Douglas Carsewell wants us to ease off the China-bashing and I can’t help but agree with him.

If anyone felt strongly that China shouldn’t host these games, the time to object was several years ago.

China is clearly an authoritarian country. Her people do not (yet) enjoy the liberties we take for granted. But is it right to describe China as a “terror” state, as does Edward McMillan-Scott MEP? I’d need to see more evidence.

There are all sorts countries, such as Saudi Arabia, for example, guilty of doing much more vile things. Yet last year our Foreign Office arranged to have their princlings paraded down the Mall for a Royal Banquet. If we honour such people, how can we be so shrill about China?

I’ve been watching Olympics coverage all morning and really enjoying it (my little girl was delighted at the gymnasts running, jumping, swinging and spinning). the wonderful thing about the Olympics is that even people like me who aren’t really fussed about sport can watch and appreciate the greatest athletes in the world and the pinnacle of human fitness and competition.

Attempts are always made to turn the Olympics into political capital – the run-up to Athens ’04 was mired by an incomplete stadium, Atlanta ’96 suffered from logistical nightmares, not to mention terrorist bombings. London 2012 is already being criticised for it’s expense and lack of perceived immediate benefits. Already many complain that the entire Games and the IOC are funded by a series of large corporations who are only interested in advertising (I haven’t seen any of these complaints explaining why this is such a bad thing). I’ve succumbed to this a little myself, although I was more concerned about HM Government and the BBC than the Olympics itself.

In reality the Olympics like any other major event – a series of calamities waiting to happen which is pulled together because of the inertia of the Games themselves. Beijing 2008 has got off to a fantastic start, London 2012 will be an standout moment in the history of our capital city. There will always be those who complain and those who cry foul, but there will also be the people who see the Games of the Olympiad for what it really is:

The Greatest Show On Earth.