The 2008 Summer Olympics is fast approaching.  But visitors to the host city Beijing, China’s capital, hardly sense the atmosphere of the approach of this important event.

I just returned from a trip to Beijing.  I have flown Continental Airlines’ Newark-Beijing route three summers in a row, but this was the first time when the airplane was not packed.  It surprised me that not many American college students were on board starting their journey to China to study the Chinese language and culture.  The hotel where I stayed in Beijing was not packed as well.  In fact, more than half of the four-star hotels and a quarter of the five-star hotels in Beijing are empty.  Taxi drivers also complained that they were taking fewer foreigners and waiting longer for foreigners at hotels.  In the meantime, travel agencies in the U.S. are advertising the availability of cheaper tickets to China, even during the Olympics.

On the surface, this all has to do with China’s tightened visa policy, which, put in place in May, aims to control the entrance of those foreigners who intend to disrupt the Olympics.

If one recalls, when the International Olympic Committee announced in 2001 that Beijing was voted to host the 2008 Olympics, the nation was thrilled that it gained respect by the international community.  From time to time, the Chinese government indicated that the Beijing gathering would be the best in Olympic history.  Great efforts have been made to ensure the Beijing Olympics would have high-content of science and technology, would be green and environmentally friendly, and would be oriented toward humanity.

Since then recent events, besides domestic and international terrorist threat aside, the March riots in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital city, and China’s subsequent crackdown, have become the focus of anti-Chinese protests on Olympic torch relays in London, Paris, and San Francisco. This has lead to some Chinese leaders having second thought on hosting the Olympics.  It is understandable that it does not want to see the Olympics becoming the stage of anti-China activists and result in a face-losing situation.  Restricting foreigners from visiting China may potentially prevent the Party from being ruined.

I don’t know whether other Olympics-hosting countries have adopted similar measures restricting the entrance of foreign visitors during the Olympics.  Nor do I know whether China has violated its commitments made when it offered to host the Games.  But the new visa policy does suggest that the leadership has lost its self-confidence in hosting “the best Olympics in history.”  One may have noticed that this rhetoric is not mentioned anymore, and is instead replaced with the terminology “a high-quality Olympics with distinguishing features.”

While there is danger of China being "unshakably self-confident," it is not plausible for China to become so afraid that it is intimidated.  In many occasions, China was not shy when it opened its door to global economic integration some thirty years ago or more recently when China turned itself into an innovation-oriented nation, through pursuing indigenous innovation.  But when it is challenged by such issues as human rights, its stands seems to be just too soft.  The new visa policy shows China’s “split personality.”

It is hard to believe that China throws a party, a lavish one, but it hesitates to invite many guests.  Of course, not every guest will enjoy the occasion, some may even make trouble.  But most of the guests in Beijing enthusiastically cheer athletes and their competition.  Without critical mass of spectators, there would be no right atmosphere for a party like the Olympics.

Moreover, the restriction on visas reflects the frustration of the Chinese leadership toward globalization.  Embracing globalization does not mean just taking advantage of its benefits.  China also has to prepare for the negative consequences, such as protests, when it becomes a member of the global community.

Having the capability to host the Olympics indicates China has the hard power, but it is how China successfully hosts the Olympics and especially how it handles the challenges as a host that really displays its soft power.  China should be more confident.