China’s Quest for Sporting Mega - Events The holding of sporting mega- ​­events is viewed by the Chinese authorities as a prominent way to push forward the Reform and Opening Up, arouse patriotism among the public, and display national resurgence in the world. Chinese cities have thus keenly pursued the Olympics, the Asian Games and the Universiade since the 1980s. Theoretically, the President, the Premier and the central gov- ernment should provide all- ​­out support, so boosting Chinese cities’ odds of success. Yet the reality shows that their attitude toward the bids varies from case to case. Through reviewing the 20 bidding cases, this book aims to demystify the reasons behind this phenomenon. The findings provide an in -​­depth account of (1) how domestic and inter- national political factors determine the state leaders’ blessing and silence as well as the central government’s backing, indifference and opposition, and (2) how the bids for the sporting mega- ​­events are used to serve the broader political goals of the Chinese authorities at home and abroad. Additionally, they shed light on the political strategies to boost the Chinese cities’ chances of success, and the political reasons for their wins, losses and discontinuation, in the bidding contests. In summary, this book vividly elucidates the inseparable nature of politics and sport in China. Marcus P. Chu is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, Lingnan University, Hong Kong. Routledge Contemporary China Series 209 Civilian Participants in the Cultural Revolution Being Vulnerable and Being Responsible Francis K.T. Mok 210 Hong Kong’s New Identity Politics Longing for the Local in the Shadow of China Iam - chong Ip 211 Youth Economy, Crisis, and Reinvention in Twenty - First - Century China Morning Sun in the Tiny Times Hui Faye Xiao 212 The Chinese Economy and its Challenges Transformation of a Rising Economic Power Charles C.L. Kwong 213 Keywords in Queer Sinophone Studies Edited by Howard Chiang and Alvin K. Wong 214 Macau 20 Years after the Handover Changes and Challenges under “One Country, Two Systems” Edited by Meng U Ieong 215 Doing Labor Activism in South China The Complicity of Uncertainty Darcy Pan 216 China’s Quest for Sporting Mega-Events The Politics of International Bids Marcus P. Chu For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Routledge - Contemporary - China - Series/book - series/SE0768 China’s Quest for Sporting Mega - Events The Politics of International Bids Marcus P. Chu First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Marcus P. Chu The right of Marcus P. Chu to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978 - 0 - 367 - 20667 - 3 (hbk) ISBN: 978 - 0 - 429 - 26281 - 4 (ebk) Typeset in Galliard by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear Contents List of tables vi Acknowledgments vii Abbreviations viii 1 Introduction 1 2 Chinese leaders and Beijing’s Olympic bids 7 3 International sporting galas and Beijing’s Olympic bids 36 4 Hong Kong and Beijing’s Olympic bids 58 5 The President and Chinese cities’ Asian Games bids 83 6 The Premier and Chinese cities’ Summer Universiade bids 104 7 Central government and Chinese cities’ discontinued bids 132 8 Conclusion 150 Index 164 Tables 1.1 China’s performance in the Summer Olympics since 1984 2 1.2 China’s performance in the Asian Games since 1974 2 1.3 China’s performance in the Summer Universiade since 1977 3 1.4 Chinese cities’ bids for sporting mega -​­events governed by the IOC, OCA and FISU since 1980 3 Acknowledgments I am grateful to Brian Bridges, Annie Chan, Chan Che -​­po, Gerald Chan, Chen Hon -​­fai, Francis Cheung, Ted Fung, Lawrence Ho, Joanne Lai, Alan Lee, Peter Leung, Li Pang -​­kwong, Simon Li, Vic Li, Liu Junli, Lao Liu, Lu Zhouxiang, Zita Lui, Vivian Lun, Ma Yuhuai, Eric Man, Mai Sasahara, Shalendra Sharma, Eric Wong, Jack Wong, Natalie Wong, Wong Yiu- ​­chung, Max Wu, Xiang Xi, Xu Xiaohong, Eilo Yu and Raymond Yuen for their advice, encouragement and help. I am equally indebted to Simon Bates and Tan ShengBin in Routledge Contempo- rary China Series for their professional suggestions about my proposal and manu- script, as well as Louise Lubke Cuss for her careful proofreading and editing service. My special thanks go to Lingnan University direct grant (no. DR19B6), which supported the research of Chapter 4. Lastly, I would like to express a deep sense of gratitude to my parents. This book could not have been completed without their care and love. Abbreviations AFC Asian Football Confederation AGA Asian Games Association ANC African National Congress APEC Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation BIE Bureau International des