Op Rana is a senior editor with China Daily’s opinion department. He has a particular focus on international politics and environmental protection.
The world loves to refer to China as the "factory of the world", though it never tires of blaming it for the cost development has exacted on its environment. The pressure on the environment can be reduced only with the combined effort of the entire world community - and the world better join hands immediately for that. But there is one pressure, the pressure on the workers of the "factory of the world", which the Chinese government can reduce on its own, and it has decided to do so.
Beijing's air quality is the worst in the world. The pollution can kill a normal human being even in 17 days. All Olympics' venues, including the architectural marvel the Bird's Nest, are virtual death traps. Even the water in the Water Cube is poisonous. It will suffocate swimmers to death. Let alone setting new records, athletes will find it impossible to even breathe in Beijing.
A new dawn broke over China today. The Olympics Games will be declared open at the National Stadium in a matter of hours. People across the world will watch China's offering with amazement, or regret, depending on the color in their eyes. The insinuations, allegations and drummed-up paranoia of the media with an agenda, and hence of their bosses, will not be laid to rest, though. But that is another story.
A drama was played out in Geneva for four days. The developed countries - the US, the European Union (EU), Japan and Australia - were desperate to break the deadlock in the WTO's Doha round of talks. But fortunately they couldn't do so until China, India and Brazil agreed with them.
Today is the Fourth of July, the day of the red and white and blue, the 231st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. It's also a day to ponder what the US stands for in these times of political and environmental turmoil.
From snowy peaks to lapping seas, from sandy deserts to verdant greens, China has a world full of natural treasure. This natural beauty lay hidden from the rest of the world for a long time. Only a few like James Hilton (in his Lost Horizon) were able to capture the mystery of nature that is China.
One's heart goes out to Cola Boy. His is a story that will inspire generations to come. He has lost his right arm but not his dream to become a scientist. And if his determination is anything to go by, he will.
Strange are the ways of the West. Artists and writers do not become famous for their creations alone. Many other factors - politics, for instance - play a significant role in determining their fate. But no politics can justify the way Leni Riefenstahl is being hoisted into the documentary filmmakers' hall of fame.
It has been 50 years since Joris Ivens made Before Spring with young Chinese filmmakers. The master filmmaker had visited China before and did so later, making documentaries during those sojourns, too. But the 1958 masterpiece, which at first was called Snow, is arguably the most poetic and lyrical of his creations in China.
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