[The Epoch Times, August 12, 2024](Epoch Times reporters Song Tang and Yi Ru interviewed and reported) For a long time, the Chinese Communist Party has made significant investments in the Olympic Games as part of its efforts to outperform the West and demonstrate the superiority of its so-called communist system. The current Paris Olympics is no exception. However, after three years of strict epidemic control and economic decline, many people in mainland China are beginning to question why the CCP allocates so much money to winning Olympic gold medals instead of using those funds to help struggling citizens.
The CCP-Soviet Model Olympic Mechanism
It has been a consistent practice of the communist regime to use grand international sporting events, particularly the Olympic Games, to bolster the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule.
The Soviet Union participated in the Helsinki Olympics for the first time in 1952, creating a precedent for competing with Western nations on the global stage. The CCP subsequently began emulating the Soviet model, which Western scholars refer to as the “communist sports machine.”
Today, while the Romanian gymnasts trained in the Soviet style and the East German doping swimming team no longer exist, Communist China remains one of the few countries that continues to invest heavily in sports at a national level.
In preparation for its return to the Olympics in 1979, Communist China emphasized that the Olympics were an “important and urgent political task,” aiming to secure five gold medals. After Beijing successfully bid for the Olympics in 2001, it introduced the “Outline of the 2001-2010 Olympic Glory Plan,” which aimed for a top-three finish in the medal counts at the 2008 Olympics. In 2011, the authorities released the “2011-2020 Olympic Glory Plan Outline,” which continued to prioritize achieving gold medal supremacy.
Over the decades, the Chinese Communist Party has developed a so-called “nationwide system” where “the state is responsible, government departments are accountable, and funding is controlled.” The core objective of the entire sports system is to win Olympic gold medals as a reflection of the supposed advancement of the Communist Party.
Chen Kai, a former member of the Chinese national basketball team and sports coach, told The Epoch Times that in a country without genuine elections, this approach is fundamentally flawed. The CCP recognizes this illegitimacy and seeks to divert attention by showcasing Shenzhou spacecraft missions, securing gold medals, and launching significant domestic infrastructure projects.
“They invest in sports that are not popular among the public, such as hockey. Do Chinese people play hockey? Why choose hockey? Because it is less popular and easier to win gold medals in,” he said.
Unlike other sectors that have begun to embrace market principles, the State Sports Commission of the Communist Party of China was downgraded to the State Sports General Administration in 1998. Its Sports Management Center is tasked with selecting, training, and overseeing Olympic sports; however, the nature of these institutions remains under the strict control of the CCP.
The main goal of the General Administration of Sport of the Communist Party of China is to secure Olympic gold medals, while provincial sports management centers focus on selecting and training elite athletes for the national team.
Under the so-called “nationwide strategy,” each province and city is encouraged to concentrate on developing projects that stand a chance of winning international competitions and Olympic gold medals. Every athlete, province, and city is expected to align with the CCP’s overarching objective of winning gold.
The National Games, modeled after the Olympic Games, are the largest domestic sporting event in mainland China. A significant purpose of preparing for and competing in these games is to identify potential Olympic gold medalists.
A 2008 research paper states that Cui Dalin, deputy minister of the State Sports General Administration, noted that the director of the General Administration of Sports must sign a contract with the government to meet predetermined Olympic gold medal goals. Failure to achieve these targets can result in severe repercussions from the party’s leadership, with the worst-case scenario being job loss.
The same principle applies to provincial sports bureaus and management centers. For instance, Shandong Province has established 12 provincial sports management centers in events like track and field and swimming, directing resources toward medal contenders from the National Games and Olympic Games. According to the director of the Shandong Provincial Sports Bureau, failure to meet their targets will lead to immediate removal from their positions, rendering them ineligible for similar roles for four years.
Beijing Shichahai Youth Sports School. China spends a significant amount to win gold medals, yet its number of Olympic medals per capita is less than one-twentieth that of South Korea. (Getty Images)
As part of the “communist sports machine,” authorities have set up thousands of sports schools in various provinces and cities throughout China. These institutions select future Olympic champions from children as young as four or five, training 95% of China’s Olympians.
However, most of these children miss out on formal education. Estimates from China Sports News indicate that about 80% of retired athletes in China face unemployment, poverty, or chronic health issues due to overtraining.
