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Beijing on Sunday called for concerted efforts by both sides of
the Taiwan Straits to realize the aspiration of the whole Chinese
people to host the Olympic Games.
And Beijing would like to discuss with the island province of Taiwan,
according to the "one-China" principle, on the possibility
of sharing some events if Beijing is awarded the 2008 Games, a leading
official of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) said Sunday in Beijing.
Beijing, along with Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul, is bidding
for the 2008 Games and the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
will decide on the Games venue in July at Moscow.
Tu Mingde, COC's secretary-general, made the remarks at a press
conference here on Sunday, when an IOC evaluation team left the
Chinese capital for Osaka, Japan after a four-day inspection tour
of Beijing.
When asked at the press conference about whether Beijing would
share some events with Taiwan, Tu said that he knew early last year
through press reports from Taiwan that some officials of the local
authorities wished to stage some of the 2008 Games events.
"The news shows Taiwan compatriot's aspiration of staging
the Games," Tu said. "But under the Olympic Charter, the
Games could only be staged in one city and in one country."
The COC official declined to rule out the possibility of moving
some Games events to Taiwan. "Beijing is willing to discuss
on the issue with Taiwan according to the 'one-China' principle
if it wins the bid. But any decision on the issue needs an IOC approval
beforehand," he said.
In the bidding report present to the IOC last month, Beijing has
planned to include Taiwan in an Olympic torch relay but the Games
candidate city did not mention an idea on sharing competition events.
Tu called on all the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan
Straits to make coordinated efforts in Beijing's bidding campaign.
"At present, I wish people across the Straits can join their
hands and contribute to help realize the Chinese aspiration,"
he added.
(People's Daily 02/26/01)
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