OLYMPICS-CHINA/YAO-INTERVIEW Ex-NBA star Yao Ming defends China's human rights record ahead of Olympic bid

Record ID: 145827

  • Title: OLYMPICS-CHINA/YAO-INTERVIEW Ex-NBA star Yao Ming defends China's human rights record ahead of Olympic bid
  • Date: 29th July 2015
  • Summary: YAO LISTENING TO QUESTION
  • Embargoed: 13th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Malaysia
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA43KH7M53H8QPGFHY7EWH9HZU9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Former NBA star, and also the ambassador of Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics bid committee, Yao Ming, defended China's human rights records on Wednesday (July 29).
    Activists have called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to award the 2022 winter Games to Beijing saying China's human rights record had worsened since the 2008 Olympics in the Chinese capital.
    Chinese, Uighur, Mongolian and Tibetan activists said in an open letter to the IOC last week that it should not "make the same mistake" by awarding the Olympics to Beijing as there was no improvement of human rights in the country since.
    "I think for this question, I think there's no perfect answer for that. I think in this world there's no any country can say that they totally have no human rights problem there, just like Rome (was) not built in one day that problem cannot solved by just like that," Yao said in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, ahead of an IOC vote that will decide which country will host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
    Yao pledged his support for his country.
    "We had planned the summer Olympic Games before in 2008 and I can very proud to say that we delivered almost every promise that we made before. And I'm sure that we're very capable (of) making another promise about the 2022," he said.
    "Beijing has the most passion about this Game, people has the most passion about this Game," he added.
    The 2008 Summer Games host Beijing will go head-to-head with the little-known Kazakh city of Almaty for the right to host the 2022 Olympics when the IOC elects the winner at its 128th Session on July 31.
    The retired NBA player, who played for the Houston Rockets, also voiced his approval of basketball star LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers forward.
    "And I think LeBron did so well so far and I would say that he will be the guy for this decade," said Yao.
    James has agreed to remain in Cleveland on a one-year deal with the Cavaliers worth $23 million.
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