An Analysis of Chinese Olympic and Elite Sport Policy Discourse in the Post-Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Era by Xiaoqian Hu A Doctoral Thesis Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctoral of Philosophy of Loughborough University February 2015 © by Xiaoqian Hu 2015 i Abstract This thesis has sought to investigate the development of Chinese elite sport policy after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games through examining the evolution of the Chinese Olympic discourses and elite sport policy discourses with emphasis on the power and interests reflected and constructed within and by these discourses. This study adopts a Critical Discourse Analysis approach, (founded on Critical Realist premises). The discourse analysis protocol employed is modified from Fairclough’s (2005, 2009) framework, also known as Dialectical-Relational Approach, to examine the constitution and implementation of power at the meso and micro levels of relationships within Chinese elite sport. The analysis is based on archival material and semi-structured interviews. Rather than providing a detailed chronology of the Chinese Olympic movement and of Chinese elite sport, the analysis, divided into two main parts, starts with identifying critical periods as the start line of the analysis and points of division that separate these periods. The analysis of the pre-2008 era starts with the year 1993, in which the first Olympic bid by China failed and the second significant reforming policy of Chinese elite sport was published. This section of the thesis consists of an analytic description of the development of Chinese elite sport policy and the analysis of Chinese Olympic discourse and elite sport discourse before the 2008 Olympics. The post-2008 section contains the analysis of these two discourses after the Beijing Games, and develops case studies of three sports, baseball, diving and table tennis, attempting to unveil the development of Chinese elite sport policy in the post-2008 era. From 1993 to 2012, a consistent feature was the concurrent requirement of both reform and of satisfactory elite sport performance, was maintained in Chinese elite sport policy discourse. The power of discourses in relation to these dual goals has varied across the period, has been influenced by a number of factors, and has been maintained by the dominant group within Chinese society and within Chinese elite sport exercising their power over discourse. The thesis argues that the characterisation of Chinese elite sport and of its development has varied with the change in the power relationship between the two sets of goals, which has ii significantly influenced the key developments and change in Chinese elite sport policy and its governance system. iii Acknowledgement This paper could not have been finished, or even initiated, without the help of many, who not only have provided guidance and assistance, but also have made me complete and made me a better self. However, with the limited length of this acknowledgement, for saving the readers’ time and energy for reading the subsequent and less exciting part of the thesis, neither could I include a whole list of those good people in my life, nor fully express my appreciation to those mentioned in the following paragraphs, which is a terrible shame. First of all, I cannot say thank you enough to my supervisor, Professor Ian Henry, who has always been so kind, considerate and helpful since the very first day we talked to each other in 2009, when I was sitting nervously at his office in the labyrinth-like Ann Packer building and was endeavouring to be recruited in the MLA project. Ian has been more than a supervisor to me, not only like a torch illuminating my journey through the tunnel of PhD research, but also the key that opened a gate leading to another way of looking at, thinking about and being in the world. Professor Alan Bairner, my dear friend, as a perfect embodiment of the combination of wisdom, kindness and humour, has provided me a great example of teaching in the classroom and a superb experience of the lovely and enjoyable side of the authentic British life. I also want to say thank you to Dave Burke, Xuemei Deng, Ren-Hsing Jiang and Sheng-Hsing Chen (aka, the Sean and Sean), and Jian Ma and all of my friends for accompanying and helping me, and giving me so many beautiful and precious memories in my life. Last but the least, my family has been the greatest support to any achievements I have made, not only in these years, but also all my life. I feel so regretful that my father cannot witness all these achievements and be by my side after this journey ends. He had been a tireless supporter and provided the vigorous encouragement for me to go further and to accomplish more all his life, even when he was in hospital and was suffering the enormous pain from cancer. I am sure my new title makes him much happier in heaven. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents ..............................................................................................................................v List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... viii Glossary of Terms ........................................................................................................................... ix 1 Juguo Tizhi ............................................................................................................................................... ix 2 Tiyu ............................................................................................................................................................... x 3 Zhuanye Sport ........................................................................................................................................... x Chapter One Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Chapter Two Literature Review ............................................................................................ 11 2.1 Globalisation, Sport and the role of Nation ............................................................................. 12 2.1.1 Globalisation and the role of Nation................................................................................................. 12 2.1.2 Globalisation and the role of sport ................................................................................................... 14 2.2 The Convergent National Elite Sport Policy............................................................................. 18 2.3 Chinese sport before 1993 ............................................................................................................ 26 2.3.1 Background information of Chinese society and sports .......................................................... 27 2.3.2 Tiyu, the Olympics and the People’s Republic of China before the Policy of ‘Opening-up’ .................................................................................................................................................................................... 38 2.3.3 Emergence of sports reform 1979-1993 ........................................................................................ 55 Chapter Three Methodology .................................................................................................. 66 3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 66 3.2 Philosophical Considerations....................................................................................................... 66 3.3 Adequacy of Theory ......................................................................................................................... 72 3.3.1 Policy as discourse and a Critical Realism based approach ................................................... 72 3.3.2 Critical Discourse Analysis, a theoretical method ...................................................................... 73 3.4 Appropriateness of method and reliability of data .............................................................. 82 v 3.4.1 The Consistency of research framework ........................................................................................ 82 3.4.2 Reliability and Validity ........................................................................................................................... 86 3.4.3 Assessment of data .................................................................................................................................. 91 3.5 Data Collection: the selection of resources and cases ......................................................... 93 3.6 Protocol ............................................................................................................................................. 100 3.7 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................... 111