World records galore, magnificent stadiums, cleanish air and the seemingly inevitable victory for the Chinese team: as the Olympics nears its Sunday close, almost everything that could have gone right has done so.

Yet for all the successes, the authorities have also risked an own goal with the way they have dealt with dissent. The Olympic Games have demonstrated just how much China has been transformed over the past three decades, but have also exposed important ways the country has not changed.