JENNA SCHUETTE | Staff Writer
WITH AP
On Aug 8 2008, the world’s most populous country will host the 29th summer Olympics. This is the third time the summer Olympics has been held in Asia. However, questions are being raised concerning China’s environmental issues and human rights violations. Various participating nations cannot hide their concern toward these issues.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has considered China as the next Olympics host with a business perspective. Since they have the largest population in the world and their economic development is remarkable, China got 56 votes as Canada got only 22 votes in the host selection process.
Since eight is a lucky number in China, the opening ceremony is going to start at 8:08 p.m. on August 8, 2008. In addition, the sacred torch relay has the longest distance which goes through the basement camp of Mt. Everest.
Although China has already started building 22 new facilities for the Olympics in Beijing, the environmental issue is a big obstacle. Most participating countries display concern for the air pollution level, in China, which is at least two to three times higher than levels deemed safe by the World Health Organization.
Currently, 20 countries plan to stay in Japan right before the Olympics start for final adjustments and training. Eight of those countries have decided on the exact place they will be stay in Japan.
“The air pollution around Beijing was really bad, but the Chinese government did not show any efforts to improve the condition,” Tomoko Takeda said. “I saw how the trash disposal was really careless and it also causes another environmental issue.” The horsemanship league in Switzerland decided not to attend the competition. The long trip to Beijing, high humidity and the negative environmental factors, which, would affect the health of the horses, are some of the reasons. Even one of the German magazines predicts that players of outdoor sports will be affected, especially in the marathon, and the world record will probably not be broken. Beijing’s poor tap water supply is another issue. A Beijing official stated that tap water in the city should be avoided because the water transported throughout the city is contaminated. The United States Olympics Committee has decided to import food for its athletes.
China has also been accused of human rights violations, and many people have been encouraged to boycott the Olympics throughout the world.
In April 2007, Beijing Olympic artistic adviser Steven Spielberg resigned his position. He sent a letter to the Paramount Leader for the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao to discuss and possibly end China’s involvement in the dispute of the western Darfur region.
However, China did not respond to this letter, so Spielberg stepped down from his role in protest. In addition, Hollywood actor Richard Gere is the chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet. He called for a boycott of the games to put pressure on China to make Tibet independent.
The issues between China and Taiwan have also been raised. The original scheduled route for the torch relay included a stop in Taipei just before heading for Hong Kong. However, Taiwan’s government later rejected this agreement because it would make the Taiwan relay be seen as part of China’s domestic route more than the international route.
The IOC took Taipei off the torch relay route and now both China and Taiwan have blamed each other for injecting politics into the event. “Taiwan has wanted to be independent from China for a long time and I was told that China was bad by my parents,” Taiwanese native Kirk Chan said. “Because China had the more powerful military power, Taiwan could not resist China.”
Hosting the Olympics is expected to increase the economic benefits of China and is considered to be one of the signs of a developed country. 
