ABSTRACT
As a key example of the globalization of its communication, an Olympic host country’s organizational capacity, level of sports ability and cultural charm become important items to be evaluated in international relations. That is, the symbolic performance of organizing global cultural activities serves as a communication platform to contend for soft power. To host the Olympic Games is the moment for a nation-state to shape its image via international public relations. China’s communication gesture was to balance the value distribution of its public relations by transforming, as far as possible, the conflicts at an ideological level into the solemnity and enthusiasm necessary to fulfil her commitment to the international community. The Beijing Olympics were not only to show to the world the cultural impact of China’s sports ability, but also to display her strength and sincerity by providing public goods through meeting the standards of organization and quality of services needed to host the event. Thereby the Chinese international concept of ‘a harmonious world’, to a large extent, was geared toward gaining the international community’s understanding and praise. It should be mentioned that the globalization of communication not only reduces the marginal cost of information diffusion by enlarging the flow of knowledge, but also encourages sufficient interactivity to break each party’s monopoly of information. China’s peaceful rise on the world stage can not be divorced from the rise of its culture, which is necessarily accompanied by the profound changes in Chinese society itself.
