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# An Olympics review
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/an-olympics-review/
- Published: 2008-08-31T00:08:42.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:59:09.000Z
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 19:46

The Chinese journalist [Li Datong](https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Li%5FDatong.jsp) has been writing a  
column for **openDemocracy** for two years in which he casts a mordant eye  
on China's political elite, the workings of power, and the unfinished  
business between the people and those who govern them. These essays are  
notable for their coolness, confidence, sense of the long term, and readiness to draw on international experience (including from the rest of the Chinese world) to help explain Chinese events for a global readership. This makes even more impressive the warmth and enthusiasm in  
his latest [column](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/the-beijing-olympics-post-match-analysis)  
which discusses the effect of the Olympic games on China. In an echo of[ Kerry Brown's](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/china-changes-itself-an-olympics-report)  
article written while the games were in their last week, Li Datong is  
optimistic that the very fact of China's hosting of the Olympics  
signifies a change in the country's relationship with the rest of the  
world.