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Have opinions of China changed due to Olympics?

By: Justin Lopinot | 08/25/2008

The Olympics are now over, so China's time in the spotlight will slowly fade away. The games in Beijing served as a PR opportunity for the country – a chance to put reputation management skills to the test and show the world that it's more than just home to a Communist government. The Games left viewers with images of the Bird's Nest, Yao Ming holding a young hero from a devastating earthquake, the dominance of the Chinese diving team and the excellent 12-year-old Chinese gymnasts.

But was the entire image of China a sleight-of-hand, created in a masterful PR stroke to portray a false sense of reality? Did the glitz and flash convince Westerners to overlook the country's records on pollution and human rights? Or did we all realize it was just a show, like that little girl behind the curtains at the opening ceremony with the “crooked baby teeth and chubby face” (not my words; these are from The Los Angeles Times) who provided the voice for the lip-synching, much prettier Lin Miaoke?

Some experts have commented on the mixed messages presented by China. “China is trying to present itself as nonthreatening and in a lot of ways nonsocialist,” Michael Dutton, an academic at Australia's Griffith University's Asia Institute who studies political cultures, told The Associated Press. “They've gone all out to try and present a country that's ancient yet super-modern.”

So what do you think? Has your opinion of China changed due to the Olympics?

Posted in Reputation Management, Reputation Management