Kristi Heim: The World in China

Seattle Times reporter Kristi Heim explores a changing China on the world stage.

August 12, 2008 9:39 AM

Hey, where did you park the tank?

This is indeed an Olympics with Chinese characteristics. Journalists covering the Games had a surprise waiting for them this morning at the gate of the Main Press Center. It was an armored vehicle (not a real tank, as I thought, which would have treads and a very long gun).

Perplexed and a little bit anxious, several reporters asked the Beijing Olympic Committee spokesman if there was some kind of new threat to warrant ever more fortress-like security measures.

His answer: Oh, that? I didn't even notice it.

It could be that the Public Security Bureau deployed the vehicle without informing the Olympic Committee. The spokesman mumbled something about increased security after American visitor Todd Bachman was stabbed to death in a popular tourist spot Saturday. Yes, an armored car would offer good protection against a knife wielding madman in a tower on the other side of town.

As to its real purpose, we still don't know. I guess the other parking lot was full.

Meanwhile, China Central Television's broadcast of the Opening Ceremony is getting uniformly panned by viewers in China. CCTV was the only channel they could watch for the broadcast. But when viewers in China got a look at NBC's coverage via the Web and realized what they had missed, their dissatisfaction grew even deeper.

Turns out some of the fireworks shown on CCTV were fake, because visibility was poor and filming them live from a helicopter would be too dangerous. But the lifeless delivery and poor camera work was what really angered viewers. They also learned that the 9-year-old girl they thought was singing the national anthem was actually performing a lip-sync version because she was deemed more attractive than the child with the real voice but crooked teeth.

Some people writing comments online tweaked "CCTV" in Chinese to translate to "a body without a head." The film crews and announcers were not chosen for their ability to hold a camera or host a performance, say critics. They were people with government connections and untarnished political records who passed the Party's good behavior test.

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