Officials: 2008 Could Be a Win-win

A 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing would create a "win-win" situation for sports, China and the world at large, a senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member from China insisted over the weekend.

"It will be a win-win for the Olympic Movement, Chinese sports and society, and the relationship between China and the rest of the world if Beijing hosts the 2008 Games," He Zhenliang, a 72-year-old IOC executive member, said at a luncheon held by the Olympic Committee of Hong Kong on Saturday.

It will be in the interests of the Olympic Movement if the most populous country on planet is chosen to promote Olympic ideals, He said.

In an independent poll conducted by the IOC Evaluation Committee during a visit to Beijing in February, 96 per cent of Chinese people said they supported the bid, confirming an earlier Gallup result which indicated 94.9 per cent support for the bid.

But He claims vast public support, while one of Beijing's biggest advantages, is not the only reason the city should be selected. He also insists Beijing's bid benefits from strong technical merits, evidenced in the IOC evaluation report in which Beijing was rated as one of the three front-runners with Paris and Toronto.

He slammed as "nonsensical" and "ridiculous" rumours that out-going IOC president Juan Samaranch had interfered with the evaluation report in favour of Beijing.

The IOC categorically rebuked the allegation as a "cheap fabrication" in a statement earlier this week.

He arrived in Hong Kong last Friday at the invitation of the Honorable Timothy T. T. Fok, president of the Sports Federations and Olympic Committee of Chinese Hong Kong, to attend a series of activities in support of Beijing's bid.

China's turn

Last Thursday in Mombasa, during a meeting of the Association of National Committees of Africa (ANOCA), Beijing Mayor Liu Qi said Beijing has the ability to host an excellent Olympic Games, adding that it is time to give the world's biggest developing nation a chance to host an Olympics.

Liu and representatives from Paris, Osaka, Istanbul and Toronto, all candidate cities for the 2008 Olympics, attended the ANOCA meeting in the port city of Kenya as special guests.

Liu told journalists that reports by Western news media that said Beijing lacks sufficient facilities to host the Olympic Games are a misunderstanding.

Beijing already has 12 of the 37 sports venues it needs to host the 2008 Olympic Games, he said, adding that these facilities have been upgraded for the 21st Universiade set for August in Beijing.

The Universiade is expected to attract more than 6,500 athletes from 160 countries and regions.

"We have promised to the Organizing Committee of Universiade that Beijing will turn the event into one of the best in history, and such confidence is based on these well-built facilities," he said.

Beijing will build 23 more sports facilities, but only eight of them will be specially built for the Olympic Games, with the rest to be constructed regardless of the result of Beijing's Olympic bid.

Noting that the capital spends roughly US$15 billion on infrastructure construction every year, Liu explained the Olympics will not prove to be a big burden. "It is really a small sum for Beijing to spend the US$1.2 billion needed for building Olympic facilities over a period of seven years," he said.

Answering whether the issue of human rights will hinder Beijing's chance of hosting the Games, Liu said the bid for the 2008 Olympics is a sporting issue totally unrelated to political matters, and more, China has made great advances in improving human rights.

"The campaign linking the human rights issue with Beijing's bid is merely propaganda put forth by political enemies to taint Beijing's image," he said.

In his presentation to the ANOCA assembly, Liu said Beijing has put forward the concept of "New Beijing, Great Olympics," aiming to turn the 2008 event into one that will help improve the environment, raise people's living standards and promote cultural exchanges.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) evaluation report on the five candidate cities for the Games says that to hold the event in Beijing will leave China and its sports community with a unique legacy.

"We are willing to share the legacy with the whole world," Liu said, adding that if Beijing wins the Games, it will set up an Olympic foundation to promote exchanges among athletes of all countries and further advance the sports sector in developing countries.






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