China’s Asian Games: Narratives of Technological Success and “Friend of Asia”
The Asian Games mascot and emblem outside the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium. Pictures: Yveltal, Wikimedia
Recently, the 19th Asian Games were held in Hangzhou, China. The Asian Games is a multi-sport event held every four years involving athletes from all over Asia and organised by the Olympic Council of Asia. There is an essential value in these Games, by showing the strength of each country participating in the Asian Games through sport. The determination is in order to outperform other nations through peaceful exchanges, not violence or war. Apart from that, the Asian Games were held as an effort to promote national interests of Asian countries through cultural dimensions, including sports. In this competition, each country has its own national interests, including strengthening friendship between Asian countries, increasing bilateral cooperation between Asian countries, and improving the image of countries that previously had a “bad image” in the international media. Furthermore, the country that hosts this event can show its culture and other soft power measures to the international society, so it can attract tourists to increase the country's foreign exchange and increase the economic growth of the country that hosts this competition.
China is hosting this prestigious event this year. Due to the increase in Covid cases, the 2022 Asian Games were been postponed to 2023. The opening ceremony for the 2022 Asian Games was held at the Hangzhoo Sports Park Stadium, on September 23 (CNN Indonesia, 2023). The Chinese government chose Hangzhou as the venue for the Asian Games for certain reasons, namely that there were indications showing to the world that China was one step ahead in terms of technology and the environment. Technological success in Hangzhou was marked by the holding of the first Global Digital Trade Expo in December 2022. This event is a global and highest-level professional exhibition with the theme of digital trade in China. Currently, Hangzhou is developing rapidly in the field of digital commerce. In the first three quarters of this year, cross-border e-commerce trade volume in Hangzhou reached 84.94 billion Yuan, up 12.6% compared with last year. In the first 10 months of 2022, Hangzhou's trade services exports reached 12.918 billion dollars, up 13.13% year on year. During the exhibition, Forbes China released the selected Top 100 companies in the global digital commerce industry in 2022. Highly prominent Hangzhou-based companies were included in the list, such as Alibaba Group, Ant Group, and Netease (Xinhua, 2022).
Hangzhou has continued to contribute to the development of Chinese civilization since 7,000 years ago until being a modern city now. Hangzhou's technological success is proven by the splendor of the Asian Games opening ceremony, which was preceded by the lighting of the eternal flame of the Asian Games lon July 13 2023, with a sacred ceremony at the Liangzhu Culture archaeological site. The ceremony seemed to tell the story of the long history of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, which has now become a modern city (Kompas, 2023). The Chinese government seems to want to show China's success in several aspects, especially in terms of technology. As the most prestigious country in East Asia, China certainly wants to show their strength without having to use violence or war. Moreover, Hangzhou has been a strategic hub along the Silk Roads since ancient times. Hangzhou is one of a number of excellent example cities that act as 'hubs' along the Silk Roads. This factor underlies the rapid development and modernization in Hangzhou, so that China has used it as a symbol of their strength in the fields of trade and technology.
China’s hosting of the Asian Games has also been used as an opportunity to showcase China as a reliable and important power in Asia (Reuters, 2023). This happens as China has worsening ties with Western countries due to Western countries trying to encourage Asian countries to see China as a threat and forming regional groupings to counter China (AUKUS, Quad, US Free and Open Indo-Pacific). By hosting the Asian Games, China tried to send a message that China is a part of Asia and anti-Chinese diplomatic efforts in Asia will fail, and that Asia should depend only on Asian countries instead of trusting Western states (Global Times, 2023).
In this sense, China seems to convey that China is a part of Asia so it is naturally suited as an Asian power, while the United States is not. This sense of “Asianness” is evident in the Games’ theme song “The Love We Share” which featured Chinese landmarks side-by-side with other Asian landmarks, such as Marina Bay in Singapore and a skyline of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (available in this link). The opening ceremony also paid tribute to Asia’s cultural unity, with images of Asian landmarks displayed during a segment and the song “Our Asia”, initially composed for the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing was repeatedly played during the parade of nations segment (Xinhua, 2023).
