The mystery of the half-filled stands at many events at the 2008 Olympic Games has been solved, according to Chinese internet users, who say it is the result of a policy to prevent the gathering of large and possibly uncontrollable crowds.

 

They claim ticket sales to the public were secretly restricted. Blocks of tickets went to government departments, Communist party officials or state-owned companies, which have quietly obeyed orders not to hand them out. “People are so angry because they slept all night outside ticket booths and got nothing and now they see this,” said one blogger, Jian Yu.

 

Official explanations eroded swiftly because internet insurgents have rapidly identified cracks in the perfect facade constructed for the Olympics.

 

In the nine days since Chinese leaders presided over a grandiose - and, it turns out, partly faked - opening ceremony, one fact after another has eluded the censors and fuelled public indignation at the costs and the charade. Protected, they hope, by online anonymity, some of China’s 1.3 billion people are daring to wonder where it will all end.

 

At some football matches in the northern city of Shenyang, only a third of the seats were taken. Even some gymnastics finals, usually one of the biggest attractions on the programme, were not sold out.

 

Nobody seems to have explained it to the International Olympic Committee, which is baffled by the empty seats, or to the sponsors, who are disappointed.

 

The policy meant that some British supporters have been deprived of the excitement of seeing the Games. Even parents of competitors, such as those of Rebecca Adlington, the gold medal-winning swimmer, have complained about being unable to get seats.

 

Jeff Hunter, group operations director for Sportsworld, the official travel and ticket agent for the British Olympic Association, said: “It is surprising that not all the venues have been as full as they could have been.”

 

Lower-ranking Chinese officials hastily bused in paid “volunteers” to populate the stands in Beijing, appreciating the embarrassment caused by leaving them half-empty, but public relations remain a matter of indifference to most guardians of public order.

Security has been heavy-handed from the start. As the film director Zhang Yimou’s extravaganza kicked off with a boom, I watched on a giant screen in a park, one of the few venues where ordinary Chinese people were allowed to gather.

 

They cheered as the fireworks exploded, few looking up to find that there were, in fact, none to be seen because the sequence was produced by software, not gunpowder.

They cooed at nine-year-old Lin Miaoke, hardly caring that her lyrics were obviously mimed, and as she sang they went into a patriotic delirium when goose-stepping soldiers raised the national flag. Yet even these loyal citizens could not be trusted. We were surrounded by dozens of police who locked the gates to keep us in and others out.

 

Chao Chanqing, an exiled journalist widely read on web-sites accessible in China, has accused Zhang, the director, of playing the same role as Leni Riefenstahl, who filmed an epic documentary for Hitler at the Berlin Olympics of 1936.

 

The director scorns the comparison but he admitted that a Chinese leader ordered him to make changes to the ceremony. “I had no chance to reject his opinion,” he told the Nanfang Weekend newspaper. Analysts said he was referring to vice-president Xi Jinping, heir apparent to the top job.

 

Government officials swept thousands of migrant workers out of Beijing – the very people who built the stadium, at least 10 of them paying with their lives. Police arrested hundreds of provincial petitioners who sought justice in the capital and sent at least 58 to labour camps for “reeducation”.

 

The sick were told that routine surgery was cancelled in every hospital and officials shut some psychiatric patients inside their wards.

Even as the nation is supposed to be keeping a keen tally of the gold medal count, dissenters are daring to raise the issue of how much the Games have cost the people of China.

 

For all its export might, China is still a poor, largely agrarian country with perhaps 700m farmers and 150m migrant workers. The size of its economy is huge but, measured by wealth per head, it ranks 109th in the world, comparable with Swaziland or Morocco.

 

It faces an acute crisis as its people live longer but fewer are born; the old lack pensions and healthcare must be paid for. Half the population does not have clean drinking water and 16 cities are among the most polluted on earth.

 

So why, asked the mainland Chinese writers in a Hong Kong magazine named Kaifang (Opening Up), did China blow more than £20 billion on the Games?

They calculate that the total costs may exceed £30 billion, more than the Chinese government will spend this year on education or public health or relief for the Sichuan earthquake. These are questions that would make any ruler nervous.

 

Chinese leaders prided themselves on the splendid reception for dignitaries and 10,500 athletes. They rejected criticism of their policies on Darfur, Burma and Zimbabwe, brushing aside foreign demonstrators complaining about Tibet.

However, they remain worried about political undercurrents among their people. These can be unexpected. Despite pervasive internet control, censors could not stop nationalist criticism about the diplomatic price China has paid for mounting the Games.