Ju Bin, a former member of China’s national basketball team and a Canadian basketball coach, told The Epoch Times that in China, sports serve merely as a tool for the CCP’s governance. The Communist Party employs cunning strategies, utilizing sports to brainwash the populace while investing in projects disconnected from everyday life. It seeks to gain a semblance of legitimacy while shielding itself from scrutiny of its illegitimate or criminal actions.
“The national system can operate efficiently. However, such constructs are artificially created and can lead to dire consequences. For instance, some athletes resort to banned substances to achieve success, which may result in premature aging of their organs, ruptured blood vessels, or weakened bodily functions. This defies natural laws and leads to serious repercussions,” he warned.
How much does an Olympic gold medal cost?
While nations worldwide invest in the Olympic Games, few are as entirely state-controlled as the CCP. By comparison, Australia, which has performed well at the Olympics, allocated only about a quarter of its Olympic funding from the government last year. American athletes, on the other hand, do not receive government funding and rely on private sponsorship, charity, broadcast revenue, and endorsements.
The CCP has kept its investment in Olympic preparations, particularly in recent years, shrouded in secrecy. However, there were extensive reports surrounding the 2004 Athens Olympics.
According to the eighth issue of the “Global Financial Observer” in 2004, between 2001 and 2004, the government allocated approximately 5.7 billion yuan just before the Athens Olympics. At that event, China secured 32 gold medals, which amounted to an average expenditure of 178 million yuan per gold medal.
In 2004, Zhang Xiaoning, Party Secretary of the Tennis Management Center of the General Administration of Sport, stated on CCTV that a tennis player costs more than one million yuan a year, with total investments in non-Olympic years typically reaching 7 to 8 million yuan. For Olympic and Asian Games, the cost usually exceeds 10 million yuan.
After Liu Xiang won the 110-meter hurdles at the Athens Olympics in 2004, Bao Mingxiao, then director of the Sports Social Science Research Center, revealed that Liu’s training and competition expenses for the year surpassed 3 million yuan.
Qian Kui, coach of the national gymnastics team, disclosed that from 2001 to 2003, the annual expenses of the national gymnastics team reached 20 million yuan, covering only training costs and excluding sports venue construction expenses.
After Beijing won the bid for the Olympics in 2001, its sports budget skyrocketed. It introduced the “119 Project” as an “Olympic championship” initiative, allocating millions for new training facilities and hundreds of thousands to enlist top foreign coaches.
By 2024, the sports budget for the State Sports General Administration of the Communist Party of China increased to 7.8 billion yuan, with provincial sports units receiving even larger budgets.
According to a 2022 research paper: in 2018, the total financial investment in sports across the nation was 47.12 billion yuan, with provincial investment accounting for 42.95 billion yuan, or 91.1%; in 2019, the total amount was 46.29 billion yuan, with provincial investments reaching 45.81 billion yuan, or 98.9%.
On February 1, 2022, shortly before the Beijing Winter Olympics, medical staff tested a hotel guest for Covid-19 (the disease caused by the CCP virus) in a hotel room in Yanqing District, Beijing. (JEFF PACHOUD/AFP via Getty Images)
The previous Olympic Games held in Beijing incurred significant expenses: the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics cost 52.7 billion U.S. dollars; although the official budget for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was 3.9 billion U.S. dollars, the actual costs associated with infrastructure projects—including the Olympic Village, highways, railways, and airports—could reach 38.5 billion dollars.
With the influx of vast funds, Chinese athletes enjoy exceptional privileges. People in the sports industry have claimed: “Our fees are increasing year by year, and our stipends are guaranteed.” An American women’s rowing coach referred to Chinese athletes as “robots with all the resources they need.”
A 2004 article from NetEase revealed that national team training facilities maintained pig farms for safety and provided special fuel worth more than 1,000 yuan and medicinal soups valued at over 2,000 yuan.
Ju Bin spoke about the privileges afforded to Chinese athletes, stating: “As long as there is a formal government document, everything must yield to it. When I traveled with the national team in China, there were police cars clearing the way, ensuring all traffic was halted. Do you think it’s worth it to orchestrate such a spectacle for an athlete merely to compete?”
So far, China ranks second only to the United States in the total gold medals won in previous Olympic Games, yet these medals have not enhanced the CCP’s reputation.
