Return of the Eastern Giant: an Investigation of the Participation of the People's Republic of China in the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games

University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1-1-2008 Return of the eastern giant: An investigation of the participation of the People's Republic of China in the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. Xiaowei Yu University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Yu, Xiaowei, "Return of the eastern giant: An investigation of the participation of the People's Republic of China in the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games." (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 7157. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/7157 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). 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RETURN OF THE EASTERN GIANT: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PARTICIPATION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN THE 1980 AND 1984 OLYMPIC GAMES By Xiaowei Yu A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies through the Faculty of Human Kinetics in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2008 © 2008 Xiaowei Yu Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47086-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47086-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Author's Declaration of Originality I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of this thesis has been published or submitted for publication. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon anyone's copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques, quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the standard referencing practices. Furthermore, to the extent that I have included copyrighted material that surpasses the bounds of fair dealing within the meaning of the Canada Copyright Act, I certify that I have obtained a written permission from the copyright owner(s) to include such material(s) in my thesis and have included copies of such copyright clearances to my appendix. I declare that this is a true copy of my thesis, including any final revisions, as approved by my thesis committee and the Graduate Studies office, and that this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other University or Institution. m ABSTRACT The Chinese Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee in November 1979. Following the reinstatement, between 1980 and 1984, the People's Republic of China sent athletes to participate in the 1980 Lake Placid, the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, while they boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. This study investigated the Chinese participation in the Olympic Games and the development of Chinese national sport between 1980 and 1984, and attempts to respond to the question why the People's Republic of China chose the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games instead of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games as the debut of the Chinese athletes on the global sport stage. Conclusions were reached through an analysis of three primary data sources: media reports; organizational archives; and key actor interviews. The research revealed that between 1980 and 1984, Chinese national sport served the national interests of the People's Republic of China and was deeply influenced by the changing international political environment. The government of the People's Republic of China made the decision to participate in the 1984 Olympic Games as well as to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games in order to realize its diplomatic strategies and maximize its national interests. IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Scott Martyn, for his continuous support and enormous help through this academic process. Although Dr. Martyn always has a very busy academic and administrative schedule, his office door is always open when I need help. Without his advice, encouragement, and patience, it would have been impossible for me to complete this research initiative. Dr. Martyn, thank you for your precious and patient edits of my papers, the guidance throughout my program of study, and the constructive long chats. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Larry Glassford and Dr. Vicky Paraschak, for participating in my defense committee and providing me with helpful suggestions and comments, which are very important to my thesis. In addition, I would like to thank the faculty members of Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Wayne Marino for offering me the opportunity to study in Windsor four years ago, which opened a door to the sport world. To my family, specifically my wife, thank you for your support and encouragement all the time; to my sister, thanks for your help through my research in Beijing; and to my parents, thanks for always asking me if I have done my work because I know you care. In closing, I would like to thank the administrative staff from the Faculty of Human Kinetics as well as all of the people who have made my time at the University of Windsor enjoyable and memorable. Thank you! v TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHOR'S DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY iii ABSTRACT iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v LIST OF APPENDICES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATION ix CHAPTER I. Introduction 1 Introductory Background 1 The Development of the Olympic Movement in China 4 The Significance and the Purpose of the Study 21 The Research Questions and the Hypotheses 23 Endnotes 25 II. Literature Review 37 The Cold War and the Olympic Movement 37 Sino-Soviet Relations, 1950s - 1970s 43 Sino-American Relations, 1950s - 1970s 49 Domestic Reform after the Mao Era 56 Endnotes 60 III. Methodology 72 Direction of the Study 72 Explanation of the Research Design 74 Limitations 76 Delimitations 79 Endnotes 81 IV. Findings 82 Section I: The First Year of the Reinstatement, 1980 82 Section II: The Development of Chinese National Sport, 1981-1983 96 Section III: China's Preparation for the Los Angeles Olympic Games, 1984.. 105 Endnotes 115 V. Conclusion 129 The Response to the Research Questions 143 The Discussion regarding the Hypotheses 146 Final Thoughts 148 Future Research 149 vi Endnotes 152 APPENDIX I 155 APPENDIX II 156 APPENDIX III 157 APPENDIX IV 158 APPENDIX V 165 APPENDIX VI 172 APPENDDCVII 173 APPENDIX VIII 175 APPENDIX IX 178 APPENDIX X 179 APPENDIX XI 180 BIBLIOGRAPHY 181 VITAAUCTORIS 190 vii LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX I Summary of the PRC' s Athletic Achievement at the Summer Olympic Games since 1984 APPENDIX II Achievement Comparison between Japan and the Two Superpowers, 1960-1976 APPENDIX III List of Planned Interviewees APPENDIX IV Interview Questionnaire (English Version) APPENDIX V Interview Questionnaire (Chinese Version) APPENDIX VI Comparison of Performance in Track and Field between Chinese Top Level and World Top Level Athletes (1980) APPENDIX VII

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