Associate Professor Timothy Weston of the University of Colorado at Boulder history department offers his views on why hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing is so significant to China in a new podcast available at .
"Hosting the Olympics has been for many countries a very, very important signal of their having been accepted into the community of developed world powers, or respected states of the world," Weston said.
For most of the second half of the 20th century, China was isolated from the Western world, according to Weston.
"I think it's fair to say it developed a kind of inferiority complex, and being able to host this international event was for the Chinese government and the Chinese people an extraordinarily important statement," he said. "It marked China's arrival as a nation of first-order importance in competence and ability on the world stage."
Weston is co-editor of the book "China's Transformations: The Stories Beyond the Headlines," and was recently one of only 20 intellectuals selected by the National Committee on United States-China Relations to be a member of their Public Intellectuals program.
For additional information on CU-Boulder connections to the 2008 Summer Olympics visit .