Seven years ago, when the International Olympic Committee awarded China its campaign to become the host of the 2008 Summer Games, international human rights activists, global leaders, and citizen journalists immediately began a campaign of their own—to bring the world’s attention to the country’s arsenal of challenges.
World Pulse caught up with women leaders and China experts to discuss China’s greatest challenges—and her greatest strengths—at a time which could prove to be a turning point in the fight for a reformed China that so many women have already begun.
Xie Lihua, Editor-in-Chief, Rural Woman Magazine
Translated by Chen Shanshan
Xie Lihua, editor-in-chief of Rural Woman magazine and founder of Beijing Cultural Development Centre for Rural Women, is uniquely positioned to comment on China’s burgeoning leadership. Here, she discusses China’s challenges and what hosting the Olympic games could mean for her country.
On hosting the Olympic Games …
Hosting the Olympic Games has been China’s dream for many years. For so long we have been stigmatized as “the sick man of Asia” and it is time that we demonstrate our strength to the world.
Certainly, China will face many difficulties hosting the largest Olympic Games, especially following the devastating May 12 earthquake. It is my hope that the international community approaches us with a friendly attitude. The Chinese nation has dignity, and we deserve respect—we hope to become an indispensable member of the international community, regardless of our state system. A western system is not the only choice and we must respect variability and understand that each country has its own history and culture. We must respect different approaches to development.
It is important that the international community understand that China has a history of more than 5,000 years. Chinese women entered the twenty-first century with three-inch bound feet—we lag far behind other nations in terms of women’s development. The number of women who have received education above senior high school is less than 20 percent. This is the heart of the issue. We must start with education to allow women access to opportunities, and we must learn from the international community and develop non-governmental organizations to give women the opportunity to participate in reform. Women’s emancipation is the responsibility of government and women’s federations, but it is also the responsibility of those women who have received education. Educated women must organize—only then can we have the strength to achieve what we want to achieve.
