It was maybe an opportunity missed for the Chinese to demonstrate their willingness to be more open and to allow more freedom of speech, freedom of religion, while the world was watching 
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BASRA, IRAQ - OCTOBER 18: People gather around a Land Rover as it arrives at the village Al Houta on October 18 2008 near Basra, Iraq. The trip by the 51 Sqn Royal Air Force Regiment Force Protection Wing was part of a 'key leader engagement' (KLE) visit to the village close to the Basra Airbase to recruit local labour and engage with the village shiek. Visits of this type are seen as key in efforts to continue winning the support of the local Iraqi population. Although improved security in the region has brought some benefits such as improved trade and commerce, much of the infrastructure remains in a poor state of repair. Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has indicated that the number of UK troops could be scaled down - especially as the security situation in the south of the country continues to improve.
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Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks during a campaign rally in the rain at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, September 27, 2008.
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A puppy stands on a truck carrying people to be evacuated from the area in preparation for the approach of Hurricane Gustav in Batabano, on the southern coast of Cuba, August 30, 2008. Powerful Hurricane Gustav roared toward western Cuba on Saturday with 125 mph (205 kph) winds on its way to the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico after a deadly pass through the Caribbean.
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BANGKOK, THAILAND - AUGUST 30: A member of Anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) stands behind barbed wire outside Government on August 30, 2008, in Bangkok, Thailand. The protesters want to unseat the seven-month old coalition government lead by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.
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Visitors are sen at a Honda showroom in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Dec. 5, 2008. Honda will pull out of Formula One unless a new buyer can be found within three months, The Associated Press has learned. The Japanese car manufacturer has the operating budget to keep the team running into early 2009, but escalating operational costs amid the worldwide financial crisis have the Brackley-based outfit in danger of shutting down if a new sponsor is not found quickly. Takeo Fukui, CEO of Honda Motors, was due to hold a news conference regarding the F1 team in Tokyo Friday, Dec. 5, 2008.
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Wen Hua, who survived the Sichuan earthquake, holds a toy in her temporary home in Anxian county, Sichuan province December 4, 2008. Schools that collapsed during the earthquake killed more than 19,000 people, nearly a quarter of the total deaths, an official said, giving the first government estimate. Picture taken December 4, 2008.
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Members of a choir sing during a ceremony for Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 81st birthday at Sanam Luang square in Bangkok on December 5, 2008. The revered monarch turned 81 on December 5, 2008 but pulled out of his customary birthday address the previous day due to illness, ending hopes that he might offer guidance on a way out of the nation's long-running political crisis.
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Recently starred
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A memorial tribute to shoe mogul Thomas Bata is shown at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto September 3, 2008. Bata died earlier this week at the age of 93.
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A visitor takes a close look at a photo by French photographer Bettina Rheims during the inauguration of her exhibition "Can You Find Happiness?" on March 7, 2008 at the c/o-Gallery in Berlin. The exhibition runs from March 8 to May 11, 2008.
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Forty-five euro coins, worth 500 Slovak Crowns or 16,60 euros, are seen in Bratislava where Slovakian banks and post offices started selling them on December 1,2008 before Slovakia joins the euro zone on January 1, 2009.
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People walk behind the European Union's flag during the annual gay parade in Budapest July 5, 2008. Several hundreds of demonstrators clashed with the police in the center of Hungarian capital as police tried to separate them from the participants of the Gay Pride march.
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Articles sorted by relevance containing "Xu Guoqi"
...China's leaders have always viewed sport as a means of engagement with the outside world. At the end of the 19th century, Xu Guoqi writes, China became characterized as "the sick man of East Asia," lacking in the "war-like spirit" that was beginning to be...
...will really change the cultural fabric of Chinese urban society," he said. Separate from the material legacy, Xu Guoqi, author of Olympic Dreams: China and Sports, 1895-2008, said the Olympics will open the Chinese to increased interaction with the world and...
...will really change the cultural fabric of Chinese urban society," he said. Separate from the material legacy, Xu Guoqi, author of Olympic Dreams: China and Sports, 1895-2008, said the Olympics will open the Chinese to increased interaction with the world...
...be involved in western sports was to hasten internationalisation, build a strong nation and create a national identity,” said Xu Guoqi, a history professor at Kalamazoo College and author of Olympic Dreams: China and Sport, 1895-2008. “In that context Chinese...
...in history. Rarely has a more varied array of contentious issues crystallized around a single sporting event." Chinese writer Xu Guoqi says that Beijing is fixated on winning gold medals as a means of proving its status in the world. But Xu observes archly,...
...1994, and soccer became the first sport to achieve commercial success in China, with sponsors pouring in millions of dollars. Xu Guoqi, a professor of East Asian history at Kalamazoo College and the author of a new book on China and the Olympics, said Chinese...
...would prompt another wave of anti-foreigner nationalism. However, the Chinese crowds have largely been polite and generous. Xu Guoqi, a Chinese historian based in the US who wrote a book about China’s relationship with the Olympics, says the games could have...
...movement, [recruiting such a] large number of student cheerleaders to cheer for other countries during the Games," says Guoqi Xu, author of "Olympic Dreams, China and Sports, 1895-2008," in an e-mail. "The Beijing Olympic Games has not yet started, but Beijing...
Quotes spotlight for "Xu Guoqi"
It was maybe an opportunity missed for the Chinese to demonstrate their willingness to be more open and to allow more freedom of speech, freedom of religion, while the world was watching
said Tony Fratto
in USA Today
What the Games showed is that neither the state nor significant elements of the society are crying out for substantial changes ... Each are more or less satisfied with the status quo.
said Russell Moses
in USA Today
I had no hope that the Olympics would hasten political reform ... Look at what happened. Not a single protest was approved in the three protest parks. And while foreign (news) media had greater freedom than before, there was strict control on what the Chinese media could write.
said Liu Xiaobo
in USA Today
But instead, the government stressed security and the old set of control methods, such as mobilizing the whole people
was said
in USA Today
People who want to express their opinions or defend their rights will keep using the few channels they have
was said
in USA Today
I still don't know when I can next see Hu Jia (in jail). I can only keep fighting for it as early as possible
was said
in USA Today
