With or without the diplomatic crisis between the US and China over a spy plane, Beijing still stands as the most promising city to stage the 2008 Olympic Games, Taiwan's only member on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said yesterday.
"The plane confrontation should not affect the decision-making process," said Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國), who has been an IOC member since 1988. "It's about a sporting event in seven years time. The IOC members will judge the sporting event."
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
He expressed optimism that the Chinese capital will win the bid on July 13 when 127 IOC members are due to meet in Moscow to decide the matter.
Beijing is competing against Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul for the 2008 games.
Wu, who has previously made clear his support for Beijing's bid, said he did not think the plane confrontation would play a role in the decision-making process. "To my knowledge, most IOC members are independent thinkers," he said.
In 1993, Beijing lost its bid to host the 2000 Olympics to Sydney by only two votes, although it had led the pack in the first three rounds of voting.
To try and improve this time, China has spent some US$17.8 billion beautifying its capital and another US$12 billion shoring up its environmental protection methods, efforts that won Beijing admiration from the IOC evaluation team, Wu pointed out.
He added that as the most populous country in the world, China deserved the chance to host the event in line with the Olympic belief that sport can break down barriers of language, culture, nationality, age and sex and build bridges between people the world over.
Echoing Wu's views, Lin Pao-chen (
The last time Asia hosted the Olympics was the 1988 Games in Seoul, Lin said, dismissing speculation Paris would win the bid as the western media has reported.
"Athens will host the 2004 Olympics, making Europe an unlikely venue in 2008," Lin said.
Last month, US lawmakers passed a resolution opposing Bei-jing's staging of the 2008 Games unless China releases all political prisoners and improves its human rights record. China expressed indignation about this, saying the non-binding measure was mixing politics with sports.
The US Congress passed a similar resolution in 1983 to oppose Beijing's bid for the 2000 Games.
Chinese representatives will not be allowed to vote at the Moscow meeting because Beijing is one of the candidates.
In February, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch stressed that the panel would make no comments on human rights issues during its evaluation of the cities.
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