Winter Olympic bid spurs mature mindset

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Winter Olympic bid spurs mature mindset

(Global Times) 08:10, November 07, 2013

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Chinese Olympic Committee on Tuesday officially approved Beijing and Zhangjiakou, which plans to respectively hold the ice sports and snow events, to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The news caused a stir in China.

Public opinion, with both supporting and sarcastic remarks found online, has become more complicated than the time when China applied to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

We support the application, and meanwhile call the two cities to prepare for the bid with a mature mind.

The bid to host the Winter Olympic Games should not only benefit the two, but also extend positive influence on economic and social development to China's wide northern region.

Opposition in public opinion is understandable. When bidding for the Olympic Games, other cities also encountered objections but they persisted. Negative emotions regarding this bid have spread online, such as discontent with the smoggy skies and suspicions around efficiency of big events held in the past, among which there are serious criticisms, irrational venting of anger and abuse for fun.

We cannot conclude that the Chinese are against bidding for the Winter Olympics due to online opposition.

The application by Beijing and Zhangjiakou may not succeed. But the process could force the two, as well as regions like Hebei and Mongolia to combat their environmental problems.

The successful hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and World Expo 2010 in Shanghai is seen as China's coming-out party. Future bid for Winter Olympic Games should focus on actual needs rather than on society's vanity.

Cities worldwide are competing fiercely for hosting Olympic Games. Tokyo had hosted the 1964 summer games, but its win for 2020 Olympic Games still cheered up the whole of Japan. It is also notable that Mumbai, a city in the third world with a tedious development task, is also among the list of cities vying for hosting rights.

Beijing-Zhangjiakou is a joint bid. We hope it will be the start for Chinese society to see they can host a world-class event with ease.

We strived to achieve impeccable results in the past. That may be unnecessary. If we had a relaxed mind, it might have been even better.

Transiting from overstress to ease is in essence a process in which a nation is building its maturity and confidence. In the past, hosting a table tennis championship could unnerve the whole country.

The joint application by Beijing and Zhangjiakou is an active innovation, reflecting that Beijing will speed up to drive the development of Hebei Province.

China's central cities should assume more responsibilities in regional economic and social development, Beijing as the capital city should particularly do so. Economic prosperity in surrounding areas of Beijing is not yet ideal, in the future Beijing should play a more forceful role.

The new Olympic bid is carried out within diversified public opinion. Society also needs to treat the controversy over the bid with a relaxed mind.