Back in 1978, Argentina was preparing to host the World Cup. The fact that the military junta had by then purged the nation of thousands of dissidents and that one of the biggest torture and death camps was a few hundreds yards away from the River Plate stadium mattered not a jot to FIFA, the world governing body, the participating nations, and the fans.

But thirty years on, China has a problem on its hands, unless it smartens up its human rights image. When you have global internet, and rolling 24-hour satellite TV, the phrase, the “whole world’s watching you” takes on a different meaning.

It forces participitants to examine their consciences, and turns ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ actress Joanna Lumley into a sure candidate for the first female Archbishop of Canterbury.

Fresh from delivering her flowers at Prince Philip’s sick-bed, the gorgeous Joanna told the world, care of the BBC, that through the ages light can have the power to break through the darkness. The Olympic torch, she told us, is already working in mysterious ways, as it makes its progress through the world, shining a light on China’s human rights record.

As the FT exclusively revealed last week, the Chinese have enlisted the support of a PR company to limit the damage to its reputation of its brutal record in Tibet and elsewhere.

They should get a simple world of advice. Start loosening the political straitjacket, and engage constructively with the Dalai Lama, while reminding the world of China’s status as a major political and economic power-one the world cannot afford to boycott.