Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday promised
that the 2008 Paralympic Games will leave a 'rich legacy' in sports
for people with disabilities, ahead of a lavish opening ceremony at
Beijing's iconic Bird's Nest stadium.
'Over 4,000 athletes from more than 140 countries and regions will
participate in the Beijing Paralympic Games,' Hu said at a lunch for
state leaders and other top officials attending the opening ceremony
of the Paralympics on Saturday night.
'This fully demonstrates the global care and support for sports for
people with a disability,' Hu said in his speech.
'I believe that the Beijing Paralympic Games will provide an
opportunity for people with a disability from all over the world to
deepen mutual understanding and friendship, and will leave a rich
legacy to the development of sports for people with a disability,' he
said.
China officially has some 83 million people with disabilities but
only began formal social care for them in the 1980s.
Much credit for putting disability issues higher on the
government's agenda should go to Deng Pufang, the disabled son of
former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the China Daily newspaper on
Friday quoted Lee Man-ban, chairman of the Hong Kong Society for
Rehabilitation, as saying.
'In almost in every country or region, the cause of the disabled
would make great progress when a high-ranking official experienced
disabilities personally or through a family member,' Lee was quoted as
saying.
Deng's legs were paralysed after he was thrown from a window during
the chaotic fighting within China's ruling Communist Party in the
1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.
He set up the China Welfare Fund for the Disabled in 1984 and the
China Disabled Persons' Federation, which he still heads, in 1988.
Deng also took a lead a role in a 1987 national survey which
estimated the number of people with disabilities in China at between
50 million and 60 million.
'The survey made the government realize how important it is to
rehabilitate the disabled,' the newspaper quoted Lee as saying.
State media this week said people with disabilities among Beijing's
15 million residents and in some other cities would enjoy long-term
benefits from the Paralympics.
All of Beijing's 123 underground stations now have at least one
entrance equipped with a wheelchair lift, the official Xinhua news
agency said.
Many more buses, public toilets, parks, tourist sites, airports,
banks and post offices had installed facilities for people with
disabilities over the seven years of preparation for the Paralympics,
the agency said.
'We plan to help all households with disabled members in Beijing
modify their residences before the end of 2010,' it quoted Beijing
Vice Mayor Ding Xiangyang as saying, adding that about 5,000 families
had already received grants.
In his speech on Saturday, Hu said caring for people with
disabilities was an 'important hallmark of a civilized and progressive
society'.
'We have adopted a range of policies and measures to encourage
public care and support for people with a disability and actively
promote their overall well-being,' he said.
'They have made outstanding contributions to economic and social
development in China and earned the respect of the whole society,' Hu
said.
Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee
(IPC), on Saturday praised Beijing's efforts and said he hoped they
would continue after the games.
'The way the teams have been received, the speed of which they will
be moved to potentially very tiring situation for a long flight is
brilliant,' Craven told reporters.
'There going to be tremendous sports event and incredible
opportunity for Paralympians to just show what they can do and how
they can perform,' he said.
'They are very much equal to their Olympic peers.'
Organizers said all tickets were sold for events in the Bird's Nest
and the Water Cube aquatics centre, but many remained available for
other events.
Some 350,000 members of cheering squads have been recruited to help
to improve the atmosphere at less popular events.
'I'm not going to tell you if it's going to be the best Games ever
before the evening starts,' Craven said. 'But it will be fantastic.'
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