Japanese editorial excerpts -AN OLYMPIC WIN FOR CHINA

Asian Economic News, July 23, 2001

TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo

Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

AN OLYMPIC WIN FOR CHINA (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

China exploded in celebrations last Friday night when the International Olympic Committee awarded Beijing the right to host the 2008 Games. The rest of the world's reaction was more reserved. While millions of Chinese rejoiced, human rights advocates voiced concern that the Games would be used to put an international stamp of approval on a repressive regime. The IOC is gambling that openness will encourage China's political evolution. While we applaud China's success and look forward to a successful Games, we, along with the rest of the world, will be watching to see if China honors its promises to host Games that live up to and honor the Olympic spirit.

Tibet's government-in-exile said the vote gave an ''international stamp of approval'' to China's human rights violations and declared that the IOC will now have to take responsibility for the suffering that ''will certainly be unleashed'' by the Chinese government, which ''will assume it has received international permission for its horrendous repression.'' Human Rights Watch said the IOC would be considered an accomplice if China commits human rights abuses related to the Games.

The Chinese Olympic Committee conceded that the country's record was not pristine, but argued that the Games will force China to move toward world standards. In the days before the final vote, China promised complete freedom of the press to media covering the Games. There will be openings in other areas as well: The Olympics are a massive undertaking. Those reforms, once granted, will be almost impossible to rescind.

Beijing faces other, more prosaic, challenges as it prepares for the Games. Chief among them is the need to get the city ready. Some parts of the Olympic site, and some of the venues, are already developed. But much has yet to be built.

Another problem for Beijing concerns the city's environment. It is a dirty, dusty city, hot and humid in the summer, and the air is incredibly polluted. Not surprisingly, a key element of the Beijing bid was its environmental plans. The city will spend over $12 billion on 20 major projects ''designed to lift the city's environmental profile far above international standards.'' That legacy will long surpass the Games.

(July 17)