Chinese actor and Olympics ambassador Jackie Chan has attacked pro-Tibet demonstrators branding them attention-grabbing “naughty boys” seeking TV fame.

The martial arts expert dismissed China’s human rights record in Tibet as “ancient history” and said “nobody” could solve the region’s problems.

The 54-year-old down played the international condemnation that followed China’s brutal crackdown in Tibet in April, when troops killed and arrested dissidents.

In an interview with the Independent, the Hong Kong-born action star also criticised protesters who disrupted this year’s Olympic torch relay.

from: telegraph.co.uk

A Russian sports official said on Wednesday that the country is to increase prize money for its medal winners at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing.

“We would like to introduce amendments to this order” as the current bonuses are “outdated,” RIA Novosti news agency cited Vitaly Mutko, minister of sports, tourism and youth policy.

The current rate for Russian athletes, who win Olympic medals, was set by a presidential order in 1996 and stands at 50,000 US dollars for the gold, 20,000 dollars for silver and 10,000 dollars for bronze.

Some 500 Russian athletes are to attend the Games in China which will be held in the Chinese capital from August 8 to 24. The Russian delegation at the sporting event will total some 900 representatives, he said.

A total of 474 Russian athletes had been accredited as members of the Olympic team and 148 for the following Paralympics.

“We are pinning our hopes on sporting events such as boxing, wrestling, swimming, gymnastics, synchronized swimming, field and track, weightlifting, shooting and fencing,” Mutko expressed hope for medals.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Tibet is to greet the Olympic torch with flowers and distinctive folk dances, when it arrives in the regional capital of Lhasa on Saturday.

The images of five Fuwas, mascots of the Beijing Olympics, are displayed in flowers in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa.

The city’s main streets are decorated with signboards carrying slogans, such as “Light the Passion, Share the Dream,” “Bless the Motherland, Joyfully Greet the Olympics,” “Great Ethnic Unity” and “Welcome to Lhasa.”

The national five-star red flags are flying on houses and cars with “Go Beijing” signs pasted on their window panes can be seen almost everywhere.

“I’m very excited that I’ve been chosen to be a torch bearer, which gives me a feeling almost the same as that in 1960 when I reached the top of Mt. Qomolangma,” said Gonpo, a 75-year-old Tibetan mountaineering hero.

Gonpo was among the first Chinese to climb to the top of Mt. Qomolangma, the peak of the earth. Gonpo, Wang Fuzhou and Qu Yinhua were also the first to make the successful attempt via the North Ridge.

“I’ve long wished the Olympics could be held in Beijing, and I felt proud that the Olympic flame reached the top of Mt. Qomolangma on May 8,” he said.

“Now, my physical condition is not as good as before, but I’ll show my best while relaying the torch — if I cannot run, I’ll walk,” he said.

To greet the Olympic torch, 67-year-old Drolkar is busy rehearsing folk dances with a group of retirees.

“Everybody is active and ardent. We hope we can bring more vitality to the Olympics,” she said.

The arrival of the torch is also being heatedly discussed in a small village of Douyu on the China-India border, where people of the Lhoba ethnic group live, said Xiaojiayou, the village’s Communist Party secretary.

“We learned of the Olympic torch relay via radio and TV. Some of the villagers even plan to go to Lhasa to see the event,” she said.

Xiaojiayou, aged 54, is also a member of the Lhoba ethnic group, a small branch of Tibetans with only 2,000 people.

“In the past, villagers here lived an almost isolated life due to poor transport and communications. They didn’t even know what an Olympics was,” she said.

PEACE RETURNS AFTER RIOT

Three months after the March 14 riot, 36-year-old Tibetan doctor Losang Cering still has a heavy heart. He was seriously injured in the face by rioters wielding knives and clubs when he tried to protect a man of Han nationality and his six-year-old son.

“Being a torch bearer gives me pleasure and relieves my mental pressure. I feel happy that I can be part of the sporting event,” said Losang Cering, a surgeon with the Tibet People’s Hospital.

The doctor was hailed as a hero for his bravery in the riot, which was organized, premeditated and masterminded by the Dalai Lama clique.

The riot, involving violent crimes against people and property, led to the deaths of at least 18 civilians and one policeman. It also left 382 civilians and 241 police officers injured, businesses looted, and residences, shops and vehicles torched.

Peace has gradually returned, with the resumption of schools, businesses and religious activities, as well as the re-opening of leading monasteries such as Jokhang, Ramoche, Sera and Drepung.

