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After just one day in Beijing, the head of the Australian state
that hosted the 2000 Olympics said the Chinese capital was in good
shape to hold the 2008 games.
"Beijing looks like an Olympic host city to me," New
South Wales Premier Bob Carr, said Wednesday, a day after arriving
on his first ever visit to the city.
Beijing, which lost to Sydney by two votes in 1993 for the right
to host the 2000 Olympics, is bidding against Paris, Toronto, Osaka
in Japan and Istanbul in Turkey for the 2008 games.
Carr said Beijing's planned Olympic facilities were "impressive,"
with a proposed Olympic village close to sporting venues concentrated
together and served by public transport. The city's growing economy
bodes well for meeting the cost of hosting the games, Carr said
after meeting the mayor of Beijing, Liu Qi.
Asked to suggest any improvements Beijing could make, Carr said
he wasn't familiar enough with the city to point out any deficiencies.
"But I do know from discussions with the mayor that the economic
growth of Beijing stands it in good stead to mount a strong bid
and very possibly a successful bid," he said.
Carr said New South Wales wanted to share its experience hosting
the games with Beijing.
"We think we've got a lot to offer when it comes to training
of volunteers, to the organization of infrastructure like the Olympic
village and to environmental management,'' he said at a briefing
for reporters.
"Beijing will have to find its own approach to the tough and
searching questions that may be asked" during the IOC's review
of its bid, he said.
Carr came to Beijing after visiting the southern city of Guangzhou,
capital of Guangdong province which has sister relations with New
South Wales. He leaves Thursday for Shanghai after meeting with
the Communist Party head of Beijing, Jia Qinglin.
(People's Daily 11/09/2000)
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