Grading China

Now that the 29th Summer Olympics have come to an end, it's time to assess how well China pulled off not just the Games themselves but its effort to convince the world that it has arrived as a global superpower.

Our reviews are mixed. Sure, the pageantry was impressive. In putting together the opening and closing ceremonies, organizers worked tirelessly and spared no expense to create magnificent shows. The extensive preparations and attention to detail were readily apparent.

But there is more to being a first-class global powerhouse than fireworks and gold medals. What about respect for human rights, freedom of the press, and religious tolerance?

In order to win the right to host the Games, the Chinese promised to open up access to the press and ease up on dissidents. Yet, China didn't do either.

Take it from the members of Students for a Free Tibet, foreign activists who staged protests during the Games to raise awareness about Chinese repression in Tibet.

Ten members of the group are now missing and believed to be in police custody in Beijing. Or ask television reporter John Ray of ITV News, who was arrested in Beijing while covering a Free Tibet protest, and released soon thereafter, perhaps because his camera kept filming the incident.

It also didn't reflect well on China that one of its gold medal-winning gymnasts, He Kexin, found herself at the center of a controversy over her age. Gymnasts have to be at least 16 to compete in the Olympics. China's top sports officials blame a paperwork error for the fact that He is listed as having a birth date of Jan. 1, 1994 - which would make her 14 years old and thus ineligible to compete.

If we were handing out grades, this would be an "incomplete." The Beijing Olympics showed the world how far China has come - and how far it still has to go.

REPRINTED FROM THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE.

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.