Ｏｌｙｍｐｉｃ ｓｕｃｃｅｓｓ ｂｏｏｓｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ’ｓ ｃｏｎｆｉｄｅｎｃｅ奥运会的成功举办增强了中国的自信心

贾庆文

As the Olympic flame flickered out on Sunday night, Chinese could congratulate themselves that the event on which they had staked so much had unfolded almost precisely according to their game plan.

The striking success of the Olympics-burnishing Chinas prestige as the world admired its sporting prowess, organizational skills, and dramatically modern urban landscapes—could encourage profound changes in the country, say a range of Chinese and foreign analysts.

“The implications of the Olympics go beyond a recognition that China is a sports power,” says Wenran Jiang, a politics professor at the University of Alberta in Canada. “There are many ways in which the Games will move China forward.”

Beijing invested this summers Olympics with enormous bankroll: They were to crown the countrys rise to the status of a global power.

Almost from the moment the Games began with a “shock and awe” opening ceremony, the sports became the main story line.

From TV audiences presented with a “picture-perfect” Games, in the words of Professor Jiang, to visitors here impressed by what they have found, the spectacle has served its purpose.

Before she came to Beijing, Nadine Lewman says, her impression of China was of “sweatshops and smog.” Now, adds the resident from Portland, “I think its a beautiful country. Seeing it has changed my image and I would love to come back. Theyve sold me.”

“I think the Games have been a stunning success for the Chinese government in terms of its international image,” says David Shambaugh, Director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University. “This is going to earn China considerable international respect.”

For more than a hundred years, Chinas leaders have set themselves the goal of recovering international respect after humiliation at the hands of Europe and the United States in the 19th century. For more than half a century the ruling Communist Party has made “standing up to the world” a key plank in its platform.

Successful Olympics, suggests Dali Yang, who heads the department of politics at the University of Chicago, could help move China from “a sense of inadequacy ... to a feeling that China can do this, and do it well.”

There have been signs over the past two weeks of a more relaxed and self-confident Chinese public. Fans have showed exuberant support for the home team rather than the chauvinism that officials had feared. They even cheered Chinese coaches of foreign teams, rather than treating them as traitors.

随着奥运圣火在周日晚上熄灭，中国人民可以对他们投入大量资金的奥运会庆贺了，因为一切几乎都是按照他们的奥运计划准确进行的。

本次奥运会取得了极大成功——中国以它受世人尊敬的体育成绩、组织能力和显著的现代城市风景而声名鹊起——这极大刺激着中国的深刻变化，一些中外分析家如是说。

“奥运会的启示不只是让世界认可了中国体育强国的地位，”加拿大阿尔伯塔大学的政治学教授姜文然说。“本届奥运会将在多个方面推动中国前进。”

本届夏季奥运会北京投入了巨大资金：奥运会使中国作为全球大国的地位得到提升。

几乎从奥运会令人感到“惊叹和敬畏”的开幕式那一刻开始，这场体育盛会就成为一个主流话题。

用姜教授的话来说，从呈现给电视观众一场“画面完美”的奥运会到现场观众被他们的亲眼所见所打动，这次体育盛会已经达到了它的目的。

在来北京前纳丁·鲁曼说她对中国的印象是“到处充满血汗工厂和烟雾弥漫。”如今这位俄勒冈州波特兰市的居民说，“我认为中国是一个美丽的国家。看到它后我改变了自己的看法，我愿意重返中国。它征服了我。”

“关于中国的国际形象问题，我认为本届奥运会对于中国政府来说取得了极大的成功，”乔治·华盛顿大学中国政策研究中心主任沈大伟说。“这将为中国赢得相当可观的国际威信。”

一百多年来，中国领导人就为自己制定了目标，要从19世纪欧洲和美国的奴役下重新获得国际威信。半个多世纪来执政的中国共产党就把“屹立在世界上”作为它平台上的基石。

芝加哥大学政治系主任杨大力说成功的奥运会能够帮助中国从“感觉不足跨越到中国能够举办并且能够举办好奥运会。”

已有迹象表明在过去的两周里中国公民更加悠闲和自信。运动爱好者表现出对国家队极大的支持而非官方所担心的沙文主义。他们甚至为担任外国队的中国教练欢呼，而不是把他们当作叛国者来对待。