 

Exhibit one for the ultra-patriots was a border treaty signed on July 21 between China and Russia to settle disputes over their Siberian territories that led to armed clashes during the cold war. Official accounts of the treaty emphasised the return to China of 1½ islands in the icy Amur River that divides the two nations.

 

Online critics were enraged because the foreign ministry appeared to have recognised the 19th-century conquest of thousands of square miles of land by Tsarist Russia. “These lands belong to all the people of China,” a blogger called “Tiger” wrote. It was only on the day the treaty was signed that the attendance of Vladimir Putin at the opening ceremony of the Games was confirmed.

 

Exhibit two was an agreement on June 18 between China and Japan to embark on joint exploration for oil and gas in a disputed zone of the East China Sea. It was only after this agreement that Yasuo Fukuda, Japan's prime minister, confirmed that he, too, would attend the opening.

 

It may seem remote to the athletes and sports fans in Beijing, but national pride is central to the Olympic message that China's government has crafted for its own youth.

Few foreigners will make their way to the Stalinist palace in west Beijing that houses the national military museum, but thousands of schoolchildren were trooping through a new exhibition there last week.

 

They saw a version that traces their country's descent into poverty and chaos to British aggression in the 1840 opium war. "The imperial powers descended upon China like a swarm of bees, looting our treasures and killing our people," the exhibit reminded viewers.

 

There was no mention of the famines that may have claimed 30m lives after Mao's "great leap forward", of the decade of chaos in the Cultural Revolution, which killed 1m more, or of the democracy protests in 1989 which ended in the massacre at Tiananmen Square.

 

Despite the precise attention given to such a perfect display, somebody seems to have missed the bold headline on a student newspaper published in 1919, when China was in a ferment of idealism and its Communist party did not exist.

 

It stated: "Democracy - a government for the people, by the people and of the people - our motto."

 

Source: Sunday Times

so?

 

stadiums are rarely filled when theres no 'finals' taking place, even at major events. the stadium looked well stocked to me... but i dont care! i didnt watch the opening ceremony, i dont care if the kids were miming or not, i dont care that they were all chinese, i dont care if the event is 'false' as i dont care about china!

 

the athletes however are genuine and for the first time ever the first 5 places in races are all being dope tested, so the chinese got that right!

the athletes however are genuine and for the first time ever the first 5 places in races are all being dope tested, so the chinese got that right!

I'd say that the IOC made that decision.

 

That was a more rational article though than some other views though and its good to see some Chinese people getting to know the atrocities China commit ^_^ . Although its no use ranting about what they do on here, because it won't make any difference.

so?

 

stadiums are rarely filled when theres no 'finals' taking place, even at major events. the stadium looked well stocked to me... but i dont care! i didnt watch the opening ceremony, i dont care if the kids were miming or not, i dont care that they were all chinese, i dont care if the event is 'false' as i dont care about china!

 

No, you dont care do you mate.... You dont care that people (so-called "undesirables" like Black people and Gays) are being rounded up by these fascist b/astards and put into detention camps, you dont care about the fact that the whole thing is just a fukkin' farce which is bloody obvious when even the RELATIVES of athletes aint getting tickets, you dont care about the fact that Athletes were censured from making any statements about Chinese policy in Tibet by our OWN Govt and sporting bodies.... Nah, you just sit there swilling your proverbial 'pizza and beer' and just mindlessly letting it all wash over you in the name of "entertainment"... I honestly thought better of you tbh, so disappointing to be proven wrong.. -_- You moan about Cowell and Co dumbing down UK music with rubbish like "X-Factor", well, things are CONSIDERABLY worse when a bunch of Politicians use a sporting event to push their propaganda... This is vastly more than a mere "dumbing down", this is the destruction of the ethos of the Olympic spirit in the name of the promotion of a State's ideology and dominance, this is as bad as what Hitler attempted to do with the Berlin '36 games, difference is, HE never got away with it, whereas everyone is letting the Chinese authorities do exactly that.....

 

The stadium looking "well stocked" is probably down to clever camera angles which give the appearance of a full stadium.... The facts are, people are being prevented from getting tickets... Beijing '08 is a sham and shame on anyone who tries to put a ridiculous "positive" spin on things.....

