Jeff Ruffolo competed to do Olympic PR for China and won

Perhaps the book could explain how it was that a Republican Mormon from Orange County became a public relations advisor on (some might say apologist for) the Chinese Communist Party's handling of the Beijing Olympics.

At 51, Ruffolo is old enough to have spent his formative years steeped in anti-communism. He grew up in Woodland Hills in a family of John Birch Society conservatives, and by his own admission was none too fond of foreigners or minorities.

"I was a real bigot when it came to China. I had a lot of prejudices that I had to leave behind when I came to this place," he said over lunch in the basement cafeteria of the media center next to the Olympic Green. "I had to learn that they have their way and their political philosophy. I respect that."

Today Ruffolo has only the highest praise for the Chinese, but then again, he is paid to say nice things. Ruffolo is the only foreigner handling media at the headquarters of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

On his resume, he describes his job as "intimate advisor to senior Chinese leaders on the Olympic movement." That might be something of an exaggeration given that he doesn't speak Mandarin and doesn't drink alcohol, the lubricant essential for wriggling one's way into the inner sanctum in China.

Nevertheless, it is fair to say Ruffolo has had unusual entry into an organization dominated by party cadres. He stands, arms folded, at the back of most Chinese news conferences -- as unobtrusively as possible for a pasty guy who's 6-foot-1 and 260 pounds.

"I'm the only American who rewrites speeches of Communist Party chieftains," he boasted.

The entire concept of media relations is different in China. News conferences usually consist of an official reading a report laden with statistics. ("This year we saw a 3.19% growth in the number of press conferences and a 3.78% increase in the number of attendants" is how the media department opened a welcoming meeting for journalists.) The journalists themselves are supposed to be part of the propaganda apparatus, reading scripted questions that elicit flattering answers.

The Chinese were not prepared for the confrontational style of the foreign media. For example, a journalist for Britain's Channel 4 began a question about human rights at a news conference last week by saying, "Given that the Chinese government has lied through its teeth. . . . "