“We’re praying for a successful Games, a stronger China and peace in the world,” said 75-year-old Tibetan lama Losang Chosphelat the Sera Monastery.

Tibet has also re-opened to tour groups from the mainland, HongKong and Macao, Chen Zhichang, executive vice mayor of Lhasa, told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday.

The re-opening date to foreign travelers would be officially announced when the Tibet leg of the relay ended, Lhasa Tourism Bureau Director Gyangkar said.

The one-day relay will be held in Lhasa on Saturday. The initial plan was for a three-day event from June 19-21, but it was scaled back after the May 12 quake in Sichuan that has left more than 69,000 people dead and more than 17,000 others missing.

The Beijing Olympic torch relay is the longest and most ambitious one, traveling 137,000 km across five continents in 130 days. The torch returned to the Chinese mainland at the beginning of May and was touring Shihezi and Changji in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Thursday.

Though the torch relay was disturbed in a few overseas cities by Tibetan secessionists, Qin Zheng, of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Sports Bureau, said he believes any attempt to disrupt the event in Lhasa will go nowhere, because people of all ethnic groups are looking forward to the torch and the Olympics.

Phurbu Cering, 52, a famous Tibetan javelin athlete, echoed Qin’s opinion.

“The more the hostile forces attempt to sabotage our ethnic unity, the more we should consolidate the relationship,” he said.

from: xinhuanet.com

Germany announced on Thursday the first 79 athletes for Beijing Olympic Games, but German top sports official Thomas Bach told Xinhua that Germany does not set a goal for winning gold medal at the once-in-four-year sports gala.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Bach, IOC Vice President and President of the Bureau of the German Olympic Sportbunds (DOSB), said he hoped the German team could maintain the place they had got in Athens four years ago.

According to DOSB, Germany’s top agency overseeing Olympic sports, a total of approximately 450 German athletes are to travel to China, there are about 300 people from the functional team, including trainers, doctors and carers.

“We don’t set any goal by number, but we are confident we have a good team,” Bach said.

“Our goal in Beijing is that we achieve the place we got in Athens,” he said.

“From Athens to Beijing, then to London, we want to make some progress (in medal standings), I hope for progress shown in Beijing, but it will be a tough competition,” he added.

As for individual events hopeful of winning medals, Bach, who won the foil team gold medal in Montreal Games in 1976, said Germany’s hope is slim in his own event.

“Now Germany’s fencing is not strong, we did quite well in Sydney, but not in Athens, not good in recent championships,” he said.

However, Bach casted more hope on canoeing and women’s football.

“They (German women’s football team) won world title in China, they are used to compete in China, and we hope it will help,” Bach said, smiling.

As for prize money for medal winners, Bach said a gold winner would get around 15,000 euros from Germany’s sports foundation.

However, Bach said DOSB plans to reform the prize-awarding system, with more eyes on investing in those events and athletes who boast potential to win Olympic medals.

“To put in a simple way, at present we look at athletes’ past, but in the future we will look at their future,” he explained.

Bach stressed the importance of the participation of Olympic Games, saying that is the “career peak” for all athletes.

He recalled the moment he won the gold medal in Montreal Olympic Games.

“I did not realize what had happened. I do remember the moment before and after the victory ceremony, but I did not remember victory ceremony itself,” he said.

Talking about China, Bach said he ended his sports career in Shanghai of China in 1980 when the German national fencing team had a friendly with Chinese counterparts.

“That was last time I was at the podium, after that I’ve never touched it (sword),”

After retirement from professional sports, Bach has become a lawyer. In 1990s, Bach participated in the IOC work and have frequent exchanges with Chinese colleagues.

Bach spoke highly of the preparation of Beijing Games, saying he was “impressed” by improvement of infrastructure, transportation, communication facilities and services, citing national stadium “nestle” and “water cube” for example.

“We are all favorable. My people told me they have had smooth coordination with colleagues from organizing committee of Beijing Games,” said Bach, who claimed that he would stay in Beijing during the whole period of the Games.

