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Beijing Games 'glorious' for some Chinese-Canadians, a non-event for others |
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Written by Stephanie Levitz, THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Thursday, 24 July 2008 |
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Over his heart, Toronto shopkeeper Yong Ping Yu still wears a pin in support of the Communist Party of China, despite the fact he left the country more than 20 years ago.
The pin, tarnished by age, was given to him as a reward from a government official but he won't talk about why.
That's ancient history, he says, there's no point focusing on it.
For Yu, 75, the country he left behind is not the one the world will see when the Beijing Olympic Games open - and he can't wait.
"It is a glorious event," he said through a translator.
"It is supported not only by all the Chinese people in China but all the overseas Chinese people all over the world."
While Yu's pride beamed from his wrinkled face, the Games have aroused mixed feelings among the massive Chinese diaspora worldwide, including the estimated 1.3 million Canadians of Chinese origin.
Some could care less.
Susanna Ng, 40, said it's just another sports event she and her friends won't really pay attention to.
"I still remember how happy I was when I heard that the (International Olympic Committee) chose Vancouver (for the 2010 Olympics)," she said.
"But when the Beijing thing was announced and I was in Hong Kong, I remember I just had no feelings, but I could hear cheers on the streets."
Inside China, nationalist fervour around the Games is palpable, said University of Toronto professor Tong Lam who just returned from a trip to the country.
It's far beyond the usual rah-rah around a major sporting event, he said, and it's that symbolism that's becoming a poignant force in the diverse Chinese-Canadian community.
"Despite all the differences, what I found is really amazing is that the Olympic Games, somehow especially in light of the recent events meaning what happened in Tibet and the torch relays, somehow unites them in an interesting way," he said.
"They think that this is the moment that people who have some kind of ethnic Chinese background should be proud of their culture and history and this is the moment to celebrate that."
Celebrate they will.
In Vancouver's Chinatown, a special Olympic party is being put on by the city to coincide with the neighbourhood's annual festival.
Canada's robust Chinese-language media have given special prominence to athletes of Chinese origin in their coverage the last few months and while that's normal around an Olympics, the stories they're telling have a special resonance.
"For some Chinese athletes who are from the People's Republic of China when they go to Beijing, what will it be like for them?" said Ng, who is the assignment editor at Ming Pao newspaper in Vancouver.
"There are very complex feelings about competing on Chinese soil under a Canadian flag."
Chinese-language broadcasters are also getting behind the Games.
OMNI TV in Toronto is sending a reporter to Beijing for a month, and Mandarin news producer Jenny Hu says they've expanded their traditional pre-Olympic coverage beyond Chinese-Canadian athletes.
"Our audience is definitely more interested and we're doing many more stories relating to the Olympics," she said.
"Not just athletes but volunteers going over or other related stories."
Channel M, a multicultural channel in Vancouver, has had an Olympic-related story as often as possible over the last few weeks.
"People are more interested in these Games because they are in Beijing," said Dianne Collins, the news director at Channel M.
"It's also about building a little bit of buzz for the Vancouver Olympics."
The difference between the two Games is in the storyline.
The Beijing Olympics have been cast as an epic event, one that will change the course of China and the rest of the world.
"The symbolism of having China the host, I think it carries a lot of weight and it's loaded with additional emotional and symbolic meaning," Lam said.
"There is no question that in everybody's mind, whether they like it or not, they see that something really significant, historically. They see this as the historic rise of China and this marks the beginning of that."
Lam said bringing the Games to China is the same as when the 1964 Games went to Toyko.
Those Olympics marked the return of Japan into the world community following the Second World War.
Many in the West have argued that awarding the Games to Beijing will force greater openness and democracy.
Greater change may come from the world's media ripping open Chinese closets and dragging out the skeletons.
Olympic organizers announced this week that protest zones will be set up to accommodate people who wish to voice discontent around the Games and broadcasters have won greater freedoms in where they can film outside the venues.
Wei Xin Ma, a traditional medical practitioner in Toronto, said he thinks the political issues have been overblown.
The 60-year-old says the best thing about the Olympics will be the ability for the Chinese to meet with the rest of the world.
"The Olympic spirit should not mix with politics and the Chinese government has that policy as well," he said through a translator.
"However, having the Olympics in China puts China on more of a level playing field with other countries."
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