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He Zhenliang: Three Candidate Cities on a Par
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on May 15 held an Executive Board Meeting in Lausanne and released the Evaluation Commission's evaluation report for the 5 bidding cities. He Zhenliang, member of the executive board who attended the meeting said that the report has aroused great concerns from various sides. If using a sports term to describe the result, the three candidates are at the same level, He said.
He said that confidential information had been kept pretty well this time. Prior to the report, some media took it for granted that the report would regard Paris and Toronto forerunners in technical aspect, while Beijing remained the third. But the result shows that Beijing is on a par with Paris and Toronto as being capable of staging an excellent Olympiad in 2008. Although the three cities have some minor deficiencies, but Evaluation Commission regard it easy to be solved.
He said that apart from the report's recognition of the three cities, the report contained one suggestion particularly for Beijing, "Beijing's success would give both China and its sports career a unique heritage". Some media are wondering about the implication of the clause. He said that it actually means if Beijing gets the opportunity, it would bring significant impacts on both China and Olympic sports.
The IOC Evaluation Commission visited all five bidding cities in a few months of time and finished a 90-page appraisal report with both English and French versions. He believes that the report is impersonal, just and realistic. Some executive boards said that since the report gave no standing of the 5 candidate cities, how can they take a vote? He said that this is a very good point, because the report did not take the boards' opinions for judging, but make a list on the weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages of the five cities and leave them for Evaluation Commission to assess.
He said that a poll conducted by the IOC Evaluation Commission shows that supporting rates from IOC are lower than those announced by other four candidates, while Beijing got a 96 percent of supporting rate from IOC and 94.9 percent from Beijing itself.
He put forward that there was a problem that did not arouse concern of the board. The French Government's anti-stimulant act is contradictory with the IOC rules. IOC has clearly regulated that all candidate cities shall abide by the rules set by IOC. He said that there is only more than one month left, Paris has not found a way out to the problem, it must make commitment to comply with IOC requirements.
Liang said that Beijing is making great efforts and progressing very smoothly. Only one and a half months are left, Beijing should continue to try its best and no minor errors should be allowed to occur. He stressed that sometimes it is hard to predict a thing unpredictable, Beijing has to make two preparations and strive to make things better and better.
| He Zhenliang: honorary chairman of China's Olympic Committee. He was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1981, a member of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee in 1985 and vice-chairman of the International Olympic Committee in 1989. |
By PD Online staff member Li Yan
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