“We are very confident we will have a great games in Beijing,” he concluded.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

Colombia will have the biggest delegation in its history for the Beijing Olympic Games, the Colombian Olympic Committee (COC) said on Thursday.
A Colombian for the sailing RSX will get to Beijing 2008 as the sport’s world governing body communicated to the COC that it would give one pass to Colombia, making 64 Colombians who will compete in the Olympics.
The name of the athlete will be decided during the end of the week after a selective process in Cartagena. The hopefuls are Nicolas Lozana, Santiago Grillo and Camilo Marmol who have frequently competed in U.S. and Europe.
Colombia does not have more chances to classify directly any of its sailing contenders, but never lost of sight the opportunity of the “not used passes,” that are used when a classified athlete for some reason can not attend the Olympics.
Geiner Alonso Mosquera was the one who recently gained his pass to Beijing when timing 45 seconds and 89 hundredths in the Athletic Grand Prix of Ponce in Puerto Rico.
In Athens-2004, Colombia sent 55 athletes and won two bronze medals, one in cycling and other on weight lifting.
To the moment, Colombia will send 64 athletes for the Beijing Olympics in 15 sports, namely athletics, boxing, rowing, cycling, equestrian, artistic gymnastic, judo, weightlifting, wrestling, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis and archery.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

May 29 marks the 100-day countdown to the 2008 Paralympic Games. It is an important milestone for Beijing as it continues to steadily progress toward fulfilling its promise of delivering Paralympic Games equally as important and splendid as the Olympic Games.

As Deng Pufang, Executive Vice-President of BOCOG and President of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, has said, “These Beijing Games have special significance,” as it is first time in history that one organizing committee will hold both the Paralympics and Olympics.”

Many “firsts”

Scheduled for September 6-17, the Beijing Paralympics will see 20 sports contested — more than any Games in Paralympic history. An estimated 4,000 athletes, 2,500 coaches and officials and 4,000 journalists from over 150 countries will attend the Beijing Paralympics - more participants than in any past Paralympic Games.

According to BOCOG, all Paralympic competitions will be held at Olympic venues, which are all equipped with barrier-free facilities. In addition, over 10 tourist attractions in Beijing will be equipped with barrier-free facilities before the Beijing Paralympics.

The Official Website of the Beijing Paralympic Games will include special browsing tools to help people with a visual impairment. Some competition venues will be equipped with wireless hearing aids, and some visual and audio media will offer sign language translation software. Click for the Official Website of the Beijing Paralympic Games

In terms of preparations, BOCOG has held 26 training sessions covering 18 topics for 1,702 technical officials, 637 of whom will be working for the Beijing Paralympics. The competition schedules have been finalized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and regulations on application eligibility for athletes have been formulated. Since last September, a series of Good Luck Beijing sport events, including goalball and wheelchair basketball tournaments, have been held as rehearsals for the upcoming Beijing Paralympics.

Fair competition

To ensure fair competition, BOCOG will classify Paralympic athletes into different categories according to type and extent of physical disability.

Well-prepared volunteers

Volunteers serving the Paralympic Games must be fully prepared in terms of principles and skills. BOCOG has completed recruitment of all 30,000 volunteers required for the Beijing Paralympic Games. The volunteers will receive training materials, and BOCOG has also set up 32 training bases to enhance the volunteers’ service skills and awareness.

Successful marketing

Marketing and ticketing efforts for the Beijing Paralympics have been well received around the world. There are 14 partners, ten sponsors, three exclusive suppliers and two suppliers of the Beijing Paralympic Games. More than 100 officially licensed Paralympic products have been placed on the market, including clothes, pins, toys and stationery. BOCOG has defined relevant rules and regulations for the usage of the emblem, mascot and logo of the Beijing Paralympics. Tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies have been available since December 2007, and tickets for competitions will also be available soon.

Paralympic Education

The Paralympic Games will leave China with the precious legacy of education. By now, China has set up and named 556 Olympic Education Model Schools, all of which have rolled out Paralympic education curricula. BOCOG has also developed the “Heart-to-Heart” program, linking 162 middle schools and primary schools with Paralympic committees in 159 countries and regions.

Opening ceremony of Paralympic Games will give a surprise to the world

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Paralympic Games will attract attention both from home and abroad.

According to Zhang Jigang, deputy director of the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and chief director of the Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies, rehearsals are in full swing. Six thousand artists with a disability will take part in the opening ceremony. The program of opening ceremony has been approved by both BOCOG and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Zhang said the opening ceremony would highlight the theme of life through creative interpretations of life, human nature and humanitarianism.

The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games will emphasize the “interaction” between life and nature.

