775 days to go
Only the most naive of wishful thinkers would dream for a moment the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be void of politics. Sport-loving China is, after all, run by a mysterious communist government with a penchant for ultra-capitalist economics and authoritarian politics.
Moreover, history shows us the Olympics have always been politicised. From their formation in 776 BC, the games were seen as away of cementing peace, the tradition being there should be no fighting as long as the games were on; war by other means, fought through sporting competition was the goal, and this institution lasted for 12 centuries without a break until it was abolished in 393 AD at the 293rd Olympiad.
So why should Beijing 2008 be any different from other Olympics - Athens 776 BC, Berlin 1936, Munich 1972, Moscow 1980, et al - all of which were blanketed in politics, one tragically so?
And so it was, very early on Friday morning, 150-plus journalists assembled at the Olympic Tower in smoggy north Beijing, boarded coaches for the Great Wall and witnessed a snippet of what's to come over the next two years: the good, the marvellous and the truly laboured sloganeering of Olympic political pomp and cultural ceremony.
There, at the most visited part of the wall, Badaling, amid fireworks, dancing, drumming, singing, and the inevitable politics, the media witnessed along with hundreds of school children and Olympic volunteers, celebrities, black-suited officials, uniformed police and PLA guards, the gala launch of the Fourth Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival.
The three-week jamboree includes 28 sports-themed cultural events, engineered to be fun and to plug the people into the Olympic spirit - plus force home the odd party political message or two.
'The festival is a key measure in creating a suitable atmosphere to host the Olympic Games but is also a critical step to illustrate the splendour of Chinese culture,' Beijing organising committee vice-president Jiang Xiaoyu told the audience assembled below the dramatic ramparts of the wall, a potent sign of culture and politics if ever there was one.
He then signed off an otherwise innocuous, uplifting speech by thanking all in attendance before handing over to Cai Fuchao. Cai is a member of the standing committee and director of the publicity department of CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, as well as chairman of the festival. With such a grand title it is perhaps expected of Cai to be the official tasked to lob in a liberal dose of politics before the all-dancing and singing ceremony could start proper.
It is a pleasure to open the festival, he said, which would really open up the Olympic spirit and the cultural lives of the Chinese - and help 'promote a harmonious socialist society'. And with that well-worn political signature, or very shortly after - bang! whoosh! fizz! - fireworks exploded and echoed around the Badaling valley, sending heart rates rocketing among many of the assembled elderly Olympic volunteers.
Hundreds of pigeons released from cages vied for air space amid a shower of glitter. Even the PLA guards' spines momentarily stretched an extra centimetre or two as the shock and awe of the fanfare rang out. Perched on the green hillside next to the Great Wall, a giant logo to rival Hollywood's emerged through the gunpowder smoke to read in Chinese, 'Tong Yi Ge Fai Jie, Tong Yi Ge Meng Xiang', and in English, 'One Dream, One World'.
This is China's official 'Olympic Landmark' and slogan because, the press release said, every Olympic host had to have one.
That Cai should weave in the omnipresent party mantra 'harmonious socialist society' is poignant because more now than ever Beijing must ensure the Olympic preparations over the next two years are devoid of scandals like those exposed over the past two weeks.
Senior officials accused of creaming money from Olympic coffers to lead decadent lifestyles is not only a slap in the face to the millions being urged to embrace the Olympic spirit, but is smack against the party's 'Eight Honours, Eight Disgraces' diktat which competes for space with 'One World, One Dream' on the nation's billboards, public transport and in the press each and every day.
Aside from the pomp and ceremony of politics in sport, Friday's gala offered a sneak preview of the opening and closing ceremonies in 2008. Few nations, one can argue, can deliver fantastic, colourful and choreographed spectacles like China, and the two-hour show featured amazing drummers, stiltwalkers and pitch perfect patriotic songs. Folk singers Tu Honggang and Zhang Ye pulled the audience's heartstrings and a dramatic performance by the Beijing Shaolin Martial Art School was a top crowd-pleaser.
The long festival programme includes a 'suburban peasants' sport show', a sculpture exhibition,' Olympic etiquette cartoon and ballad show', and an 'all people fitness week', which will see millions encouraged to keep in shape
One must resign oneself to the inevitable politicisation. But you might ask: where have all the sports stars gone?
