Preparing to Take Credit for China's Glory: American Perspectives on the Beijing Olympic Games

摘要

China's plan to use the 2008 Olympics to herald hopes of a coming Chinese global dominion follows a custom established by the US in the preceding century. US leaders and the public routinely hailed the twentieth century as the 'American century' and used the Olympics to signify their hegemony. During this period the US perceived China both as a 'sick man' that could be rescued by American-style sport and as a 'sleeping giant' that might someday awake and challenge US power in sport and other domains. This dual paradigm historically shapes US interpretations that swing between fear of China's potential for challenging the US to glib analyses that China's problems render it an impotent rival. This history chronicles US perceptions of China at the Olympics from the dawn of the modern games to contemporary debates over Beijing's hosting of the 2008 games.