IPC President Sir Philip Craven has expressed belief that the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games would be the most outstanding Paralympic Games in history. The Beijing Paralympic.

from: chinadaily.com.cn

A ticketing staff displays sample tickets for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing April 23, 2008. The tickets, with the “lucky cloud” and the Bird’s Nest designs will go on sale for the third round starting from May 5.
A total of 1.38 million tickets will be put on sale for 16 sports, including athletics, boxing, basketball, and soccer. Each individual buyer is allowed to purchase no more than six tickets - three tickets each for two sports sessions.
Chinese residents also have the possibility of buying six more tickets.
“If you order six tickets on the first day of this (third) round, you can buy more tickets several days later as long as you have paid the former six tickets,” explained Zhu Yan, the ticketing director of BOCOG.
Ticket will be sold on a “first come, first served” basis at Bank of China outlets and on the official ticketing website.
“There are roughly 100 days to go before the Games open. We don’t have enough time for a lottery draw,” said Zhu.
He promised the meltdown of the booking system, which disrupted the earlier round of ticket sales would not happen again.
“I have confidence in the system because the ticketing sponsors have made a lot of improvements,” he said.
The design for the tickets was also unveiled on Wednesday. It has drawn on the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, and the lucky cloud as the main visual elements, said Zhu.
“We have adopted a series of anti-counterfeiting technologies in the process of designing the tickets. It is almost impossible to create fake tickets,” he said.

from:

Overseas media reports that foreign students in China would have to leave the country during the August Olympic Games were “totally fabricated”, the Ministry of Education said here Friday.
“Recently, some foreign media say China requires foreign students to leave during the Games. It completely goes against the facts,” ministry spokesman Wang Xuming said.
Relevant departments and universities “have never asked foreign students to leave China during the Olympics and Paralympics. During that time, foreign students could stay and some of them would join volunteer services”.
He added international cooperation and exchanges in the educational field would proceed as usual, including accepting foreign students who would come to study in China.
Official statistics show China attracted more than 162,000 students from 185 countries and regions in 2006, triple that of 2000.
Foreign students entered more than 500 universities and higher education institutes and their research topics covered almost all academic subjects available in China.

from: xinhuanet.com

Government leaders and scholars around the world have voiced their support for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, condemning deeds of disrupting the Olympic torch relay and saying the sabotage attempts are doomed to fail.
Ukraine’s former president Leonid Kravchuk said in Kiev on Tuesday that the Olympics is a great sports party for the whole world and is also an arena of friendly exchanges.
“Tibet is an inalienable part of China, and any attempt to sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games by using the Tibet issue violates the Olympic spirit and the will of people around the world,” Kravchuk said.
Dao Duy Quat, vice director of Vietnam’s Communist Party Central Commission on Ideology and Culture, said that any attempt to obstruct the Olympic Games violates the Olympic spirit and runs against the common aspiration of the whole world for peace and progress.
He said that Vietnam has been doing everything to ensure the Olympic torch relay in Ho Chi Minh City a success.
Latvian Parliament member Ivan Klementev, who won a gold medal in the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and also a two-time Olympic silver medallist, said in an interview with Xinhua that the Olympics is not held for politicians and government officials, but a festival for the athletes who have made preparations for four years.
The attempts by some politicians to politicize the Games and to boycott the event will never bring any positive results and the Beijing Olympics will definitely turn out as a great success, Klementev said.
Cuba strongly opposes any attempt to sabotage the Beijing Olympics, Cuba’s official newspapers cited Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the country’s legislature, as saying.
No matter how many times a lie is repeated, the fact can not be changed that Tibet has been a part of China, Alarcon said.
Phil Goff, New Zealand trade minister, said as the 2008 Olympics is drawing near, more attention should be focused on the athletes and the international community should work together to make the event a success.
In an article published in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Susan Brownell, an anthropologist at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, was quoted as saying that China will not only put up a good Olympics but is a worthy host in the best tradition of the Games.
U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley also criticized on Sunday the call by some countries to boycott the Beijing Olympics.

from: xinhuanet.com

Beijing will host the largest yet Olympic cultural festival around August’s Games, attracting thousands of performers to participate, said an official of the Beijing organizing committee Tuesday.
Nearly 300 art teams both home and abroad will perform from June 23 to September 17 at the Sixth Olympic Cultural Festival, said Zhao Dongming, director of cultural activities department of the Beijing Organizing Committee of Olympic Games.
“I believe it will be the most diversified one in the Olympic history.” Zhao said, “It will be a chance for cultural integration between China and the rest of the world.”
British soprano Sarah Brightman, who sang Amigos Para Siempre (Friends of Life) at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, will perform.
Italian violinist Salvatore Accardo, the Russian National Ballet Theatre, as well as an Irish Riverdance team, will also take part, he said.
China has been holding Olympic cultural festivals in Beijing since 2003. These included sports film showings, song competitions and exhibitions around the city.

from: chinadaily.com.cn