中国：努力办奥运

2006都灵进展顺利，2008北京蓄势待发

对于参加冬奥会的76名中国运动员来说，他们的紧张情绪或许来自于要在赛场上检验平时训练的成绩，而对于另外一只来到都灵的更庞大的中国代表团来说，他们身上的压力或许更大。北京奥组委将一只200人的队伍派往意大利“取经”，准备在2008年上演一场“大戏”。

2001年北京赢得奥运举办劝的时候，全城市民都欣喜若狂， 坚信这次成功是中国日益强大的象征。政府决心要不负众望，一定将这次盛会办得圆满成功。北京在奥运基础设施建设方面进展顺利，37座体育场馆（14座为新 建）毫无疑问，都会按时完工，住宿和辅助设施也不会有问题。可不太成功的是，虽然北京一直都在努力改善，可其空气质量却仍然列于全世界几个最差的城市之 中。

刚一赢得2008奥运举办权，北京就曾发誓要大大增加“蓝天”天数，但在今年一月份里只有9天能看见“蓝天”，还不足去年一月份的一半。交通，工地扬尘等因素大可归咎于奥运会或其他原因，北京目前正在计划更加严格地控制污染。

路上交通依然拥堵。但即使所有的在建道路工程届时都无法缓解堵塞，市政当局也会毫不犹豫地限制非奥运车辆。这就是一党制政府的优势。

最棘手的问题或许是人，而非物。 一些市民的不礼帽行为可谓声名狼藉，北京发起了一项运动旨在对此加以改善，以防沿街兜售，随地吐痰， 插队加塞等行为给外宾留下不好印象。如果中国官方不改变一下自身行为的话，同样也会使自己很难堪。大约有21000名记者会来京报道赛事，大部分人都期望 中国官方能给他们比以往更大的自由。 许多人权活动者和运动人士都将充分借借奥运会的光。警方也定会用羁押的方式应付随之而来的麻烦。 如果他们用以往惯用的残暴方式来应对，传出去也不会那么好看。

中国当局清楚这些潜在的危险因素， 但与组委会一起工作的外国人却担心麻烦无法避免。去年十月分在南京举行的全国运动会被普遍认为是奥运会的“预演”， 其结果却远无法让人感到振奋。除了崭新的设施和宏大的开幕式以外，整个赛事都被服用兴奋剂，放水，和有争议的判罚所破坏。

所有这些都不及一个设计台湾方面的巨大变故来得要紧。变故未必出现，但也不是没有可能。资深人士担心台湾会利用奥运会的临近作为掩饰，从而进一步搞台独， 台湾觉得中国会因为害怕破坏奥运会的举办而不会对此有所反应。基于此种论调，台湾那些最热衷于台独的势力或许认为事不宜迟：大陆军事力量正在稳步增长， 未来的美国政府也未必会像现

任政府这般保护台湾。中国当然对此极为关注。一位中国少将彭光谦两年前曾表示，如果台湾认为中国会因为奥运会而不动手，那就大 错特错了。

翻译: zj622

原文：China: Olympian efforts

With Turin 2006 well under way, Beijing 2008 is fast approaching

TENSE though China's 76 athletes at the winter Olympics may be as they put their training to the test, the pressure on another, larger Chinese team also present in Turin may be even greater. The organizing committee for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing has sent 200 staff to Italy to see what lessons they may learn when their turn comes to stage a spectacular.

The people of Beijing rejoiced wildly when their city won its Olympic bid in 2001, deeming it a potent symbol of China's swelling importance. Eager to live up to expectations, the government is determined to make the event a huge success. Beijing is already well along in building its Olympic infrastructure, and no one seems to doubt that all 37 sport venues—14 of them brand new—will be ready on time, as will housing and support facilities. Less successful, though, have been Beijing's efforts to improve its air, long ranked among the urban world's dirtiest.

Upon winning the 2008 bid, Beijing vowed to boost the frequency of what it calls “blue sky” days. But this January saw only nine of them, less than half as many as last January. Car traffic and dusty building projects, Olympic and otherwise, are largely to blame, and the city now plans even sterner pollution controls.

The traffic also clogs the roads. But even if all the roads now under construction fail to relieve the congestion, the city's officials will not hesitate to restrict non-Olympic traffic. Such are the advantages of running an authoritarian state.

The most troublesome issues may concern people rather than objects. One campaign aims to improve the manners of Beijing's notoriously courtesy-free residents, so that hawking, spitting and queuejumping do not make a poor impression on outsiders. Chinese officials likewise risk looking bad if they fail to reform their own behaviour. Most of the 21,000 journalists set to cover the games will expect more openness than Chinese officialdom usually grants. Human-rights activists and other campaigners may well try to seize the Olympic spotlight. The police will have to handle any ensuing difficulties with restraint. Anything like their usual thuggish response will not go down well abroad.

The Chinese authorities understand these potential hazards, but foreigners working with the local organisers fear they may be unable to avoid them. The national games staged in Nanjing last October were widely seen as a test run for the Olympics, and the outcome was far from encouraging. Despite sterling new infrastructure and impressive pageantry, the event was marred by doping, match-fixing and disputes about referees' decisions.

All these would, of course, be dwarfed by a serious incident involving Taiwan. That is unlikely, but not impossible. Some pundits fear that the island might be tempted to use the approach to the Olympics as cover for steps toward independence, hoping China's fear of wrecking the games would mute its response. On this theory, the most ardent pro-independence forces in Taiwan might think it better to act than to wait: mainland military strength is growing steadily, and a future American administration might be less likely than the incumbent one to defend Taiwan. China certainly takes the idea seriously. A Chinese general, Peng Guangqian, said two years ago that Taiwan was mistaken if it thought China “might not raise a hand because of the Olympics.”