"What can Sydney tell Beijing?" was Henry's opening question
when he spoke at Tsinghua University on Tuesday. Henry is a law
school student from Australian National University keen to share
the experience of the Sydney Olympic Games with Beijing.
Beijing needs to take full account of environmental protection,
public transport, clean and green energy and racial integration,
which were crucial for the Sydney Olympic Games, Henry said.
Henry is the captain of the football team of a 46-member
Australian youth delegation which started a visit to China on
Monday. Their week-long trip will take them to southern China's
cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, giving them the chance
to talk to Chinese young people, sightsee and play football.
"An Olympic Games won't succeed without a team of well-trained
volunteers and high-standard voluntary services," said Fiona Lawrie
from the University of Melbourne after a full discussion with
Tsinghua partners.
"Volunteers promote the Olympic spirit and the volunteer spirit,
and embody the concept of the People's Olympics," David Parker
said.
"We are guests of the Chinese Premier." Henry told Xinhua
proudly. The twenty-three year-old, who is half-Australian and
half-Chinese, always tries to speak in Chinese. He has a strong
Taiwanese accent because his mother is from Taiwan.
During his official visit to Australia in April as guest of
Prime Minister John Howard, Premier Wen Jiabao invited 100
Australian young people to visit China. Wen also called for more
exchanges of personnel, and closer cooperation between Beijing and
Sydney in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games.
Another group from Australia will visit China next year. These
are the biggest youth exchanges between the two countries since
they established diplomatic ties in 1972, according to the
All-China Youth Federation.
"We brought a strong team that know good Chinese and wish to
develop sincere relationships and build life-long links with
China," said Gregory Andrew Hunt, Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister of the Environment and Heritage, who heads the
delegation.
"The Australian-Sino youth exchanges are a means for the two
countries to further relations, and we hope there will be many
more." Hunt said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2006)
