China is also criticized as being the world’s worst polluter. In many ways they are given their CO2 belching coal power plants, industrial pollution, and poor car emissions. However, I was surprised to see the pervasive use of solar hot water and extensive recycling and a reasonable start to the use of electric vehicles. In America , we push the use of photovoltaic solar panels. We’ve installed thirty on my house that covers all of our electric needs. However, this solution is not cost effective for most Americans let alone a developing country. Instead, solar hot water heaters are pervasive in China . A simple, relatively low tech solution to hot water needs, it is one area China is ahead of us environmentally. Also surprising to me was the extensive recycling and attempts to limit plastic bags.  Many towns had separate trash cans for recycled and non recycled rubbish. In addition, we were constantly approached by locals for our empty plastic bottles.  Far too inconvenient for Americans, most states still do not have a deposit on recyclable bottles. The deposit program in China seems to be working beautifully.

Another favorite storyline were issues of freedom of the press and internet access. Indeed, I received a huge brochure from western sources warning me of China ’s intolerance for freedom of the press. Countless news stories covered “The Great Firewall of China.” As I headed over weeks before the games, athletes inquired as to the validity of these claims. While it is impossible to say exactly what was going on, I noticed almost no issue with connectivity whatsoever. In fact, in many ways it was better than most developing countries I have visited. Myanmar ( Burma ) for instance, blocked all major email services and required you to use a state run, monitored system. While in China I occasionally had difficulty logging into my Yahoo mail account, I chalked this up to bandwidth more than censorship. Indeed if I used another Yahoo portal, like from France , I tended log in. Talking with many people who lived in China , mostly expatriates, they indicated that most of the banned sites were Chinese bloggers venting about government policies. In addition, many students expressed concerns about openly discussing criticism China ’s governmental policies in areas like Darfur . While I am not an advocate of such censorship, limits like those hardly affected reporters’ ability to cover the games and I reiterate it is short cited to politicize the Olympic Games.

The other area of high censorship in China is sexually explicit content. While much that is censored is not considered taboo by Western standards, one has to consider there are different standards in different cultures. Some in America would not find the sexual explicitness of some European ads acceptable on public TV. Indeed, I was considered indecent when flying in New Zealand . I was told I had to change my shirt before getting on the plane. Apparently, a tank top was considered obscene for travel. One has to accept the social dictates of the countries they visit. Here is it easy to understand why explicit material would be banned, given the more conservative culture. Indeed, we ban forms of pornography not socially acceptable in the west. The censorship that is harder to accept, and one I do not personally agree with is that of politically critical content.

Amanda Beard’s little deed directly violates the concept that athletes should not take a political stance at the Games. Beard clearly understands how to capitalize on her success of her Olympic swimming glory. Certainly, athletes need to think about their life post competition; however there is an appropriate and inappropriate place for it. Already having posed in Playboy, she is now promoting her political agenda. This entailed posing nude for advertisements. While I have no issue with her doing this on her own time, there is no place for such promotion while you are a guest of the host country for the Olympic Games. Given the explicit nature of her advertisement, China chose to disallow her news conference and unveiling of her ad campaign. Instead of respecting their culture, she took her campaign to the streets. Her selfish behavior risks the integrity of the games and puts undue pressure on other athletes.

The story continues...