International Olympic Committee vice president Kevan Gosper said he believed hosting the Olympics would have a positive rather than negative effect on China. He defended the IOC’s decision to award the 2008 Olympics to Beijing, saying sporting considerations were more important than China’s human rights record.
Gosper said IOC members had chosen China for its ability to stage a successful Games and because of its reputation as a major power in sport. “The judgment we had to make in Moscow was an Olympic and sporting judgment. It had to be made with our regard to China in sporting terms. We are not a human rights organization or a trade organization. We are a sports organization.
“There are other forums in which such matters can be addressed both outside and inside China, and my observation is that China is taking these matters seriously. Our task should not be confused by believing we have a responsibility on every front.”
Gosper added, “I have seen myself the rate of change in China, and have seen the benefits of such change both within the country and within the world. I believe the Olympic Games will contribute to that process”.
Gosper was in Beijing for the 21st World University Games. He said that hosting the World University Games would help Beijing prepare for the Olympics seven years later. “It is timely that Beijing is hosting such an important international sports event so soon after the Moscow decision because it has given them an early focus on what is involved, albeit on a different scale”.
