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What You Didn’t See In Beijing
I’ve been largely willing to turn a blind eye to the politics in China, at least while the Olympics were going on. I thought the games were really exciting this year and except for China cheating with underage gymnasts, the games went quite well.
Having said that, now that the games have concluded we’re beginning to learn more about just what made it possible for Beijing to put on such a spectacle. It seems that like everything else in China, one must take a peek behind the curtain to see what’s really going on.
Foreigners traveling around Beijing over the last couple of weeks have admired the beautiful flowers blooming and lush green grass around famous monuments.
We’re now learning that China was terrified that they would run short of fresh water during the games, predicting as much as a 30% spike in water usage. Rather than gather the smartest minds in China to come up with a solution, the Chinese government did what any good dictatorship does, and decided to steal the extra water.
More than 200 miles of pipeline was constructed which drained thousands of farms completely dry leaving farmers without a livelihood and many without a home.
More than 30,000 people have been left homeless, and many have even been driven to suicide. Security officials blanketed the area to ensure none of the disgruntled farmers could somehow make it to Beijing and clue the world in on what’s going on.
The blunders began when officials started to worry that Beijing might not have enough water to cope with 500,000 visitors to the Olympics. There was talk of a 30% spike in demand. Their gaze turned to Hebei province, its fields ripe with vegetables, corn and rice, providing a good living for its huge rural population.
Decrees were issued, targets were set and engineers scurried to complete a “100day struggle” to build almost 200 miles of channels and pipes to Beijing. These will form part of a gigantic project to bring the waters of the Yangtze River to the drought-stricken plains of northern China. Meanwhile, four strategic reservoirs in Hebei, around the city of Baoding, were filled to the brim.
Accounts differ of what happened next. Some farmers say the price of water was raised by 300% to put it beyond their reach. Others simply say that their irrigation channels ran dry. As subterranean water levels fell, their wells collapsed, fields were abandoned, mud-brick farm houses stood empty.
About 31,000 people around Baoding are said to have lost their homes or land. Local leaders complained; China’s tiny environmental movement agitated. That all stopped when the Hebei media trotted out a barrage of propaganda assuring readers that the entire population was overjoyed to be making a sacrifice for the national good.
The security services were also on high alert for any foreigners entering Baoding. Taxi drivers were told to drive any foreigners who asked for a ride straight to the police station.
A reporter for the London Times who uncovered this whole story experienced the creepy security first-hand when he traveled to Baoding.
At a city hotel, the staff at the front desk arose aghast when I entered to ask for a room, then immediately telephoned the authorities. Deciding to forgo the pleasure of their acquaintance, I made my excuses and left Baoding.
As I waited at the railway station, the only foreigner in a reeking hall crammed with shabby migrants, a young man in a perfectly ironed green polo shirt and polished black shoes came and sat opposite, apparently engrossed in a newspaper.
A few minutes later a second young man, in a neat purple T-shirt and equally shiny shoes, sat down nearby and stared into space. A third fellow, this time in a pink polo shirt, materialized in the heaving throng next to me as we tramped towards the night express, murmuring into a mobile phone. After I climbed on board they vanished.
Yet another red banner, strung across the interior of our packed carriage, read: “The five Olympic rings include you and me.”
This pretty much destroys any illusions about the Chinese government. The entire Olympic games was a remarkably well choreographed charade intended to maintain a facade of progress. President Hu Jintao is really just a quieter and more reserved version of Joseph Stalin. It was a mistake to allow China to host the Olympics and it’s a decision the world will grow to regret more and more as time goes on.
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New blog post: What You Didn’t See In Beijing http://tinyurl.com/66sgtp