26 February 2008

GPPi publishes article on the Beijing 2008 Olympics and the Communist Party of China

GPPi Research Associate Björn Conrad published an article on the Communist Party of China (CPC) seen through the veil of the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The article, entitled “Im Schein des olympischen Feuers,” appears in the March 2008 edition of Internationale Politik. The piece addresses the CPC’s efforts to project its own vision of China’s future on the Olympic stage.

Conrad suggests that the structure and processes of the Olympic management can be under-stood as a blueprint for the ongoing internal reforms within the CPC as envisioned by the party leadership. Drawing on the extensive environmental efforts undertaken by the Beijing Organizing Committee, the piece illustrates how the 2008 Olympics are strategically used as a platform for the CPC to display the party’s efficiency and capacity. Ideological erosion in-creasingly compels the CPC to reinforce its legitimacy through political achievement. The Olympics represent a unique opportunity for the Chinese leadership to demonstrate the CPC’s ability to tackle some of China’s most crucial problems such as the challenging economic transition from cheap labor manufacturing; the provision of high-quality goods and services; and the severe effects of increasing environmental degradation. Conrad argues that the Olym-pics are ultimately designed to prove that the political adaptations necessary to confront future challenges can be achieved without changing the Peoples Republic of China’s (PRC) funda-mental structure of political power. As such, it identifies the underlying theme of the Beijing Olympics to be “conservation of power through controlled change.”

To read Björn Conrad’s article (in German), please click here.

For further questions, please contact Björn Conrad.

Back to: News Archive