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# Thank Hu: A Special way to hug the world
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/thank-hu-a-special-way-to-hug-the-world/
- Published: 2007-11-06T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T01:14:09.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

(Editor’s note: John Wood is a former staff writer for the Santa Monica Daily Press currently living in China.) IT’S NOT EASY BEING DIFFERENT IN CHINA. In a country where the Communist Party is the sole political power, where education is based on repetition and mimicry, and where citizens are encouraged to conform and follow the group, being different is difficult, even dangerous.

Remarkable, then, to see President Hu Jintao’s warm embrace of people with intellectual disabilities at the Special Olympics World Summer Games held in Shanghai last month.

It wasn’t Hu’s stiff-wristed wave from the VIP stands that turned heads. Rather, it was a short video aired during the star-studded opening ceremonies. Hu smiled and laughed freely, embraced people with intellectual disabilities and seemed to genuinely have a good time.

This video and much of the Special Olympics World Summer Games was broadcast around the world and, importantly, across rural and developed China, where programming is heavily controlled, from Oct. 2 to Oct. 11.

Viewers around the world tuned in because the event was seen as a bellwether for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Chinese viewers tuned in because the games were on home turf and attracted more than 7,500 athletes from 164 nations. The intense national pride of the Chinese, even among the growing disgruntled masses, is difficult to overestimate.

Critics will say China hosted the Special Olympics in a flimsy effort to apply makeup to its battered public image — that of the rising dragon — and to take focus away from an immense trade imbalance with the United States, away from ongoing human rights abuses and unending concerns over the “Made in China” tag. These critics will say the video of Hu enjoying the company of disabled people was forced, that Hu is press savvy and little more. Yet even conceding these conservative assessments, the immediate impact of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games has been palpable in China. The average citizen, for the first time, now knows something about the Special Olympics. What’s more, the Chinese nation collectively watched as its leader literally reached out and embraced people with intellectual disabilities. This can only serve the interests of a disabled population in China that traditionally has been shunned, denied proper care and often kept out of sight.

Hu did not act alone. Among the long list of prominent figures helping draw global attention to the Special Olympics were basketball star Yao Ming, musician Yo-Yo Ma, actors Jackie Chan and Colin Farrell, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Santa Monica’s own City Councilman Bobby Shriver, eldest son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics founder.

Tens of thousands of volunteers cheered from the sidelines. They joined what Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver calls “the Special Olympics movement” because the Special Olympics brings joy to the athletes who compete, but also because the Special Olympics draws out the best in everyone involved. The athletes celebrated exemplify genuine kindness, incredible determination and real courage in the face of true adversity. Rarely does a spectator leave a Special Olympics event untouched. As one devout Catholic at the Shanghai games remarked, “It’s better than church.”

Sure, China made some missteps which organizers hope won’t be repeated at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Dozens of international visitors and sponsors were delayed access to key events while police bureaus conducted background checks. Rumors circulated about local volunteers being strong-armed to serve. Sports venues served athletes fast-food lunches of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Coca- Cola.

No, things were not perfect. Nor will they be made perfect anytime soon in developing China. Life will remain difficult for the millions of Chinese people who live with intellectual disabilities. Acceptance will be rare. Still, for people of all walks of life who stand out as different in China — the intellectually disabled, gays and lesbians, even just the average foreigner — Hu’s embrace was more than a mere cameo, and China’s hosting of the Special Olympics much more than a dress rehearsal.

JOHN WOOD moved to China in 2005 to work as a development volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in Gansu Province. John’s wife, Louisa, a former Santa Monica schoolteacher, now serves as communications director for Special Olympics East Asia.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/110607-07_01.jpg)

of John Wood IN THE RED: China's hosting of the 2007 Special Olympics brought out the best in both athletes and the nation's leadership. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 6, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/110607.pdf?ref=smdp.com)