Mon, Sep 22, 2014 page18

• Games’ rivalries beyond sports

  INTERNATIONAL SQUABBLES: From naming issues and territorial disputes to what has been called ‘cultural differences,’ the Asian Games represent a lot of tension

  • AP, INCHEON, South Korea
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  On the one hand, you have China and India, which account for about a quarter of the world’s population. On the other, the Maldives, population 345,000. There is Bhutan, which has been described as the happiest place on Earth, and Syria, which certainly is not. And for good measure, why not throw in some of the most repressive regimes on the planet — North Korea, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan?

  Welcome to the Asian Games, where, as the organizers put it: “Diversity shines.”

  For the third time in the Games’ 63-year history, host South Korea has managed to bring together all 45 member states of the Olympic Council of Asia for a spectacle of sports that over the next two weeks will put the spotlight on more than 10,000 athletes vying for 439 gold medals.

  

  Turkmenistan flagbearer Gylychdurdyyev Gurbanmuhammet leads their delegation in the opening ceremony of the Asian Games at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium in South Korea on Friday.

  Photo: AFP

  Along with being the premier sporting event for the world’s most populous region — 4.5 billion at last count — the Games offer a snapshot of Asia itself.

  And it is, well, complicated.

  Asia is rife with rivalries. Most of them are not friendly.

  For starters, this year’s host country is technically still at war with its neighbors north of the Demilitarized Zone, which has made for more than a few awkward moments with the North Korean team in its midst. On Friday, not long before North Korea marched into the Games’ main stadium to warm applause from the South Korean crowd of about 60,000, a South Korean Navy ship fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol boat that had apparently violated a sea border.

  Ah yes, those Asian borders.

  One set of islands alone — the Spratleys in the South China Sea — is claimed by a half dozen Asian Games’ participants, including Taiwan.

  TERRITORIAL DISPUTES

  China has territory disputes with just about all of its neighbors. Japan has issues not only with China, but also with the host, with Russia (not a competitor here) and with Taiwan — which, of course, is officially known at the Games as Chinese Taipei since its mere existence as a country is not recognized by Beijing.

  Longstanding land claims have led the Indians and the Pakistanis into four shooting wars, mainly over Kashmir, and there is no lack of bad blood between the Indians and the Chinese, who are also at odds over Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.

  Even at friendly off-the-field events, it seems, time has not done much to heal old animosities.

  Just before the Games began, officials were looking into complaints the Japanese hockey team handed out rising-sun flag pins to local schoolgirls. The emblem, closely associated with Japan’s militaristic past, when it controlled all of Korea as a colony until 1945, is seen as highly offensive in South Korea. Organizers lodged a formal protest.

  For the purposes of the Games, most of the countries in the Middle East are considered a part of Asia.

  So if you want to cheer on your favorite Palestinians, Incheon is the place to be. However, if you support Israel, you are out of luck. The Israelis competed in the Asian Games from 1954 to 1974, but they were banned by the council in 1981.

  Despite its civil war, and now the rise of the Islamic State — formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — Damascus has sent a delegation, and so has Baghdad. Yemen and Iran are here, too.

  SAUDI ISSUE

  Conspicuously absent are any women on the 200-member Saudi Arabia team.

  Human rights groups, not surprisingly, are crying foul.

  Middle East and North Africa director for Human Rights Watch Sarah Leah Whitson said in a statement earlier in the week that failing to send women to the Asian Games “casts doubts on Saudi Arabia’s commitment to end discrimination and allow Saudi women to participate in future competitions.”

  To make matters worse, two Palestinian soccer players and an Iranian team official have had their identification documents revoked and were expelled from the Games for groping local volunteers, which caused a loud outcry in the South Korean media.

  Council president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah said there is zero tolerance for such incidents, but also suggested cultural differences might have been at play.

  “Of course, that kind of accident can’t be allowed to happen,” he said. “But to me also we have to understand what was the real problem ... Asia — east, west, central and south — there are a lot of different cultures in this continent.”

  Despite its rather humble beginnings in New Delhi in 1951, when there were only nine events and 11 countries involved, staging this year’s Games is believed to have cost South Korea US$2 billion.

  That is another thing that is hard to miss at the Games — though Asia is now the most economically dynamic region in the world, with the likes of China, Japan and South Korea leading the way, it is also a region marred by severe poverty.

  For the major players, the Asian Games is a solid path toward bigger things. Former Asian Games host Japan will be hosting the Olympics in 2020, and South Korea will be hosting the 2018 Winter Games. Beijing started off with the Asian Games in 1990 and hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008. Hoping to join the elite pack, Kazakhstan, with 423 athletes here, is seeking to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in its largest city, Almaty, the site of the 2011 Winter Asian Games.

  However, most countries here cannot afford that luxury.

  Saying it simply could not come up with the money, Vietnam had to formally announce this week that it was giving up its claim on hosting the next Asian Games. Indonesia is to step in instead.

  Meanwhile, for countries such as Afghanistan, Nepal, Laos or Cambodia, just providing the facilities and training needed to develop top-class athletes is no small feat.

  While host South Korea have 831 athletes at Incheon and China 899, East Timor have 31. Cambodia have only 21.

  Worth keeping in mind when the final medal counts come out.
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