Guests attending the 19th Asian Games opening ceremony in the picturesque city of Hangzhou were welcomed with a luncheon on Saturday by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
At a dining hall near the famed West Lake, Xi addressed the welcoming banquet in honor of guests including King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda of Nepal, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao of Timor-Leste, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo of the Republic of Korea, and Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat of Malaysia Johari bin Abdul.
Xi welcomed the visitors warmly on behalf of the Chinese government and people, as well as on behalf of himself and his wife Peng Liyuan.
The Chinese president spoke about topics other from the Olympics, emphasizing the contribution that sports make to the promotion of harmony, unity, and inclusivity among nations and peoples.
UNITY, INCLUSIVENESS, AND PEACE
The Asian Games represent the region’s residents’ common aspiration for harmony, inclusivity, and peace. According to Xi, it has been a witness, participant, and contributor to the Asian miracle, or the region’s long-term stability and rapid and sustained economic expansion.
The Chinese president stated that Asian nations should strive for good neighborliness and mutual benefit and reject the Cold War mentality and bloc conflict, creating Asia as an anchor of global peace.
Concerning unity, Xi emphasized that while humanity faces unprecedented global problems, Asians should grab the momentous opportunity and work together to meet them in order to expand the possibilities for the Asian continent’s path toward shared prosperity, openness, and integration.
Regarding inclusivity, Xi emphasized the initiatives made to advance inclusivity through sports, boost confidence in Asian civilizations, pursue exchanges and mutual learning, and restore the glory of Asian civilizations.
According to Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, vice president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, Asia is a region with a variety of cultures, and the Asiad is a fantastic opportunity for the athletes and delegations to further enhance mutual understanding and exchanges via the link of sports.
EVENT SPECTACULAR
The Hangzhou Asiad is already the Asiad with the most participants, most sports, and largest overall scale, with all 45 countries of the Olympic Council of Asia sending nearly 12,000 competitors to the Games.
The largest delegations to the Asian Games have ever been sent by the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and Palestine, respectively.
The opening ceremony will take place on Saturday night in the lotus-shaped Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium, which has seating for over 80,000 people.
481 Asiad events will be held at 56 athletic venues, including the main stadium.
The Asian Games cauldron will flame up once more in China on the Autumn Equinox, a day that in Chinese culture represents harvest and reunification, according to Xi during the banquet on Saturday.
He claimed that China had diligently kept its promises and put up all possible effort in order to prepare for the Games.
“China will deliver a great event that is distinctly Chinese, uniquely Asian, and spectacular,” Xi declared.
When the Chinese president met with the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Acting President of the Olympic Council of Asia Raja Randhir Singh before to the opening ceremony, he also reaffirmed his confidence in the success of the competition.
In an interview, Singh stated, “I think we’ll have the best Asiad ever.”
After the Beijing Games in 1990 and the Guangzhou Games in 2010, this will be China’s third Asiad.
Marco Polo, an Italian traveler, once referred to Hangzhou, which is where the 19th Asiad would be held, as “the City of Heaven, the finest and the noblest in the world.”
All of the Asiad attendees received kind wishes from Xi for a wonderful time in Zhejiang and a lasting memory of the Games.
