Covering up for a 'perfect' Olympics
| Section: | Asia Focus |
| By: | CHUA CHIN HON |
| Publication: | The Straits Times 02/02/2008 |
| Page: | 12 |
| No. of words: | 961 |
THE TALK IN BEIJING
Beijing's 'cover-up' of deaths shows its obsession with staging a flawless Games
BY CHUA CHIN HON
CHINA BUREAU CHIEF
BEIJING'S much cherished dream of staging a "perfect'' Olympics ended on Monday when officials finally acknowledged that six workers had died building some of the iconic stadiums for the 2008 Games.
The grudging admission came a week after a British newspaper, The Sunday Times, ran an expose alleging that the city had "systematically covered up the accidental deaths of at least 10 workers, and perhaps many more'' in its bid to finish all construction work in time for the opening ceremony on Aug 8.
At a press conference on Monday, Mr Ding Zhenkuan, deputy chief of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Work Safety, told reporters that the Times report was "not accurate''.
He later clarified that six workers had died since Olympics construction began in 2003.
Two of them died building the imposing "Bird's Nest'' stadium, the main Olympic venue that will host the opening and closing ceremonies, while four others lost their lives at undisclosed Games-related worksites.
Another four workers suffered injuries, though Mr Ding gave no details. Nor did he say why Beijing kept mum on the deaths until now.
Prior to Monday's revelation, Beijing officials had always insisted that the city's safety record for the Games' preparation was spotless.
Assuming there are no other unreported deaths, Beijing's safety record would still be better than that of the Athens Games in 2004, when at least 13 workers died at Olympic-related construction sites.
But this is clearly not good enough for Chinese officials, many of whom seem obsessed with the notion that the Beijing Olympics must be a flawless show from start to finish.
In theory, this spirit is a highly commendable one; a sign of the immense national pride that the authorities attach to the Games.
In practice, however, this usually translates to mean that every morsel of bad news about the Games or its preparations should be suppressed.
But it is precisely this obsession with a squeaky-clean Olympics free of bad news that will result in Beijing having to deal with more media exposes and bad press in the months ahead.
The reasons are obvious: many unresolved problems are in plain sight, and the reality on the ground is often far from the cheery version outlined by Beijing officials.
Peak-hour traffic continues to be a nightmare, the air quality can turn nasty from one day to the next without warning, and the police continue to exhibit a heavy-handed approach to dissenters.
No one expects Beijing to be perfect, of course. Yet, week in and week out, officials in Beijing prefer to trumpet their slogan about a "high quality, cultural, high-tech and green'' Olympics instead of giving straight answers on how they plan to better tackle these problems.
When new Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong formally took office last Saturday, for example, he merely made a bland speech, briefly introduced nine of his deputies and left without taking a question from the roomful of journalists.
The instinctive response from journalists and critics is to ask: What is Beijing trying to hide? What is the real story here?
The Sunday Times' expose on the workplace deaths is a classic example of this.
Indeed, anyone familiar with China's poor safety record, or who has visited the Beijing Olympic construction sites in recent years, would find it hard to believe the authorities' claim that no major accident has occurred there.
According to Mr Li Yizhong, head of China's State Administration of Work Safety, more than 100,000 Chinese died in accidents last year.
At the sprawling Games-related worksites such as the Olympic Green, the main venue for the 2008 Games, tens of thousands of workers can be seen working day and night, all through the oppressive summers and bitter winters.
The complex construction process of futuristic stadiums like the Bird's Nest, so nicknamed for its mind-boggling latticework of steel and concrete, often requires workers to rappel from or climb up steel beams over 50m above ground just to conduct welding or paint jobs.
On my numerous trips to the Olympic Green since July 2006, I've often wondered whether Beijing should hire a team of daredevil mountaineers to build the Bird's Nest instead of migrant workers from the poor countryside.
But construction safety issues are not unique to China or Beijing's Olympic preparations.
Nor are problems like air pollution and traffic congestion. Previous Olympic cities like Los Angeles and Athens have all gotten flak for these problems, but still managed to win over the critics in the end.
So, it's hard to imagine how talking candidly about the problems in Beijing or admitting to the unfortunate deaths at the Olympic stadiums would scare off potential visitors.
Surely, no one is naïve enough to believe that everything will be perfect during the Beijing Games.
Clamping down and dodging the inconvenient issues will only prompt journalists – there will be an estimated 30,000 in Beijing during the Games – to dig deeper for that juicy "exclusive". The army of casual visitors armed with camera phones and opinionated blogs are not to be underestimated either.
But unfortunately, signs are that officials here are still living in a bubble of their own as they fret endlessly over minor concerns.
With a straight face, a government media handler recently asked several journalists, including this writer, whether the foreign media would be upset and start writing negative reports about Beijing if they cannot find proper accommodation during the Games.
The baffled journalists politely told him that would not happen.
There are six more months to go before the 2008 Games. Hopefully, this is enough time to convince Chinese officials to do the one thing that would truly help make the upcoming Games an enjoyable one: relax.
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