:
“ … the release of a single giant “pulse” of methane from thawing Arctic permafrost beneath the East Siberian sea “could come with a US$60 trillion global price tag”, according to the researchers who have for the first time quantified the effects on the global economy. Even the slow emission of a much smaller proportion of the vast quantities of methane locked up in the Arctic permafrost and offshore waters could trigger catastrophic climate change and “steep” economic losses, according to the study published in the journal Nature. The Arctic sea ice, which largely melts and reforms each year, is declining at an unprecedented rate. In 2013, it collapsed to under 3.5 million square kilometres by mid September, just 40 per cent of its usual extent in the 1970s. Because the ice is also losing its thickness, some scientists expect the Arctic to be largely free of summer ice by 2020.”
In my book Toxic Capitalism, published last year, this issue was already mentioned as one of the major threats to our climate. This is just a confirmation.
Another impact mentioned in my book comes out again: see what is happening in places like Switzerland. Still, people, blinded by ignorance, refuse to admit what is going on.
See: Grindelwald Journal – As Glaciers Melt, Alpine Mountains Lose Their Glue, Threatening Swiss Village, article by Jogn Tagliabue, New York Times, published: 29 May 2013:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/world/europe/in-swiss-alps-glacial-melting-unglues-mountains.html?_r=0
Mountaineers are witness to the changes and fear the consequences when climbing.
Where is China heading? Opinions differ – or not?
“What Would a Hard Landing in China Mean for the World? Barry Naughton at U.C. San Diego, Jim McGregor of APCO Worldwide and Arthur Kroeber of GaveKal in Beijing take apart NYTimes columnist Paul Krugman’s recent assessment of what’s next for the world’s No 2 economy”. See here:
http://www.chinafile.com/what-would-hard-landing-china-mean-world
All comments carry some good insights. As for me, the worry goes a bit further. The Chinese economy and society has seen an accelerating set of problems, culminating in serious concerns on where China is heading. The 18th Party Congress showed the strains. As some Chinese said at the time, if the new leadership cannot handle the problems there might not be a 19th Party Congress. Maybe exaggerated, but this time the new leaders cannot swipe the issues under the carpet. Chinese society is weary of the host of problems, I don’t need to list them. With a worsening economy, public pressure will only become stronger. The new leaders are trying to tackle the core problems one by one (as I listed in my book). But they face deeply vested interests and their success is far from guaranteed. An easy way out is to blame the foreigners as we see too often (now the pharma companies). As a businessman commented yesterday to me (he has 25 years of China): the Chinese do not want foreigners to succeed here, except for some big companies like VW, GM etc. We see that everyday, just talk with a foreign restaurant or bar owner. Authorities check anything they can invent, flies, smoking, hygiene, you name it. You go to a locally owned place and you see another world where everything goes (welcome to smoke, don’t ask where the mear comes from, don’t eeven ask if they have a restaurant license, …). China has also the lowest possible amount of foreigners (in percentage of the total population). More and more of my friends are leaving this summer – visa problems. With all the nice talking by the authorities one can wonder, are we really welcome? As an active member in the European Chamber we see so many market access issues, while Chinese complain about “market access in the EU”. What a joke. After over 30 years here, I have some doubts right now.