Fireworks. Music. Fantastic athletic performances.

If nothing else, this year's Olympics showed the world that China can put on one heck of a show when it puts its mind -- and more than $40 billion dollars -- to it.

China's huge security forces managed to keep the games free of any major incidents, and Michael Phelps' race toward an eight-medal record kept the world focused on what was going on inside the stadiums, instead of what was happening outside them.

Unfortunately, those outside activities were a definite cause for concern. The U.S Embassy had to urge China to free foreign activists jailed for protesting at the Olympic games. Journalists' freedoms to cover stories that diverged from the official Chinese line were restricted. And the Chinese government continues to block access to some politically oriented Web sites.

Ironically, the world's general lack of shock over these incidents might actually be a bad sign for China, because it shows that people still expect China to act like a suppressive dictatorship rather than a free country that respects human rights and freedom of the press.

Even in the Olympic opening ceremonies, China tried to pull a bit of a fast one by having a girl lip-sync for the real, less attractive singer and showing television audiences a computer-generated video of the fireworks instead of the real show. While these incidents are not as serious as the alleged human rights abuses, they still paint a portrait of a country that is not being completely up front and open.

If China's goal was to show the world it knows how to put on a good show, then it definitely succeeded. But if China wanted to show the world that it had become a modern country with an open government, then it still has a lot more work to do.

Like an athlete who tests clean for drugs and still wins the gold medal, a truly successful country shouldn't need to hide behind "performance-enhancing" tricks like restricting the press and censoring dissents. China has made great strides in recent years, but it still has progress to make. With a little more effort, China can respected by the world for the country that it is, not just the country that it wants outsiders to see.