A Beijing Olympics won't bring multiparty democracy to China, free all political prisoners or give autonomy to Tibet. But it could help moderate China's behaviour.

The 2008 Olympics, China's imminent entry to the World Trade Organization and its growing international status all bring responsibilities the rest of the world now expects Beijing to fulfil. Together, they increase pressure on the world's most populous nation to play by the rules.

"All these strings -- while one by one relatively weak themselves -- have a cumulative effect of limiting the freedom of motion of this huge Gulliver," said David Lampton, a China expert at Johns Hopkins University.

For China's Communist party, winning the games is a boost that could extend its life. Communism is a dead ideology in today's market-reform China. Instead, Chinese expect the government to raise living standards and their nation's standing. With the Olympics, Communists can argue they're delivering.

An eruption of fireworks, blasts from car horns and an Olympic-sized traffic jam celebrated the decision by the International Olympic Committee.

Not since the 1989 democracy protests that ended in violence had so many people converged on downtown Beijing, although many were prevented from entering the square by columns of armed police lined four deep. Source.