The Pew Research Center recently released a poll indicating that China has a predominantly negative reputation globally, with a median of 67% of the global public expressing unfavorable views of the country. Notable negative perceptions were recorded in Australia (87%), Japan (87%), Sweden (85%), the United States (83%), Canada (79%), Germany (79%), France (72%), and India (67%).
At the Paris Olympics, the loudest cheers were directed toward the host nation, France, followed by Ukraine, with little support for the Chinese team.
Attention to Olympic gold medals continues to decline
China dispatched 716 athletes to compete in 30 sports, 42 sub-events, and 236 events in this year’s Paris Olympics. According to CCTV, this was the Olympic Games featuring the largest number of overseas participants.
According to reports from party media, the China Radio and Television Station is deploying over 2,000 personnel for production, broadcasting, and technical services, alongside more than 200 frontline reporting team members; Xinhua News Agency is also sending over 200 reporters to cover events in France.
However, netizens remain skeptical. Since the establishment of the Chinese national team, interest has gradually declined. Many believe that gold medals are insignificant in comparison to addressing the needs of the public.
After three years of strict epidemic control and an economic downturn, college students are facing unemployment, the middle class and small businesses are going bankrupt, white-collar workers are experiencing salary reductions, and numerous real estate owners are struggling with debts. On one side, the CCP allocates significant taxpayer funds to win gold medals. On the other, during tough economic times, it refuses to provide financial relief to the populace, which has sparked public outrage.
Job seekers seek employment information at a job fair in Qingzhou, Shandong province, on January 29, 2023. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Some netizens expressed surprise at the unusually low public interest in the Chinese team at the Paris Olympics. “Isn’t it strange that there hasn’t been much talk about the gold medals this time? In the past, there would at least be conversations about how many would win, even if we didn’t publicly cheer on Moments.”
The only noteworthy topic was the fact that the Chinese national team brought its air conditioners to Paris, which sparked criticism from netizens, viewing it as extravagant and a misallocation of taxpayer funds.
Many commentators remarked, “What is the cost of bringing 700 people? It’s a waste of taxpayer money.” “Sorry, they are paying for airfare, hotels, and transport. What benefit does this provide to us taxpayers?”
One netizen lamented, “What does winning a gold medal have to do with the average person?” Another countered, “This money could be better spent improving people’s lives!” “How much is spent to send so many people? It would be far better to offer financial aid to the unemployed.”
“What’s the use of a national system just for a few medals? It would make more sense to focus on people’s livelihoods and food safety rather than chase after empty glory.”
Several netizens noted: “No matter how many Olympic gold medals you win, you still can’t afford medical treatment, nor can you manage your home or car loans and online debts. If you’re alive, you’re still toiling away during prosperous times, and in troubled times, you’ll be cannon fodder. After death, your body will be sold off as human labor.”
“The economy is so dire that we can’t even ensure food safety. Who really cares about this?” “Even if we secure 100 Olympic gold medals, it won’t alleviate the trauma caused by the recent body theft and selling controversy!”
Some netizens added, “If I could win 100 gold medals, would you give me back my electric bike? I’d still need to run takeout orders.”
Chen Kai asserted that Olympic gold medals hold no relevance to people’s daily lives, yet the CCP seeks to distract the public by obsessing over these medals, grand projects, and schemes, thereby avoiding critical examination of its own legitimacy.
“How can an autocratic country without elections understand taxpayers’ rights? All the wealth generated by the Chinese populace has been pillaged by the CCP. It’s akin to harvesting crops without the sickle being in your hand.”
He concluded, “This is a political and cultural framework designed to mislead the populace. It is all deception. The moment people awaken from this illusion, this regime will collapse, as it is built on lies.”
Editor in charge: Lin Yan#
The Political and Economic Implications of China’s Olympic Ambitions
[The Epoch Times, August 12, 2024](Epoch Times reporters Song Tang and Yi Ru interviewed and reported) For a long time, the Chinese Communist Party has invested heavily in the Olympic Games in an attempt to defeat the West and show the superiority of the so-called communist system. The current Paris Olympics is no exception. However, after three years of brutal epidemic control and economic downturn, the mainland people began to openly question why the CCP spent so much money to win Olympic gold medals instead of spending money to relieve people in economic difficulties. Struggling people?
The CCP-Soviet Model Olympic Mechanism
It is a consistent practice of the communist regime to use grand international sports events, especially the Olympic Games, to promote the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule.
