Beijing bids for 2008 Summer Olympics
Posted: Wednesday November 25, 1998 01:21 PM
BEIJING, China (AP) -- China's capital announced Wednesday it will bid
to serve as host to the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Beijing's announcement won quick support from a government
minister, who said China - as the world's most populous nation -
should stage the games.
Beijing Mayor Jia Qinglin submitted the application to Wu
Shaozu, president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, during a
ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, the state-run Xinhua News
Agency reported.
"We think that as the world's most populous country, with a
vigorous and growing economy, China should host the Olympic Games
and make more contributions to the Olympic movement," Xinhua
quoted Wu as saying.
"Many people in China and foreign friends have expressed their
hope that China would bid again," said Wu, who is also minister of
the State Sports General Administration. The Chinese Olympic
Committee "is very happy to receive the application," he said.
Beijing lost to Sydney by two votes in the 1993 selection for
the host of the 2000 Games. China chose not to pursue the 2004
Olympics.
"I had been hoping Beijing would bid again after we beat them
so narrowly in 1993," said Kevan Gosper, an Australian Olympic
official and member of the International Olympic Committee
executive board. "A lot of progress has been made and they are
better prepared to deliver a successful games."
Since the loss to Sydney, Shanghai and Guangzhou have also been
rumored as possible sites for another China bid.
The Chinese Olympic Committee will study Beijing's bid and any
applications from other Chinese cities at a meeting in January,
said He Huixian, a committee spokeswoman. If the committee approves
a bid, it will forward the application to the International Olympic
Committee, she said.
She said Beijing lost the 1993 vote for the 2000 Games because
of 'non-sports factors.'
Criticism of China's human rights record was a factor in the
1993 vote. China's reputation has also been marred by a string of
doping scandals.
Another Australian IOC member, Phill Coles, said China will have
to be persuasive on doping controls and may face another barrage on
human rights.
"Everyone discusses human rights," he said. "It's an issue
with a lot of countries in the world."
The Chinese Olympic Committee set up a special team to research
the feasibility of another bid. Wu said Beijing gave its bid
"careful consideration" before submitting the application.
Officially, competition to stage the 2008 Games hasn't even
begun, although Toronto and Osaka, Japan, have already declared
they want to host.
Bids are also expected from Buenos Aires, Argentina; Istanbul,
Turkey, and Seville, Spain. Paris, Kuala Lumpur an Cairo are also
weighing possible bids.
The IOC will open the bidding next year and the deadline is
February 2000. The IOC will select the 2008 host city in Moscow in
2001.
While Toronto has been seen as the early front-runner, China's
entry into the race changes the landscape dramatically.
Dick Pound, a Canadian who sits on the executive board of the
OC, said China would be the clear favorite.
"It would be hard for the IOC to justify going to a relatively
small country for a third time when the world's largest country has
never had the games," Pound told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview from Montreal.
Montreal staged he 1976 summer games and Calgary held the 1988
winter games.
A defeat for Toronto in 2008 would be good news for the United
States, which plans to bid for the 2012 games. If the 2008 games
went to Canada, the IOC would almost certainly not take the
Olympics back to North America four years later.
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