Beijing (AsiaNews) - Songs, dances, races, and even prayers mark the beginning of the countdown for the last 100 days before the Beijing Olympics.  The joyous exultation is mixed with a rise of nationalism and a "war of the people" against foreign media, Western powers, and local pro-democracy activists.  Meanwhile, the torch returned to Chinese territory today, in Hong Kong.

The "100 day countdown" celebration included a marathon in which 10,000 of the city's inhabitants participated; traditional dances in front of the "Bird's Nest", the new stadium; a new hymn with the voices of 100 famous singers; and - according to Xinhua - also a series of prayers in the churches of Beijing for the success of the games. Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has expressed his satisfaction and has predicted that the Beijing Olympics will be "a great success".

In effect, construction of sport facilities has ended, as has that of infrastructure (new airport terminal, subways, streets).  So far, Beijing has spent 40 billion dollars, and is preparing to spend 2.1 billion more on the games.

Efforts against pollution also seem to have had some success.  Since 2001, Beijing has spent more than 15 billion dollars to move polluting factories outside of the city, convert coal-powered factories to electricity, and add subway lines to limit surface traffic.

The fervour of preparations and of the selling of tickets for the ceremonies seems to have overshadowed all of the controversy and demonstrations that erupted at the passage of the torch in the rest of the world, to criticise China over Darfur, the environment, human rights, and repression in Tibet.

The campaign launched by the Chinese media against the "terrorism" of the Tibetans, "the Dalai Lama and his clique", the attempts to "divide the motherland", has sent nationalism sky high among the population, who view Tibetans as "ungrateful" toward China for all of the development brought to their country.  Nationalism has also united the Chinese communities abroad, which are usually relatively independent with respect to the policies of the central government. 

Another forgotten issue is human rights.  In 2001, the Chinese authorities, in order to win the games for Beijing, had promised to improve the situation of human rights.  But this issue is no longer discussed, and even groups of pro-democracy Chinese activists are remaining silent out of fear that any sort of criticism against the government will be silenced as "unpatriotic".  After a campaign against the Western media, "biased" against China and in favour of Tibet, petitions for human rights are judged by the authorities as only a "tool" of the West to "demonise" China.

The newspapers of the communist party continue to ask the entire population to participate in a "people's struggle" against those who want to divide the country and destroy with "terrorism" the beauty of the games and the glory of China.  For this reason, Zhou Yongkang, a member of the politburo and a former minister of public safety, has asked the population to work in close contact with the police to reveal incidents, people, and cases of suspected terrorism, which tend to divide the nation and ruin the games.

Meanwhile the torch, after its long and controversial tour, has reached Chinese soil in Hong Kong.  For days, figures like former governor Tung Chee-hwa and other Chinese representatives have been calling for acts of patriotism instead of protest demonstrations, for covering everything with red and unfurling the Chinese flag.  According to local survey, 95 percent of the population of the territory supports China.  But at least 15 demonstrations are expected along the route of the torch to Kowloon and the island of Hong Kong.

In deference to Beijing, the governor of Hong Kong has banned three pro Tibet activists - Tsering Lama, Kate Woznow, and Matt Whitticase - from entering the territory, together with Chinese writer Zhang Yu, originating from Sweden.  Several days ago, the immigration department denied a visa to Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot and his two children, all human rights activists.  Also expected to arrive in Hong Kong is the actress Mia Farrow, who supports a boycott campaign against China because of its activity in Darfur.