World order, in a nutshell, inside the Olympic Village

Rio de Janeiro

VIVIAN Kong, an Olympic fencer representing Hong Kong, pointed towards the tower where she and the rest of her contingent were staying at the Olympic Village.

Most of the village's 31 high-rise apartment buildings, which loom over the flat plain of suburban Rio de Janeiro, are decorated in the flags of the countries whose athletes are temporarily living inside. Hong Kong, with 36 athletes, is in a building that includes the United Arab Emirates, Ivory Coast and Jamaica.

"We're underneath Qatar," Ms Kong said. Like most others, she had no idea why Hong Kong had been placed in that building with those delegations, or why China and…