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The year 2008 is critical for Beijing; it is the year in which China will finally be showcased as a modern and “big” nation, and one in which the taints of the Maoist era and the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident are distant memories.
The Olympics is one of the largest foreign public relations exposures Beijing has invited upon itself in almost 20 years. The central government is using the event externally to serve as a focus for investment and internally as a tool for engendering social pride and unity. This latter point is critical as Beijing struggles with economic and social disparity, corruption and rising domestic frustrations. China is proving somewhat successful in using a mix of self-interested foreign investment, large dollops of cash and selective political repression to steadily whittle away at its financial problems and head off social explosions — both of Olympic size themselves. Having everyone rollicking in an eight-month Olympic party is sure to make that job easier.
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