China's dispute over the Olympics

China, as a rising power, has spent billions of dollars to hold the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. However, many government officials have their careers on the line. If anything was to disrupt the games, China has fears of what the rest of the world would think about them. Since China society has held to be benevolent, this all makes sense. Despite the aftermath of May's earthquake, putting on good games, is China's number one priority. There has also been talk of the "clash of civilizations" with memories of anit-western protest by ethnic chinese still fresh in their minds, nationalism will be tightly looked at during the games. Chinese leaders would rather outsiders look at how much China has changed and how at ease it is with the world. Some Chinese officials still thought that by holding the 2008 Olympics it was a perfect target for terrorism.