 

No, you dont care do you mate.... You dont care that people (so-called "undesirables" like Black people and Gays) are being rounded up by these fascist b/astards and put into detention camps, you dont care about the fact that the whole thing is just a fukkin' farce which is bloody obvious when even the RELATIVES of athletes aint getting tickets, you dont care about the fact that Athletes were censured from making any statements about Chinese policy in Tibet by our OWN Govt and sporting bodies.... Nah, you just sit there swilling your proverbial 'pizza and beer' and just mindlessly letting it all wash over you in the name of "entertainment"... I honestly thought better of you tbh, so disappointing to be proven wrong.. -_- You moan about Cowell and Co dumbing down UK music with rubbish like "X-Factor", well, things are CONSIDERABLY worse when a bunch of Politicians use a sporting event to push their propaganda... This is vastly more than a mere "dumbing down", this is the destruction of the ethos of the Olympic spirit in the name of the promotion of a State's ideology and dominance, this is as bad as what Hitler attempted to do with the Berlin '36 games, difference is, HE never got away with it, whereas everyone is letting the Chinese authorities do exactly that.....

 

The stadium looking "well stocked" is probably down to clever camera angles which give the appearance of a full stadium.... The facts are, people are being prevented from getting tickets... Beijing '08 is a sham and shame on anyone who tries to put a ridiculous "positive" spin on things.....

 

i dont care because i CANT care about all the wrongdoings that are going on in the world. i cant change them, though id support anything that would change them. (like the apartheid campaign in the early 80's). theres not i iota i can do... theres nothing happening to prevent this, and exactly what are YOU doing?... nowt! just sitting there preaching about the rights and wrongs ... bloody hypocrit!

 

im watching now and the stands appear (and certainly sound) full.

i dont care because i CANT care about all the wrongdoings that are going on in the world. i cant change them, though id support anything that would change them. (like the apartheid campaign in the early 80's). theres not i iota i can do... theres nothing happening to prevent this, and exactly what are YOU doing?... nowt! just sitting there preaching about the rights and wrongs ... bloody hypocrit!

 

The simplest, easiest thing that a normal person could do is to stop watching this sh!t, thereby refusing to legitimise it, also refuse to buy products made in China, if enough people started doing that... If you cant see that then you really are a fool.... -_-

 

And I was actually on the Torch demo....

 

The simplest, easiest thing that a normal person could do is to stop watching this sh!t, thereby refusing to legitimise it, also refuse to buy products made in China, if enough people started doing that... If you cant see that then you really are a fool.... -_-

 

And I was actually on the Torch demo....

 

lol.. im NOT going to stop watching it as its HIGHLY entertaining, watching sportspeople at the zenith of their career performing to their best ability is an awesome spectacle. if the athletes are there performing, then ill watch! besides what good would it do if i didnt watch? ...:lol:

 

id support any anti chinese boycott but ill not start one, yes i can see that by doing that then that might make a difference.

lol.. im NOT going to stop watching it as its HIGHLY entertaining,

 

Well, sorry, but I tend to think that the gross violation of Human Rights, the lies and the broken promises that's occured as a result of China being given the Olympics is a TAD more important than the rather fluffy idea of "entertainment".... But that's just me obviously..... -_-

 

As far as I'm concerned these "assurances" the IOC got from the Chinese authorities are about as credible as Neville Chamberlain's "piece of paper" in which Hitler 'promised' to be a good chap and not invade any more countries...... -_-

 

I take it you'd've happily watched the Berlin '36 Games if we'd had mass televising back then mate, yeah....? Think about it....

Well, sorry, but I tend to think that the gross violation of Human Rights, the lies and the broken promises that's occured as a result of China being given the Olympics is a TAD more important than the rather fluffy idea of "entertainment".... But that's just me obviously..... -_-

 

As far as I'm concerned these "assurances" the IOC got from the Chinese authorities are about as credible as Neville Chamberlain's "piece of paper" in which Hitler 'promised' to be a good chap and not invade any more countries...... -_-

 

I take it you'd've happily watched the Berlin '36 Games if we'd had mass televising back then mate, yeah....? Think about it....

 

if we didnt watch the olympics in berlin... what would have changed?.... FCUK ALL.

 

ive said many times that china shouldnt have been given the games, but they have, i have learned to live with it, i suggest you do cos gobbing off on an internet forum aint gonna change 1 thing. its too late, and china will just carry on regardless of wether the rest of the world approves or not, regardless of the games.

if we didnt watch the olympics in berlin... what would have changed?.... FCUK ALL.

