Editorial: China has a reason to behave

The reception President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) received during his stopover in New York City -- as well as his meetings with overseas Taiwanese, members of the US Congress and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- were gratifying. The stopover not only set many new records but also broke various taboos the US government used to put on Taiwan's high-level officials, sweeping away grievances accumulated over many years.

Curiously, however, China is keeping a low profile -- besides the usual pap that the US is "hurting the feelings of all the Chinese people" and "interfering in internal affairs" as well as calling in the US ambassador to Beijing for a dressing down. Which makes us wonder: What is wrong with China? Why is Beijing so extraordinarily calm?

The reason for such a low profile is simple. Beijing dares not now offend American public opinion and US representatives. In two months, the International Olympic Committee is going to decide who will host the 2008 Olympic Games -- and Beijing desperately wants to win. If Beijing reacts too strongly to Chen's stopover and arouses US anger as a result, its Olympic bid could be in jeopardy. The Chinese government, therefore, has learned its lesson and is keeping a low profile.

Judging from the responses of other countries over the past months and the IOC's evaluation, Bei-jing seems to stand a good chance of winning its bid -- unless a grave incident throws it off track at the last minute.

China has fully understood that recent developments -- including the George W. Bush administration's shift in its China policy and the EP-3 reconnaissance plane crisis which has raised fears of a new Sino-American "Cold War" -- have been disadvantageous to its Olympic hopes. On March 21, 41 members of the US House of Representatives joined hands across party lines to put forth a resolution to oppose Beijing's bid. A week later, the resolution was backed in the House International Relations Committee by a vote of 27 - 8. If such anti-China emotions keep boiling in the US Congress until July, this could influence the sentiments of Western European countries. This certainly does not bode well for Beijing's bid.

Beijing lost the 2000 Games to Sydney by only two votes, dealing a blow to the Chinese people's self-esteem and morale. We can expect Beijing to act like a sheep in the coming two months to avoid a repeat of that outcome.

If Beijing wins the bid, the rest of the world can expect China to enter a period of transformation. In order to be a good host, the Chinese government and authorities at least need to learn the fundamental standards of civilization and universal human rights. In the process, they may also learn how to treat their own people as well as they do foreigners.

If Beijing is successful with the Olympics, it offers hope that its behavior toward Taiwan will become more rational and civilized. This will definitely be helpful in improving cross-strait relations and ending the threat of a military attack.

While the scale of the efforts Beijing is putting into its Olympic bid appears somewhat absurd, we can hardly blame it after the precedent set by South Korea before the 1988 Seoul Olympics. As China shouts the slogans of "Green Olympics," "High-tech Olympics" and "People's Olympics," we can only hope that the Games will lead to the rejection of communism and the development of democracy or even a "peaceful revolution" in China.