Sports and Diplomacy: Dr. Victor Cha on International Relations and Post-Olympic China
Victor Cha takes a break from work in his office library. (Photo: Roland Dimaya)
Victor Cha talks sports and politics. (Photo: Roland Dimaya)
Victor Cha outside his office in the Intercultural Center (ICC). (Photo: Roland Dimaya)
"Sports are certainly political, particularly international sports...It's probably more political in Asia than anywhere else." —Dr. Victor Cha
October 27, 2008
By Akoto Ofori-Atta and Lauren Burgoon
Condoleezza Rice may be known as many things in the United States – secretary of state, a political science scholar and even a gifted musician. But to Victor Cha, she stands as one of the main reasons he combined his great passions in life—sports and foreign relations—in his research.
In 2006, Cha, then director for Asian Affairs for the National Security Council and on sabbatical from teaching at Georgetown, accompanied Rice on one of their many trips abroad. Rice has a tradition of hosting off-the-record dinners for the traveling press corps during her trips.
"We're all sitting around the dinner table in Indonesia and the conversation moved to sports. Condi Rice is a huge sports nut. I was completely floored by how much she knew. She’ll put any ESPN junkie to shame," Cha recalls. "And I thought if someone this powerful knows so much about sports, it has to matter."
Cha, Director of Asian Studies and professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown, says his native New-Yorker background bred a die-hard love of all things sports, from Giants football to stickball. Yet, as Cha became a scholar and educator at institutions like Harvard, Oxford and Stanford Universities, as well as Georgetown, he never imagined he could mesh sports with his long-held scholarly pursuits—until Rice unknowingly sparked the idea.
"Sports are certainly political, particularly international sports, whether you're talking about it being an object of terrorist attacks or a vehicle through which superpowers fought the Cold War for half a century," Cha says. "It's probably more political in Asia than anywhere else."
Although Cha had already authored books on North Korea's nuclear ambitions and trilateral relations between the United States, Korea, and Japan, the conversation at the press dinner inspired his most recent book, "Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia."
In this book, Cha explores the political side of sports, such as the "ping pong diplomacy" of the 1970s. China’s invitation to American table tennis players to visit—the first allowed since 1949—marked a thaw in relations between the two nations. Investigating how sports and politics are directly connected, Cha also examines the 2008 Beijing Olympics in particular, arguing that political change, thanks to the games, is inevitable.
"One of the themes of the book is the notion that sport is a very important vehicle for nation-building," Cha says. "For a country that's on the rise but that has had a very difficult history like China, using the Olympics to show the world what a great country they are is very important to them."
And in order to be deemed successful, Cha said he believed that China had to hit four marks that included hosting the games well, minimizing political protests, addressing air quality issues, and achieving a high medal count. Ultimately, China was awarded 100 medals: 51 gold, 21 silver, and 28 bronze.
"Overall, I think the games accomplished what the Chinese wanted them to accomplish. They hit all of the four marks and I think they are happy with that," says Cha. "My argument in regard to the future is that they cannot simply go back to being the old China. The whole purpose of the games was so that China would be put on the global stage. The expectations of China by both the Chinese people and the world have changed due to the games."
Pressure that came with the Olympics forced China to make changes that it had never made before, according to Cha. For the games, China gave access to foreign media and eliminated the arduous task of obtaining press permits. Inviting hundreds of thousands of foreigners to their country was also a new practice for the Chinese.
"They had to open up a bit in terms of their policies," Cha explains.
And on the political front, China has already altered its policies on Burma and Darfur, Sudan, something Cha believes wouldn’t have happened outside of the Olympic spotlight.
"The biggest changes have been in policies toward Africa," says Cha. "The New York Times called it 'a quiet revolution in China’s foreign policy in Africa.' What were completely transparent, mercantilistic energy policies in Africa have suddenly changed."
The Summer Games will prompt long-lasting changes in China that will not be immediately evident, Cha's research predicts, despite rumblings to the contrary. The environment, for one, may be altered for the better thanks to the 200 million trees planted to soak up carbon dioxide. Also, the long-term impact on the Chinese people may be an important factor.
"The aspect of change no one is focusing on is Chinese nationalism," Cha adds. "That sort of populist nationalism is not easily controllable. Today, it could be directed against the West, but tomorrow, it could be easily directed against the government. We're really not going to know how much change it will create until long after the games."
Sports have long been used to engineer diplomatic breakthroughs, yet much of past scholarship on sport and politics examined European soccer or sports during the Cold War. Cha believes sport in Asia is critical in an ever-changing political landscape. Chinese basketball player Yao Ming has loyal fans in his home country. Japan and Korea hosted World Cup Soccer for the first time in 2002, prompting leagues to start in those countries. Plus, 60 percent of major league baseball's foreign revenues come from Japan, Cha adds.
"It’s only a couple of weeks past the games," Cha says, but China will be a different country. "It’s is not going to democratize overnight, but China won’t go back to its old ways."
