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The international relay of the Olympic flame was meant to be a grand passage through some of the world’s great cities, to dramatize the unity that animates the Olympic spirit and to herald the advent of Beijing as the newest capital of the Olympic movement. Instead, it has turned into a public relations nightmare...

The damage has been done. Not to the Olympic movement, because protesters and public alike have learned to distinguish between the Games and the politics of the host country. But to China’s image abroad. Coming on the heels of the violent riots or brutal crackdown in Tibet (the choice of emphasis is almost ideological), the torch relay has revealed, yet again, a disturbing side to China’s politics.

The Tibet issue has festered for half a century; China’s degree of influence over North Korea, Burma (Myanmar) and Sudan has been a concern and an object of speculation of the community of nations for many years. The protests that welcomed the torch relay are therefore not a surprise; in fact, they were expected. And they became inevitable after the recent eruption of violence in Tibet.

What is disturbing is the Chinese national government’s hard-line reaction. Despite the general freedom now enjoyed by ordinary Chinese citizens since the reforms known collectively as the “opening,” and in spite of the greater attention now focused on China because of the Olympics, China’s government has responded to the protests in a manner that can only be described as self-destructive...