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Ideologically as James Riordan pointed out, since Marx himself did not talk about physical culture, so practitioners of socialism could find themselves rather free to interpret the functions of sports (Hargreaves, 1982). They might use it to support policies of particular times, political figures and so on without much difficulty. In short, sport is at the disposal of the socialist government runners and their speaking machinery.
The events chosen in the sample took place within the last four years. Since this paper attempts to study the working of face in present time China, the time of occurrence should be as nearest to the present as possible. In addition to the Olympics and the 1986 Asian Games, two World University Games have been included in the sample so as to increase the sample base. Also, this may provide hints for longitudinal differences in the working of face.
These events can be regarded as the most important sports events in the world. They are of such an international scale that almost all countries or an overwhelming majority of them in the International Olympic Committee or her Asian counterparts join in. The results are widely reported in papers around the world including China. The depictions of these events and the actual results of the Games could be compared easily, highlighting the journalistic presentation and the potential values involved.
In these international competitions, China is pitted against other nations. She cannot abstain from comparing her strength in sports with that of other nations in the Games. The competitions may be bitter rivalries, or friendly exchanges of skills, depending on the attitudes, the results and even the articles on the events. China's performance, status, honour etc. would be weighed against those of other nations. Her face would therefore be subject to change each time she participates, and each time she wins or loses.
These events are also chosen instead of the World Cup, the World Athletics Championships or other World Championships because they consist of a wide variety of sports. China may be strong in some but weak in others. It would be convenient to see how she depicts her own successes and failures in one event and within a short time span, reducing a probable intervening factor of value change if the depictions are picked within a long time frame.