I don't think it is harsh though. The opening ceremony was all about appearance - the girls carrying the signs with country's names on weren't chosen just because they could carry a placard, but because they could do so whilst looking beautiful and with a smile on their face. Similarly all the cheerleaders conformed to a modern ideal of "beauty". There may well have been people out there who could have done the dancing/cheering routines better but were ugly as sin and fat to boot, but we're not complaining about China not letting them perform, are we?
It's entertainment. It's not real. Julia Robert's head was superimposed onto a model's body for the posters for
Pretty Woman. Patricia Quinn lip-synched to Richard O' Brian's voice for
Science Fiction Double Feature. Big name stars use body doubles for close-ups to their hands and feet because the big-name-stars' extremities don't hold up under scrutiny.
Typical communism. Some people are more equal than others apparently.
Y'know, the first time I read this, I thought you'd said "typical
consumerism," and I agreed wholeheartedly, because that's what it's all about. Consumerism. Selling an image. It's nothing to do with communism - we do it just as much in the west too.
One child had the perfect voice, and one had the perfect face, so what's unethical with combining the two to make the perfect performance?