Chinese are getting lessons on cheering to be good spectators at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. According to this article there are 20 approved chants which Chinese spectators can use.

Some of the lessons include paying respect to China’s war time enemy - Japan. China and Japan football matches have been marred in the past by unruly behavior by some Chinese spectators.

Japan won a gold medal at a recent warm-up event for the Beijing Olympics in the men’s floor routine. Japan’s national anthem “kimigayo” has military overtones as it sings praise for the Emperor of Japan. During the Second World War Japan’s army invaded neighboring Asian countries, fighting for the Emperor.

A young girl sitting next to me, said she didn’t want to stand for the anthem and sat her seat. The majority of the crowd though stood and cheered respectively. The lessons must be working.