Beijing's Test

From the DubSJ:

HONG KONG -- The Olympic torch has become an afterthought amid the devastating Sichuan earthquake. But even before Monday's disaster, its crowning moment seemed to come and go practically unnoticed: Last Thursday morning, a team of 19 mountaineers summited Mount Everest carrying the Olympic flame all the way to the top.

Every Everest expedition is difficult and dangerous, but this expedition hauled cameras, broadcast equipment, flags and a lighted flame up 29,035 feet. Six climbers participated in a short relay ceremony involving torches designed by rocket scientists to burn in the low-oxygen environment.

Beijing dreamed up this seemingly impossible scenario to drive home the message of China's awesomeness and power. How absurd it now seems. Until last week, the flame's journey had served mainly as a media opportunity for critics of China's role in Tibet. Now even that is pushed aside. The real challenge to Beijing's credibility and prestige today is not the silly torch spectacle or even its capacity successfully to host the Summer Olympics -- but its ability to meet the most dire needs of its own people quickly and effectively in full televised view of the whole planet.

- Leslie Hook