Expositions CCP Chinese Communist Party CEPA Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement CGAS China General Administration of Sport CNCS China National Commission of Sport COC Chinese Olympic Committee DPP Democratic Progressive Party ECFA Cross -​­Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement FIFA International Federation of Association Football FISU International University Sports Federation GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade IAAF International Association of Athletics Federations IGF International Gymnastic Federation IOC International Olympic Committee ITTF International Table Tennis Federation IWGA International World Games Association KMT Kuomintang LegCo Legislative Council LOCPG Central People’s Government Liaison Office in Hong Kong MFN Most Favoured Nation NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NPC National People’s Congress OCA Olympic Council of Asia PNTR Permanent Normal Trade Relations PRC People’s Republic of China ROC Republic of China SAR Special Administrative Region SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SF&OC Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China WHA World Health Assembly WTO World Trade Organization 1 Introduction While its people suffered in the ruthless political struggles of the Cultural Revo- lution, China on October 25, 1971 successfully expelled Taiwan, becoming a full member of the United Nations. Within the next 12 months, President Mao Zedong met US President Richard Nixon in Zhongnanhai. The UK, Japan and West Germany all established diplomatic relations with Beijing. In this context, a number of international sporting organizations encouraged China to join them. The most populous country on the planet was thus successively recog- nized by the Asian Games Association, which later was renamed as the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), in 1973, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) in 1975, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1979. Since then, Chinese athletes have been entitled to take part in the Asian Games, the Universiade, the Olympics, and other activities overseen by these three power ful athletic bodies. Given that outstanding performance in international competitions is deemed to be able to arouse the national pride of the public, boost the status and profile of China on the world stage, and consolidate the ruling legitimacy of the Com- munist regime in the post- ​­Cultural Revolution era, Chinese authorities are par- ticularly keen to see the medal haul of their fellow sportsmen in the Olympics, the Asian Games and the Universiade. Accordingly, the Whole -​­Nation Sports System (juguo tizhi), through which most of the sports resources in the country are allocated to support elite athletes who are able to win medals in the compe- titions of international sporting mega -​­events, was launched.1 Although it was criticized for depriving the general public in the country of their rights to enjoy the relevant sports resources, this policy measure successfully led Chinese sportsmen to gain superiority over their overseas rivals in table tennis, diving, weightlifting, gymnastics, shooting and badminton. As a result, the Chinese delegations were constantly ranked in the top tier of these sporting mega - events’ medal tables (see Tables 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3). It was arranged that the champions frequently participated in official propaganda activities. Their stories were extensively reported by state media. The public was deeply moved by the achievements of the sports heroes. Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities busily formulated policies to boost the economy and arouse the patriotism of the public. They also proactively adopted 2 Introduction Table 1.1 China’s performance in the Summer Olympics since 1984 Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank Los Angeles 1984 15 8 9 32 4 Seoul 1988 5 11 12 28 11 Barcelona 1992 16 22 16 54 4 Atlanta 1996 16 22 12 50 4 Sydney 2000 28 16 14 58 3 Athens 2004 32 17 14 63 2 Beijing 2008 48 22 30 100 1 London 2012 38 31 22 91 2 Rio 2016 26 18 26 70 3 Source: author’s database. Table 1.2 China’s performance in the Asian Games since 1974 Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank Tehran 1974 33 46 27 106 3 Bangkok 1978 51 54 46 151 2 New Delhi 1982 61 51 41 153 1 Seoul 1986 94 82 46 222 1 Beijing 1990 183 107 51 341 1 Hiroshima 1994 126 83 57 266 1 Bangkok 1998 129 78 67 274 1 Pusan 2002 150 84 74 308 1 Doha 2006 165 88 63 316 1 Guangzhou 2010 199 119 98 416 1 Incheon 2014 151 109 85 345 1 Jakarta and Palembang 2018 132 92 65 289 1 Source: author’s database.