China said yesterday be ready to be hosted one of the best Olympics in history, despite the fact that pollution and controversies over human rights Arreciado one day before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
While the best athletes in the world came to Beijing and the Olympic flame crossed the Great Wall, the organizers of the Games that were trying to focus world attention on what promises to be a spectacular celebration of sport.
"We have prepared for the Olympics in Beijing for seven years and now we are ready. We have great confidence that we shall present a successful Olympics, "said the spokesman of the organizing committee, Sun Weide.
"Naturally, we hope that these Games are a few sensational, perhaps the best," he said.
For China, the Olympic Games are an opportunity to show the world the long road he has travelled since the Communists came to power in 1949 after a brutal civil war, and especially during the last three decades of phenomenal economic development .
The Olympics promise to be a historic moment that will show the social and economic transformation of China, as happened with the Olympic Games of 1964 in the case of Japan and 1988 in South Korea.
"China is a nation in transition, with a great future, tremendous potential and some challenges," said the chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, after arriving in Beijing.
However, the numerous controversies that accompanied the preparation of the Olympics this year continued yesterday, bothering the Chinese authorities, for items ranging from heavy air pollution in Beijing for discussions on human rights.
A mixture of fog and pollution further reduced visibility to a few hundred metres, despite the publicized emergency measures implemented to improve air quality.
The issue of human rights continued in the foreground. Forty athletes sent a letter to Chinese president, Hu Jintao, expressing his concern.
President George W. Bush, before arriving in Beijing yesterday expressed its "deep concern over religious freedom and human rights."