 

ive said many times that china shouldnt have been given the games, but they have, i have learned to live with it, i suggest you do cos gobbing off on an internet forum aint gonna change 1 thing. its too late, and china will just carry on regardless of wether the rest of the world approves or not, regardless of the games.

 

At least you wouldn't be lending your tacit support to Hitler, which makes all the difference.... If the viewing figures for the Chinese Games were SO bad in comparison to others it WOULD give pause for thought, because the debate would take on a totally different colour, the media and politicians would be asking "Sh!t, WHY are so many people not watching these Games, could it possibly be because of China and it's horrendous record on Human Rights....?". If the Games were seen to be a failure in viewing figures terms it would send a message not only to China but to the IOC as well to think carefully about who they choose to host the event in the future.... But of course all you Olympic bummers are too stupid and short-sighted to see that simple truth..... -_-

 

Fukk the Olympics anyway, it's become so tainted and corrupted over the years, bribes, drugs, corporatisation, etc, etc, it's hardly even worthy of being called "sport" anymore, a bit like the way international Football has become - all about the money, the Corporate sponsorships, the dodgy back-room deals..... It's a business dude and it's totally Political... It cannot be coincidence that China got these games seeing as how they're the growing World Economy.... -_-

At least you wouldn't be lending your tacit support to Hitler, which makes all the difference.... If the viewing figures for the Chinese Games were SO bad in comparison to others it WOULD give pause for thought, because the debate would take on a totally different colour, the media and politicians would be asking "Sh!t, WHY are so many people not watching these Games, could it possibly be because of China and it's horrendous record on Human Rights....?". If the Games were seen to be a failure in viewing figures terms it would send a message not only to China but to the IOC as well to think carefully about who they choose to host the event in the future.... But of course all you Olympic bummers are too stupid and short-sighted to see that simple truth..... -_-

 

Fukk the Olympics anyway, it's become so tainted and corrupted over the years, bribes, drugs, corporatisation, etc, etc, it's hardly even worthy of being called "sport" anymore, a bit like the way international Football has become - all about the money, the Corporate sponsorships, the dodgy back-room deals..... It's a business dude and it's totally Political... It cannot be coincidence that China got these games seeing as how they're the growing World Economy.... -_-

 

ive told you..its too late. china have the games and im thoroughly enjoying them! and ill not be made out to be stupid, or a pariah, just because i AM watching them... i bet you could find a good reason to boycott nearly every country for something, god im glad i dont live in grimly world,

Wow. I think it is pretty f***ed up that you are a citizen of a country that basically treats you like $h!t. China just doesn't seem to care who knows...while America and the UK try (badly) to sugarcoat their laws.

 

i bet you could find a good reason to boycott nearly every country for something, god im glad i dont live in grimly world,

 

OH PLEASE shut up.... GOD, you really are fukkin' dense sometimes....

 

IF the Olympics had gone to Toronto or Paris as they should (seeing as how BOTH cities put in the superior bids, as is widely acknowledged..), we wouldn't even be HAVING THIS FUKKIN ARGUMENT.... Canada and France are not exactly on the level of sheer fukkin EVIL that China are....... At least people in Canada and France can do things like protest and vote and are free to express themselves..... Last time I looked Canada and France didn't shoot kids in the back of the fukkin' SKULL for exercising any of these rights..... Last time I looked Canada and France didn't go around rounding up black people or gays either and stick them in "camps"......

 

Pillock..... <_<

OH PLEASE shut up.... GOD, you really are fukkin' dense sometimes....

 

IF the Olympics had gone to Toronto or Paris as they should (seeing as how BOTH cities put in the superior bids, as is widely acknowledged..), we wouldn't even be HAVING THIS FUKKIN ARGUMENT.... Canada and France are not exactly on the level of sheer fukkin EVIL that China are....... At least people in Canada and France can do things like protest and vote and are free to express themselves..... Last time I looked Canada and France didn't shoot kids in the back of the fukkin' SKULL for exercising any of these rights..... Last time I looked Canada and France didn't go around rounding up black people or gays either and stick them in "camps"......

 

Pillock..... <_<

 

blah de blah de blah... hot air..

 

me dense?... well let me spell this out for you so you fully understand

 

I HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT I AGREE THAT CHINA SHOULDNT HAVE HAD THE GAMES... so you are preaching to the converted!

 

moaning about it now is TOO LATE, if you have a bone to pick, pick it with the IOC not ME!

 

.... and DONT hold france up as a paragon of pc virtue... they are FAR more intollerant of gay people and are FAR more insular and racist then what WE are.

