The Economist generated some of its own in 2001, when we argued against the award of the 2008 Olympics to Beijing, and drew comparisons to the Nazi-organized games in Berlin in 1936. Chinese officialdom and many ordinary citizens were furious: another petulant effort by Western foes to thwart China's inexorable rise.

Second, these would be the first "green" Olympics, spurring a badly needed effort to clean up Beijing and other Olympic venues. This was always a ludicrous claim. Heroic efforts to remove toxic algae blooms from the rowing course do not amount to a new environmentalism.

China's leaders remain irrevocably wedded to the principle of "non-interference" in a country's internal affairs. Insofar as China itself is concerned, they seem to have the backing of large numbers of their own people.