China is gearing up its preparations with the 2008 Beijing Olympics exactly one year away on Wednesday.

The International Olympic Committee says the Chinese have laid "strong foundations" for the Games. And 63 official events are taking place across China to mark the beginning of the countdown to 8 August 2008. But human rights groups are using the milestone to highlight concerns over China's record on arms sales to Sudan, its record in Tibet and child labour.

Even before Beijing was awarded the Games on 13 July 2001, fears were expressed about the compatibility of China's human rights record and the spirit of the Olympic movement. Sudan and Tibet are two issues that have caused controversy, while last month a Chinese stationery firm accused of using child labour was stripped of its licence to produce official merchandise for the Games.

Air pollution is another major concern, with Beijing experimenting with measures such as ordering

residents not to drive on the city's roads.
But IOC president Jacques Rogge is keen to stress the apolitical nature of the organisation and points to the Olympic education projects which he says have involved 400 million children in 500,00 schools in China. "If anything, the Games can only be a catalyst for constructive dialogue in a complex and sensitive transformation that is taking place in compressed time," he said.

We believe that in the past six years the Olympic Games have had a positive impact in a number of areas such as education, media regulations and on environmental standards.
"Whilst not denying that more remains to be done, we are encouraged by the progress in these areas.
"Bringing the Olympic values to one-fifth of the world's population is arguably one of the most exciting projects in Olympic history.
"The final 12 months will need an enormous amount of energy by all those involved."
Organisers say all the competition venues, with the exception of the main National Stadium,
will be completed by the end of this year. But while praising China's preparations so far, Rogge has emphasised that
there is much still to be done, and that the test events that will take place in the next yearwill be crucial.

"The coming 12 months will be very busy," Rogge said, adding: "I am pleased to see that strong foundations are in place: the venues will be outstanding. "I can already begin to imagine the exhilarating atmosphere the crowds will create as the athletes parade into the arena (the National Stadium) on 8 August." The centrepiece of the festivities planned to mark the 8 August milestone will be a huge party in Tiananmen Square, where Chinese leaders and IOC officials will join a crowd of 10,000 in a televised event to invite more than 200 national Olympic committees to participate in next year's Games. Other celebratory events include exhibitions, sports competitions and concerts while a special commemorative issue of stamps and countdown clocks will also highlight the one-year-to-go date.A special song, entitled We Are Ready, has also been released to mark the occasion.

7 August 2007
BBC News