Could Beijing, which will host the Olympics next summer, repeat Los Angeles’ success? The answers vary, but judging from the gigantic efforts made by Beijing’s organizing committee for the Olympics, the answer could be yes.

The media in the West have long been skeptical about Beijing’s ability to deal with the city’s serious air pollution problem. And there were reasons for the skepticism: smoke and smog have seriously reduced visibility and made the air unsafe to breathe. Emissions from cars, which have been increasing at a rate of 1,000 vehicles per day, are aggravating the situation.

So serious was the issue that Dr. Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympics Committee, told CNN last month that because health of the athletes is of top importance to the IOC, endurance events such as cycling and road race could be “rescheduled” if the air quality in Beijing is too poor.

Rescheduling an Olympic event is unusual, especially because of air pollution instead of unexpected weather conditions. The Western media interpreted Rogge’s remarks as his worry about the problem that may not be resolved prior to the opening of the summer games in August next year.

Shortly after the CNN interview, Beijing made an experiment on reducing automobile traffic to and from the city. The city imposed a partial ban on cars aimed at reducing smog levels and easing traffic gridlock. It used an odd-even license plate number system, under which about one-half of the city’s three million cars were idled. The results of the four-day test were that traffic flowed more smoothly than ever. Restricting the number of cars on the city’s streets is an effective way to reduce air pollution, as evidenced in the Los Angeles games. Peter Uberoth, the then chairman of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, took the measure with the support of the majority of residents.

As an authoritarian government, Beijing and the Organizing Committee are determined to stage a successful Olympics at all costs. The partial ban on cars has received enthusiastic support from motorists, who are willing to give up their personal comfort in favor of state interests, according to the Wall Street Journal.

While statistics on Beijing’s air quality, such as nitrogen dioxide, are not readily available, other numbers show improvement, however. In 1998, the city had only 100 days with blue skies, compared with 241 days in 2006. This, according to organizers of the 2008 Olympic games, is due to the hard work of the organizing committee.

Under the slogan of Green Olympics, Beijing’s government and the organizing committee have been working hand-in-hand to improve the environment, including planting trees and growing grass to make the city greener. Beijing’s investment in the environment totaled 15 billion renminbi, or about US$2.5 billion, according to the committee’s official Web site. Parks, large and small, are being built, including the 475-hectare Olympic Forest Park. This park is 90 percent green, exceeding the IOC’s requirement of 50 percent.

To make Beijing’s air clean requires two things — money and resolve. Money is not a problem for Beijing, which is shelling out US$40 billion for the games, a mind-boggling amount that is four times Athens had spent on the 2004 Olympics. Equally important, perhaps, is the resolve of the people to support the games. Domestic support for the games has been rising even before Beijing won the bid in 2001. Now, the countdown to the Olympics has already begun. Under the slogan of “New Beijing, New Olympics”, there is growing awareness among the people that it is a dream come true. They will support measures designed to stage a successful games. Rogge’s worry about Beijing’s polluted air would be gone if the current pace of environmental improvement remains at the present tempo.

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