Fanning the Olympic flames...

Sport and politics don't mix they say - try telling that to the Olympians. The history of the modern Olympics has been laced with incidents ranging from good old fashioned boycotts, to exploiting the games for propaganda, to acts of mindless terrorism. Look at the games through the years and the prevailing malaise often comes to the fore. The rise of Nazism marked the 1936 event; the Mexico City games of 68 were remembered for two American athletes' black power salute. 1972 was in the midst of ever more imaginative international terrorism - the death of 11 Israeli weightlifting team members made the event permanently associated with terror not sport. Then in the height of the "second Cold War", both the United States and the Soviet Union used the 1980 and 1984 games not as a platform for detente but - through boycotts - as another way to show disgust towards the other.

Thankfully recent Olympics have been more docile, without violence or part of warped geopolitics. Although the 1996 Atlanta event felt the ugly side of homegrown American terrorism. Perhaps staging the event in the kind of places most people would go on holiday, with no indigenous terrorism or autocratic regimes looking for any fillip possible, helps. Barcelona, Sydney and Athens fit the safety first option.

For Beijing though, the decision to award the Olympia was based on "international recognition of China's social stability, economic progress and the healthy life of the Chinese people." The IOC probably knew they were gambling, considering the safe alternatives that lost out to Beijing - Toronto and Paris. But the Olympics has always seen itself as a force for change and good in the world - the chance to bring one billion Chinese into the 21st century was too good an opportunity to miss.

Unfortunately under the international microscope, Chinese government policies are exposed. It is interesting to consider whether these issues are being examined minutely due to the Olympics, whether the protagonists are raising the protests and odds to capture this moment, or whether in a more globalised world we are just more interested in what happens thousands of miles away. So we have had international protests against China's long running iron fist policies in Tibet. Firstly in Llasa itself and then during the cross nation Olympic flame journey. China's misconception of how the world perceived their brutality in Tibet was exposed in snowy April Sunday in London, although not to the viewers back home. Then China suffered a devastating earthquake in Sichuan province, where nearly 70,000 people have died. Although an apolitical event, the Chinese authorities knew international focus required a decisive and compassionate response, which was delivered. It would be extremely cynical to say that such response was purely due to the Olympics, but international opinion was probably not not considered.

The prickly subject of censorship is an ongoing source of tension between the relative organisers. Having promised open media access, Chinese authorities have been slow in unblocking websites deemed politically sensitive, but progress is being made - apparently. Add to this ongoing concerns with Chinese human rights record that Amnesty are more than happy to raise - a series of broken promises as their timely report reveals. Oh and don't forget chronic smog over Beijing that puts the games (well outdoor events at least) in real doubt. The embarrassment of smog effected delays and cancellations could do far more damage than any protester might inflict, whether in a "protest pen" or not.

The final factor that threatens to turn a merely controversial Olympics into an ugly one, is that old favourite - terrorism. Today's attack by separatists from the Muslim region of Xinjiang on a police border post has brought serious concern for the organizers. Previously unheard of groups like the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) are now centre stage. Predictably linked to Al-Qaeda they are putting the Olympics in a new perspective.

But despite minor teething problems, these Olympics are China's sales pitch to the world. It is their chance to impress us, beyond simple economic competence and it is also, at the same time, China's chance to understand the rest of the planet. China is an easy target for anyone concerned with human rights and there will be many who hope that the Olympics somehow fail as justice for their disregard for Tibet, Tianamen, etc. But there is a benign innocence to the Chinese - vis-à-vis the rest of the world - and any embarrassing cock-up would be a tad cruel given their zeal and desire for recognition.