The perception of China as Asia’s friend was also displayed in the form of international dignitaries attending, which included Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Cambodian king Norodom Sihamoni, as well as dignitaries and high officials from around 10 Asian nations, from Kuwait to Nepal and Malaysia to South Korea (Global Times, 2023). China tries to play this diplomatic attendance into its foreign policy play, with Syria signing a strategic partnership with China during Assad’s Asian Games visit. Xi Jinping also hosted a diplomatic banquet for Asian Games guests on the day of the opening ceremony, a tradition that he continued from the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and the FISU World University Games in Chengdu. By portraying the Asian Games not only as a sporting competition but also as a “diplomatic summit” Xi tried to bolster China’s diplomatic capabilities.
By hosting the Asian Games, it is evident that China is trying to display itself as a friendly country for Asia and a reliable partner which guides Asia towards a “harmonious future” and “community of shared future for mankind’. However, how much these “sweet words” paint into actual reality is an issue that is important to be discussed. It is evident that despite of China promoting Hangzhou as a green city and environment-friendly hub, Chinese Belt and Road Initiative projects (BRI) has been criticized for not adhering to environmental and sustainability standards (Chaudhury, 2023). Take for example, the Rempang Eco City project in Batam, Indonesia which has impacted local livelihoods and damaged the ecosystem. SImilarly, other BRI projects in Sri Lanka and ASEAN countries have been criticized for environmental issues (Perera, 2018). In addition, it is also important to know that China is one of the world’s biggest emitters of carbon emissions, with the volume raising from 2017 to 2020, despite of China’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2060 and pledged to lead global climate diplomacy (Statista).
Lastly, regarding China’s position as a friend of Asia, it is also important that China have had maritime disputes with various Asian states, especially in East and Southeast Asia. The latest Chinese national map has put it at odds with various Asian states due to its position overlapping with the maritime territory of several ASEAN states (Hindustan Times, 2023). In this case, it has led to Asian countries trying to get security help and assistance from Western powers due to it being the only possible way to secure its deterrence and territory against Chinese assertiveness, instead of an anti-Chinese sentiment. Asian countries do not see China as an enemy, unlike how many European states see Russia as an enemy. China is an important partner for Asia, and has helped Asia in its infrastructure development, trade, technology and many other issues. However, it is also important to know that in order to build a lasting friendship, principles of sovereignty and international law should be respected, including territory. Territorial disputes could be a hotspot of conflict, including between major powers.
References:
Chaudhury, D. R. “Enviromental damage from Belt and Road Initiative projects on the rise”
CNN Indonesia. 2023. Asian Games 2023 Resmi dibuka. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/olahraga/20230923202352-178-1002878/asian-games-2023-resmi-dibuka Accessed Oct 21, 2023.
Global Times, 2023 “China confident in presenting spectacular Asian Games” https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202309/1298739.shtml. Acccessed Oct. 21, 2023.
Global Times, “2023. “Hangzhou Asian Games a Big Day for the Whole of Asia” https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202309/1298743.shtml. Accessed Oct. 20, 2023.\
Hindustan Times, 2023. ‘ASEAN’s challenge: managing the South China Sea dispute” https://www.hindustantimes.com/ht-insight/international-affairs/aseans-challenge-managing-the-south-china-sea-dispute-101696826251243.html. Accessed Oct. 20, 2023.
Kompas. 2023. “Hangzhou, dari Kota Kuno menjadi Kota Modern”. https://www.kompas.id/baca/olahraga/2023/09/07/asian-games-2022-untuk-terbit-mulai-24-september-2023-hangzhou-dari-kota-kuno-menjadi-kota-modern Accessed Oct 22, 2023.
Perera, Amantha. 2018. Environmental damage and land acquisition: Anger grows in Sri Lanka against Belt and Road Initiative. Scroll.im, https://scroll.in/article/904456/environmental-damage-and-land-acquisition-anger-grows-in-sri-lanka-against-belt-and-road-initiative. Accessed Oct. 20, 2023.
Reuters, 2023. “Glum mood overhangs China’s Asian Games” https://www.reuters.com/sports/glum-mood-overhangs-chinas-asian-games-people-just-dont-care-2023-09-21/. Accessed Oct. 19, 2023.
Xinhua. 2022. “1st Global Digital Trade Expo kicks off in Hangzhou, China. “ https://english.news.cn/20221211/796f81206ff649538491572f4a031161/c.html Accessed Oct 22, 2023.
Xinhua, 202. “Four unmissable moments from Asian Games opening ceremony” https://english.news.cn/20230924/11c2544743a44c17b9c8b87b9c469ca2/c.html. Accessed Oct. 20, 2023