In 2001 when Beijing secured the honor of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, it was granted on the condition China would fulfill three key promises: improve human rights, grant freedom of the press, and clean up pollution. Seven years later, how has China measured up? According to an Amnesty International report, “there has been no progress towards fulfilling these promises, only continued deterioration”:

Notwithstanding some important legislative and institutional reforms, Amnesty International considers that on balance the Chinese authorities have so far failed to fulfill their own commitments to improve human rights. In fact, the authorities have used the Olympic Games as pretext to continue, and in some respects, intensify existing policies and practices which have led to serious and widespread violations of human rights. Within the core areas monitored by Amnesty International, the only sign of significant reform is with regard to the application of the death penalty and the ability of foreign media to cover news stories in China. While these reforms are welcome, they have both been beset by structural weaknesses and a failure to make them fully operational in practice.

According to Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific director for Amnesty International, “This is really a significant opportunity lost for the Chinese government to show to the world that they really trust their own people … a sign of a China that is ready to take its place in the first ranks in the nations of the world.”