The Countdown to Beijing

The first article, "The Countdown to Beijing" discusses what the government of Beijing is doing to prepare for the 2008 Olympics. The ideas they have to cut down on air pollution are seemingly good, such as planting trees to absorb the CO2 and banning cars from operating to cut down on emissions. However, this seems like short term solutions to the air pollution problems they are experiencing. I think that the Chinese government should not be looking towards temporarily fixing the problem, but rather finding a long term solution, or the problem is just going to keep coming back. I also think that this should be more regulated, though I'm not too sure how it would be done to make sure that the Chinese government has come into compliance. It can be done because the Olympics is going to be held there, but there should also be some regulation on the air pollution in China after the 2008 Olympics have ended. In this essay Cha states that when a country holds such a big event as the Olympics, they are going to come out a changed nation. He specifically referenced Japan stating it took them out of warfare, and says that once the Olympics are over in China, it will be recognized as a technologically advanced country. The change in Korea was the type of government in which is switched over to after the Olympics were held. What once had been an authoritarian government became increasingly democratic in the years following the 1988 Olympics. I think that if a country holds something so widely known, such as the Olympics, they may come out changed as they will become more widely recognized as a result of the tourism that takes place in the country that would not happen on such a widespread scale without such an event.

In "the Weight of History" Beeson discusses the events that led up to the success of Japan as a nation. The article mainly discusses that battles that Japan went through to be recognized as the nation that they are. Japan experienced a bout of isolationism to protect their culture until the mid 19th century.