ACTUALITE |
08.10.2001
World Cup qualification signals China`s emergence as global power
BEIJING,
China woke up Monday to a thudding post-World Cup qualification hangover, but also a state media-led chorus that the country, already 2008 Olympic hosts and an imminent member of the global trade club, is taking its rightful place in the world.
Press coverage showed how much qualification for the 2002 World Cup Finals meant to China`s national psyche, as well as to efforts by the ruling communist regime to emphasize national unity at a time when its legitimacy is flagging.
One state newspaper even said the successful qualification campaign would have been impossible without the party-led reforms of the past two decades.
Sunday`s 1-0 win over Oman ended 44 years of frustrated efforts by the world`s most populous nation to qualify for soccer`s ultimate event and sent the country into a night of revelry.
"The victory of China`s national soccer team has brought the hearts of the people tightly together and aroused the lofty sentiments of patriotism," the official mouthpiece People`s Daily boomed Monday in an editorial.
"This victory on the football pitch has not only bestowed on the people a powerful and prosperous motherland, but has given confidence and hope for the renaissance of the Chinese nation," it said.
The newspaper called the win a "generous gift" to the nation still celebrating the week-long October 1, National Day holiday, but stressed that without the party`s 20-year programme of reform the team would not have qualified.
"The reform and opening-up has built the larger environment for soccer and formed the fundamental guarantee for the qualification of the Chinese team," it said.
Beijing winning the rights to host the 2008 Olympic Games and August`s World Student Games in the Chinese capital further showed sport was "a huge cohesive force for the entire nation", it said.
The official Xinhua news agency linked the success to China`s imminent entry to the World Trade Organisation, saying economic reforms had allowed foreign competition such as national team coach Bora Milutinovic of Yugoslavia.
"It is no coincidence that as China is finishing up discussions on entering the World Trade Organization, the Chinese soccer team has followed closely with its entry into the World Cup finals," the Xinhua editorial said.
"With the imminent accession to the WTO and through the examination of the reform process of Chinese soccer, one will discover that China`s soccer has developed step by step with the domestic reform and the adoption of international norms," it said.
For ordinary Chinese as well, it was not difficult to see China`s qualification as a coming of age for the nation, not unlike Beijing`s victory in the 2008 Olympic bid race last July.
At that time Beijingers poured into the streets, much like they did Sunday night, with revellers waving flags and honking horns in wild jubilation over China`s progress on the global sporting stage.
However not everyone was convinced the party could take all the credit.
"Of course all these events (Olympics, WTO entry and the World Cup) show that China is getting stronger and deserves more respect on the international stage," one reveller told AFP.p
"But to say that this is due to the policies of the Communist Party, is beside the point and has nothing to do with it," he said.
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Hits: 1 | Source:Dailysoccer | |
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