Air pollution may affect Olympics

Several news agencies (BBC, but again, not Xinhua) are reporting that Olympic boss Jacques Rogge is so concerned about air quality at the 2008 Olymipc Games in Beijing that some events may have to be postponed. This would presumably include those events requiring endurance, like cycling and the marathon. It appears that attempts to clean up Beijing's notoriously foul air haven't really worked to date. The air quality gains from closing and relocation of factories has been offset by more cars on the road and the construction boom. The government is planning a testrun this month of controlling the number of cars allowed in the city in preparation for the games. The Australian Olympic team won't arrive in Beijing until just before the Games to avoid developing respiratory problems.

This kind of reporting only starts to hint at the issues China has to face (and has had to face) in order to put on its best face for the Games. I went out to the Olympic Park in 2005 for a look around, and was astonished at the site. It's huge, and completely surrounded by fairly well-established neighborhoods. So there's no way the site was lying empty prior to its designation as the Olympic park....but one wonders what happened to the people living there. I suppose it's like all the other times 'eminent domain' is applied in China; people must move, no complaints allowed, and fairly minimal compensation. We don't hear too much of this in the news, except for that great story on the Chongqing nail house or of course about Three Gorges relocations.

I also assume that the Chinese officials will do everything in their power to ensure good air quality during the games. However, this would probably require the temporary shutting down of most factories in the region and those upwind, as well as taking most cars off the street. Of course it would all be a bit of a face-saving illusion, and the factories and cars would be back polluting as soon as the athletes go home. China (and not just Beijing...many cities are worse) really needs to start dealing with air pollution on a much longer time scale than the two weeks in August 2008.