Xujun Eberlein. “Beijing Olympic Boycott Over Burma Will Only Alienate Chinese People”. New America Media. November 5th, 2007 – “If the hawks understand anything about China and Chinese people at all, they should know that boycotting would further alienate the majority of Chinese people from America and fasten their ties to the government. Some insightful economists have pointed out that, today, the legitimacy of China’s government is built on two things – economic growth and nationalism. The 2008 Olympic Games fulfill these ideals perfectly by stimulating national pride and speeding development in Beijing.
Americans tend to underestimate the power of nationalism in other countries. At the beginning of the war in Iraq, didn’t many expect the Iraqis to be grateful to their American liberator? But why is nationalism so hard to imagine? As someone once said: “I might fight with my brother all the time, but my brother and I will stand arm in arm against an outsider.” Therefore, the ones who boycott the Games, not the Chinese government, have a better chance to become the enemy.
The Chinese government is also known for its hardiness against foreign pressure, especially when it comes from the United States. From the 1950s to early 1970s, the United States led an international isolation movement against China. The results? China simply ignored the outside world while suffering in turmoil inside, until President Nixon extended an olive branch in 1972.”
US president Bush recognized that the event would be a “great moment of pride for the Chinese people”.[1] To break that moment of pride would be to violate the spirit and desires of the Chinese people.
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