One month to go: Beijing prepares to deliver

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On July 13, 2001, the state news agency Xinhua hailed the decision to award the Olympic Games to Beijing as being a "milestone in China's rising international status and a historical event in the great renaissance of the Chinese nation".

Six months ago, preparations were going to plan with gleaming new venues and infrastructure almost completely in place for the August 8-24 Games.

But violent unrest in Tibet in March followed by global anti-Chinese protests have marred Beijing's final countdown to the Games. Moreover, the threat of terrorism and pollution have presented the Communist authorities with new challenges.

However, with the 31 venues completed and the army of migrant workers putting the finishing touches to a $40 billion upgrade of the city's once-creaking infrastructure, organisers are upbeat.

"We are fully prepared for the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games," organising committee (BOCOG) vice president Jiang Xiaoyu said last week. "We are going to use the last 36 days to further perfect the arrangements."

China's rulers wanted to use the Games to promote internal stability and show off a confident, increasingly influential economic power to the rest of the world.

After the public relations disaster of the March 14 Tibet riots and the protest-disrupted international leg of the Olympic torch relay, some have questioned whether China's leaders care anymore about external opinion.

"China wants the Olympics to be applauded by the international community and at the same time instil a sense of pride in the Chinese people," said Jiang Qisheng of the China chapter of International PEN, an association founded to defend freedom of expression.

"But stability is more important. International applause is ranked only second. If forced to choose, China would rather have stability."

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