The biggest festival of sport on earth begins tonight with the start of the Beijing Olympics. The Chinese are hosting 10,708 athletes from 205 countries who will participate in 302 events. There are 24 new venues, many of them breathtaking, which required the participation of more than a million workers. The cost came to £21 billion. These Olympics will mark China's new standing as a global superpower; that status will be confirmed if China manages to beat the US in the tally of medals.

British sportsmen and women are also expected to do well. But while we cheer them on, we should not forget that the Olympics are also an opportunity to focus attention on a less engaging aspect of the host nation: its human-rights record. The summary deportation of British pro-Tibet demonstrators yesterday was unsurprising; further protests are likely.

Then there is the continuing harsh treatment of minorities such as the Chinese Christian community and the Falun Gong sect. Indeed, the totalitarian nature of the regime can be seen in the arbitrary displacement by the authorities of tens of thousands of families in order to make way for the construction of the stadiums themselves. Meanwhile, China has an unappealing record of support for repugnant foreign regimes including Sudan and Burma. Western leaders at the Games should not hesitate to express their disquiet about all this.

Naturally, among the spectators at tonight's opening extravaganza, there will be representatives of the London Games, hoping for inspiration for 2012. They are right to be there but they should stand warned: London cannot and should not attempt to match Beijing in the extravagance of our Olympics. We do not aspire to squander nearly £20 billion on 17 glorious days of sport. In that respect, the Beijing Games may mark the summit of Olympic grandiosity - a level of extravagance encouraged by the vanity of the International Olympic Committee. London will, we hope, match these Games in exuberance and imagination - but not in spending.