HONG KONG -- With the approach of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government is making all kinds of preparations to host the games and to welcome foreign visitors and athletes. It knows that the eyes of the world are increasingly turning to China.
To burnish its international image, it is teaching its citizens better manners, such as refraining from spitting in public so that they will not embarrass their country. And to fulfill a pledge made to the International Olympic Committee, China in January liberalized rules governing foreign journalists.
Many people hope that the overall human rights situation in China will improve as well in the aftermath of the Games. This, after all, was what happened in South Korea in the wake of the Seoul Olympics of 1988.