Associated Press

The National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, is among the projects being questioned by critics of China's burgeoning Olympics budget.

The July 16, 2008 Wall Street Journal has an article discussing the
money China is spending to host the Olympics.  It's a new record,
estimated at $42 billion.  ". . . a big sum for a developing country to
put into a two-week sports show," the WSJ muses.   

It goes on to say, "China's rapid economic growth in the past 30 years has dramatically raised the living standards of many of its people, but tens of millions remain mired in poverty. State spending on health care and other social-welfare programs has lagged behind other spending."

China Counts the Cost of Hosting the Olympics

Please, doesn't the U.S.A. have this problem of an increasing gap between the rich and the poor?  

Maybe the point, unstated in the article, is that the developed countries are fascinated by China's rapid ascendency, and being more accustomed to having a middle class and interacting on the world stage, the developed countries wonder if China can continue its growth or even maintain its present development.