By IRNA,
London : China is ready to welcome the world to the Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing as a time for celebration, Chinese Ambassador to London Fu Ying said Monday.
“The Olympic Games will open in four days’ time. Beijing will go down in Olympic history as the largest effort ever undertaken for a wonderful Olympic experience,” Fu said.
“Afterwards Beijing will pass on the torch to the next host, London, which will surely stage its own spectacular Games,” he said in an article for the Daily Telegraph Monday.
His call comes amid renewed calls in Britain for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to boycott the closing ceremony in the Chinese capital on August 24.
“Given China’s utter failure to deliver on its human rights promises, it is simply untenable for any representative of the United Kingdom to give political endorsement to these Games,” Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said.
But the ambassador said it was “sincerely hoped that the Olympics will leave a lasting legacy of friendship and understanding between the Chinese and people across the world.”
“Like people across the world, many Chinese are big fans of the Olympic movement, which stands for equality and fair play regardless of colour, religion and per capita GDP,” he said.
Fu said that hosting the world’s greatest sporting event for the first time, 114 years after the first modern Olympics, is a “matter of great pride for the 1.3 billion Chinese people, particularly the young generation.”
“Beijing has never seen such a huge gathering. It will include 11,000 athletes, 450,000 overseas visitors and two million domestic spectators, in addition to 30,000 journalists. The enthusiasm for the Games is high; so, too, is the level of preparation,” he said.
“One million volunteers, including more than 900 from overseas, will be offering their services,” he said. “There are many small things like this that reflect the eagerness of the people in Beijing to be good hosts,” his article said.
All the 250,000 tickets for the Olympics were sold out in three days, while China is being represented by 639 athletes, its largest team ever.
“Seventy per cent of them will be first-time Olympians. While the home crowd will be looking intensely at their medal count, the country understands that the ultimate judgment for success lies in how well Beijing hosts the Games,” the ambassador said.
A survey conducted by American-based Pew Research Centre in China in March and April showed that 90 per cent of respondents in Beijing said the Games were personally important and 96 per cent believed they would be a success and help to improve China’s image.