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China began counting down 100 days to the Beijing Olympics with
songs, a mass run and prayers, as the torch arrived back on Chinese
soil after a tumultuous world tour.
Unlike run-ups to recent Olympics, Beijing's preparations have kept
to plan and some stadiums and infrastructure have even been
completed ahead of schedule.
The city has spent $35-$40 billion on improved infrastructure,
including a new airport terminal and subway lines, as well as $2.1
billion ($NZ2.7 billion) to cover the cost of running the
Games.
"The 100 days ahead will bring mounting excitement and energy to
Beijing," the International Olympic Committee said.
"Citizens and visitors will see the city continue to transform
itself, as it welcomes athletes, the media and spectators for the
final test events, as well as for the Games themselves."
But over the past few months the city's smooth preparations have
been overshadowed by the torch relay's troubled journey around the
globe, with protesters, especially in London, Paris and San
Francisco, targeting China's human rights record, in particular its
policies on Tibet.
Wednesday's festivities in Beijing started off under a hazy sky
with a run around the Olympic Green by 10,000 Beijing residents,
part of China's promise to make the Games a People's
Olympics.
And in officially atheist China, Catholic churches prayed for a
successful Games. One nun said they forgave people who had
disrupted the torch relay.
"Of course we forgive the things that those who don't understand
politics have done," Angela Teresa Ying said after attending a Mass
for the Games at a Beijing cathedral.
Security in Beijing has been noticeably stepped-up following last
month's anti-Chinese protests in Tibet, the troubled torch relay
and China's assertion that it has broken up terrorist plots to
attack the Games.
Torch reaches China
The red carpet was rolled out in Hong Kong for the torch's return
to Chinese soil with authorities under fire for barring activists
from entering the city.
Three Tibetan activists from the groups Free Tibet and Students for
a Free Tibet were denied entry by Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday,
while three Danish human rights activists including sculptor Jens
Galschiot were barred over the weekend.
Zhang Yu, general secretary of the writers' group Independent
Chinese PEN Centre, arrived in Hong Kong from Stockholm late on
Tuesday but was also refused entry, the Hong Kong Journalists'
Association said.
Zhao Dagong, a Chinese writer, was barred by Chinese authorities
from entering Hong Kong at the Shenzhen border crossing.
Zhao had planned on attending the same international writer's
forum in Hong Kong as Zhang.
Some political analysts said Hong Kong's high level of sensitivity
over the torch relay stemmed from Beijing, and was testing the
limits of freedoms granted to the city when it reverted from
British to Chinese rule in 1997.
Three thousand police will guard the torch during its eight-hour
relay in the city on Friday.
A highlight of the relay was meant to be the flame's ascent of the
world's highest peak, Mount Everest.
A second special torch was especially commissioned for the high
altitude run from the Tibet side of Everest, but a meteorologist at
Everest Base Camp on Wednesday ruled out a climb for at least three
days because of the weather.
Beijing's promise to ensure complete media freedom has been called
into question, especially following Chinese criticism of foreign
reporters for perceived bias in their coverage of the Tibet
protests, with some reporters receiving death threats.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao denied the Chinese
public harboured anti-Western sentiment.
"What they want is only impartial and fair media coverage. That is
legitimate," Liu said.
China has lashed out at human rights groups and some European and
US politicians who have, in China's words, tried to politicise the
Games and raised the prospect of an Olympic boycott.
Olympics chiefs have praised the city's preparations and its
showpiece stadiums, the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, have drawn wide
acclaim.
"The Beijing Organising Committee has put a tremendous amount of
effort into putting on a great Games for the athletes," the IOC
said in a statement.
"It is currently fine-tuning its operations and we are satisfied by
the assurances that we have received across a number of areas of
Games preparations, ranging from media service levels to
environmental contingency plans for improved air quality."