In 1952, the Soviet Union participated in the Helsinki Olympics for the first time, providing an example of how to compete with Western countries on the global stage. The CCP began to copy the Soviet model, which Western scholars called the “communist sports machine.”
Today, the Romanian gymnasts trained on the Soviet model and the East German doping swimming team no longer exist, but Communist China is still one of the few countries that devotes so much national resources to sports.
On the eve of Communist China’s return to the Olympics in 1979, it clearly stated that the Olympics was an “important and urgent political task” and strived to win 5 gold medals. After Beijing’s successful application for the Olympics in 2001, it proposed the “Outline of the 2001-2010 Olympic Glory Plan,” demanding to be among the top three in the medal list at the 2008 Olympic Games; in 2011, the authorities promulgated the “2011-2020 Olympic Glory Plan Outline,” the core of which is still to maintain the lead in gold medals and medals.
Over the past few decades, the Chinese Communist Party has formed a set of so-called “nation-wide systems” where “the state is responsible, government departments are responsible, and financial supplies are all under contract.” The entire sports system has the core goal of winning gold medals in the Olympic Games to reflect the so-called “advanced” nature of the Communist Party.
The Economic Burden of Olympic Preparation
China has invested vast sums of money into Olympic preparation, often at the expense of other sectors. Chen Kai, a former national basketball team member, stated that the CCP is effectively using sports to legitimize its existence. He added that funding is often directed towards less popular sports where China can easily achieve gold medals, like hockey, instead of sports that resonate with the general populace.
Funding Breakdown
| Year | Investment (in billion yuan) | Gold Medals | Cost per Gold Medal (in million yuan) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 5.7 | 32 | 178 |
| 2024 | 7.8 | N/A | N/A |
The sports funding in China has skyrocketed, with the State Sports General Administration’s budget increasing significantly over the years. In 2008, the budget for the Summer Olympics in Beijing reached approximately $52.7 billion. Although estimates show the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics officially cost $3.9 billion, actual expenses, including infrastructure, ballooned to nearly $38.5 billion.
Child Athletes and Their Struggles
To maintain its legacy of Olympic excellence, China has a systematic approach to scouting athletes from a young age. Thousands of sports schools have been established to identify elite potential, often selecting children as young as four or five. While this focus on youth sports has the ambition of creating future gold medalists, it comes at a severe cost to the children’s education and well-being.
Estimates indicate that around 80% of retired athletes face unemployment, poverty, or chronic health issues as a result of intensive training. These economic and health challenges pose serious questions about the essential purpose of the nation’s sports funding.
The Disconnection Between Olympic Success and Public Sentiment
Despite significant financial commitments and high-profile Olympic performances, many Chinese citizens have grown indifferent towards the tactics of the CCP. Public opinion has shifted dramatically in recent years, especially considering the backlash following three years of strict epidemic controls and economic struggles.
Public Awareness and Attitude
- Growing criticism over the financial priorities of the CCP.
- General population questioning the utility of Olympic achievements in light of local economic distress.
- Pervasive sentiment that taxpayer money may be better spent on improving public welfare.
Public backlash has been fueled by social media, where criticisms regarding extravagant expenses—like sending air conditioners to athletes in Paris—have gone viral. As one netizen remarked, “What does winning a gold medal mean if we can’t afford basic medical treatment?”
Bridging the Gap: From Medals to Meaningful Outcomes
The China sent 716 athletes to compete at the Paris Olympics, which is the largest delegation in its history. However, public interest has waned, reflecting changing priorities within the population. Following severe economic downturns, individuals are calling for a shift from glorifying gold medals to addressing urgent social and economic issues.
Community Feedback
Comments on social media reflect the public’s growing desire for change:
- “Instead of focusing on Olympic glory, what about paying attention to unemployment?”
- “This money could greatly improve our healthcare and educational systems.”
- “Why celebrate gold medals when so many struggle just to make ends meet?”
Conclusion: The Future of Olympic Investment in China
As the world prepares for the Paris Olympics, it remains to be seen whether the Chinese Communist Party can adapt to growing public sentiment and reallocate its priorities from winning Olympic medals to enhancing the livelihoods of its citizens. The narrative around Olympic success is changing, with citizens increasingly confronting their government about the allocation of state resources amid a backdrop of socio-economic hardship.