.... and DONT hold france up as a paragon of pc virtue... they are FAR more intollerant of gay people and are FAR more insular and racist then what WE are.

 

France has concentration camps for Blacks and Gays then yeah...?? Where, exactly.....? Come on, give me a location where these camps are located.... I'm pretty sure if they existed, the same reporters who found the REAL camps for blacks and gays in China would've found the similar ones in France by now..... :rolleyes: The French may have a more racist or homophobic attitude, but it doesn't exactly translate into GOVT POLICY does it....? Or maybe I missed France's version of 'Clause 28'.... :lol: :lol:

 

Like I say, people in France have the right to protest WITHOUT being rounded up and shot by the authorities or be run over by fukkin' TANKS..... So, er, tell me again, that France is SOOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEVILLLLL...... Not saying they're perfect, but at least Sarkozy actually showed a bit of fukkin' SPINE over this affair and made public statements condemning China's human rights record, a bit more than our own PM did, who just went out for a nice little Olympic jolly with his mates Georgie and Vlad..... :rolleyes:

 

Whether you disagreed with China getting the games before is irrelevant, the fact that you're just sitting there blithely going along with this bullsh!t NOW is the problem I'm having... If you found it so morally objectionable before, then surely nothing should change your attitude and you shouldn't be going along with it.... Unless you're just a big, fat hypocrite of course..... Like these people who went out being all "anti-war" before the thing happened and then just sat back like brainless, spineless sponges and enjoyed the "fireworks" show on CNN, Sky and Fox...... <_<

France has concentration camps for Blacks and Gays then yeah...?? Where, exactly.....? Come on, give me a location where these camps are located.... I'm pretty sure if they existed, the same reporters who found the REAL camps for blacks and gays in China would've found the similar ones in France by now..... :rolleyes:

 

Like I say, people in France have the right to protest WITHOUT being rounded up and shot by the authorities or be run over by fukkin' TANKS..... So, er, tell me again, that France is SOOOOOOOOOOO EEEEEEEVILLLLL...... Not saying they're perfect, but at least Sarkozy actually showed a bit of fukkin' SPINE over this affair and made public statements condemning China's human rights record, a bit more than our own PM did, who just went out for a nice little Olympic jolly with his mates Georgie and Vlad..... :rolleyes:

 

Whether you disagreed with China getting the games before is irrelevant, the fact that you're just sitting there blithely going along with this bullsh!t NOW is the problem I'm having... If you found it so morally objectionable before, then surely nothing should change your attitude and you shouldn't be going along with it.... Unless you're just a big, fat hypocrite of course..... Like these people who went out being all "anti-war" before the thing happened and then just sat back like brainless, spineless sponges and enjoyed the "fireworks" show on CNN, Sky and Fox...... <_<

 

.... nope... sorry... i cant find the bit where i said france was as bad as china.. i said they are far from 'perfect' and shouldnt be held up as a paragon of virtue as WE have a better track record regarding our improving attitudes to homosexuality and race.

 

so you have a problem with me watching the games? :lol: ... thats bonkers! why single out ME? :lol:

thats bonkers! why single out ME? :lol:

 

Because I thought you a bit more intelligent and thougthful than most of these stupid young kids on this site who frankly dont seem to give a flying fukk about anything political...

 

 

i said they are far from 'perfect' and shouldnt be held up as a paragon of virtue as WE have a better track record regarding our improving attitudes to homosexuality and race.

 

Not sure that's true either tbh.... I refer you to my example of "Clause 28", which is a peculiarly BRITISH thing... A Govt coming along and making it a POLICY to be anti-gay is far more damaging than some moron who cops an attitude, these sorts of people can easily be ignored, an actual LAW which legitimises Homophobia is a tad more difficult to ignore..... And I have yet to see where the equivalent of Clause 28 in French Law exists.....

 

I honestly dont know where you're proof for us supposedly having this great "track record" on racism is either... This is certainly NOT the experiences of my Asian/Muslim friends who deal with racism almost as a daily process.... Frankly, they would read your statement and laugh....

Because I thought you a bit more intelligent and thougthful than most of these stupid young kids on this site who frankly dont seem to give a flying fukk about anything political...

 

then respect my decision to watch the games, as my boycotting will only effect.... me! i LIKE the games and ill not cut off my nose to spite my face. like all the athletes taking part, the press, tv, etc... i bet no one condones chinas human rights record, but the fact is that the games ARE there.

... anyway, im off now to watch the games :P