Exchanges at various levels and with different contents at the ongoing Beijing Olympics have added much color and glamor to the Games.
The Olympic Games is not only the most important sports event worldwide, but a platform for all athletes in the world to compete in sports capability, and for all peoples to deepen their mutual understanding and strengthen their friendship.
"Exchange" has become the key word at the Beijing Olympics, which has drawn tens of thousands of athletes, coaches and journalists to the fascinating and legendary city of Beijing.
Only through exchanges, can athletes from different countries and regions push athletics to a faster, higher and stronger level, and can the human beings achieve mutual understanding and everlasting peace.
First of all, the Beijing Olympics is an arena for athletes from countries and regions to communicate with each other. On the arena, athletes compete in such areas as athletic skills, will and mentality, and learn from each other besides displaying their talent.
The Olympics is also a platform for foreigners to know about China and communicate with Chinese people. Hundreds of thousands of foreign audience and visitors have come to China for the Games, sightseeing or get-togethers.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the Beijing Olympics should not only be a playing field for all countries and regions to show their athletic capacity, but a bridge for all peoples to boost their harmonious ties, friendship and mutual understanding.
Moreover, the Olympics is a big gathering for media from different countries and regions. About 30,000 media workers, the majority of whom are foreigners, are working in Beijing during the Olympics.
Through media reports, people across the world can appreciate the panoramic picture of the Olympics, and have a deeper understanding of the host China.
Through contact and exchanges, media across the world have seen a true and modernized China and some foreign media have begun to rethink some earlier biased reports on the country.
U.S. newspaper Chicago Tribune said it was biased for some media to wrest negative points of China, while Japan's Tokyo Shimbun appealed for an objective view about China.
Through contact and exchanges, mutual understanding is increased while misunderstanding minimized.
The Beijing Olympics is also a chance for leaders of many countries and regions to exchange views with each other. Over 80 heads of state or government gathered in Beijing during the Games, and many of them held meetings.
Just as France's Le Monde said, the Olympic diplomacy has made Beijing the world's diplomatic center.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)