One nation, many dreams? Analyzing the impact of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics on Chinese identity and unity

China is home to numerous ethnic minority groups, which each have their own culture and traditions. When there are numerous ethnic groups living together in a nation, there is a chance of conflict and clashes between the different groups, especially if the government has implemented controversial policies regarding those matters. The Chinese government’s Sinicization policy is such an example. To clarify, the government has implemented this particular policy in order to bolster Chinese nationalism and unity, by assimilating ethnic minorities and their culture into one unified China. However, this can also lead to resistance and discord rather than unity, which would project a negative image of China towards the rest of the world. The notions of nationalism and unity can be thoroughly linked to the Beijing Olympics of 2008. Hosting such an event would be an ideal opportunity to bolster nationalism and unity in the country, since the people would be proud of their nation’s progress and sport successes. The main goal of this master thesis is to research whether this is indeed true in the case of the Beijing Olympics. Therefore, the main research question is as follows: ‘To which extent did the hosting of the Beijing Summer Olympics strengthen or weaken Chinese nationalism and unity?’ In order to answer this research question, a wealth of academic articles and primary sources have been consulted. The most valuable sources were a set of surveys conducted by different academicians and research groups, which delved into development of nationalist sentiments among Chinese, Hong Kongese and Taiwanese citizens over time, as well as surveyes which documented the opinions of Chinese citizens about the then-upcoming Olympics to be hosted in their country. From the data of these sources, it could be concluded that there was indeed a surge in Chinese nationalist sentiments among Chinese, Hong Kongese and Taiwanese citizens, with the latter albeit less significantly, during the Beijing Olympics. There was a nearly unanimous amount of enthusiasm and positivity regarding the Olympics among Chinese citizens, as they believed it would bring their country international recognition and economic prosperity. Additionally, the feelings of Chinese nationalism among Hong Kongese and Taiwanese citizens immediately dropped off after the Olympics ended. Therefore, despite there been resistance against the Olympics in Tibet and Xinjiang, respectively marked by series of protests and terror attacks, it can be stated that the Beijing Olympics overall temporarily strengthened Chinese nationalism and unity throughout the nation and thus had a positive impact on these notions.