The Faked Olympics, Totalitarian Style

First we learned that some of China's opening ceremonies were electronically faked and were in fact computer graphics, meticulously created over a period of months and inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment.

Then there was the cute little girl in pigtails and red dress who purportedly sang the Chinese national anthem but really didn't. She was selected at the last minute to lip sync because a member of the Politburo determined that the actual singer, with buck teeth, was not "cute enough" to represent China to the world.

Now we learn that the Chinese "fans" are actually fake fans who were drilled for months in a "pre-approved list of 20 chants to sing."

Beijing Olympic supporter squads drilled in the art of diplomatic cheering

From The Telegraph

By Stephen Adams and Peter Foster

The volunteers have been trained on how to clap, cheer and drum

The specially trained cheerleading teams have been kitted out in identical bright yellow t-shirts with Communist-red collars.

Each 'fan' has been issued with two inflatable red and yellow clapping batons, which co-ordinate with their shirts.

Sitting together among the foreign tourists who wear an array of clothes, they appear as solid yellow blocks with both their shirts and sticks mirroring the colours of the national
flag.

Bashing the inflated PVC sticks together in a frenzy of national fervour to make a surprisingly loud noise, some of the 'volunteers' even appear to enjoy being 'supporters'.

But there is nothing spontaneous about the clapping, cheering and drumming they have been instructed to carry out.

Nothing has been left to chance: hundreds of these 'fans' were drilled months before the Olympics began.

Just as the shirts and batons are a uniform, so making a noise is a duty.

Conductors lead some groups to ensure they maintain good supporting etiquette, which by Chinese standards means clapping equally for all competitors.

Party officials and trade union leaders across the country tutored groups, giving them a pre-approved list of 20 chants to sing.

Their instructions include the official four-step Olympic cheer.

It starts with a double clap and a chant of "Olympics", then a thumbs-up with their arms pointing skywards and a chant of "Go, go!", then another double clap and a cheer of "China", before finally punching their fist in the air and shouting "Go, go!" again.

The chant was devised by the Communist Party's spiritual civilisation bureau, the ministry of education and the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee.

The Chinese authorities have taken their inspiration in part from the success of the South Korean team in the 2002 World Cup, which was supported by a large uniformed cheerleading squad.

But the fact that the Korean fans only cheered for their own team appears to have been somewhat lost on the Chinese.

Grant Williamson, 28, from York, spotted the squads while watching the badminton, an event which has failed to attract large crowds.

He said: "It took me a little while to work out what was going on.

"I thought one of the teams had brought a massive fan club with them and then I realised that they were all Chinese.

"I suppose it did add a bit of atmosphere but when you see they are clapping equally for all sides it kind of misses the point."

Members of these cheerleading teams have at least been given the opportunity to express their individuality with their own shorts or trousers - and even their own footwear.