CHINA: Ban Ki-moon visits Olympic venues, holds talks with senior Chinese official

Record ID: 561663

  • Title: CHINA: Ban Ki-moon visits Olympic venues, holds talks with senior Chinese official
  • Date: 2nd July 2008
  • Summary: (BN04) BEIJING, CHINA (JULY 2, 2008) (REUTERS) U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI-MOON ARRIVING AND SHAKING HANDS WITH CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER YANG JIECHI MEETING IN PROGRESS YANG TALKING BAN LISTENING BAN NODDING HIS HEAD, LISTENING MEETING IN PROGRESS BAN SPEAKING YANG LISTENING YANG LISTENING, SMILING AND NODDING HIS HEAD MEETING IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: International Relations,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA3HEQLULO46TF3DXPARK61J16S
  • Story Text: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tours Beijing's Olympic venues and holds talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
    U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday (July 2) toured Beijing's newly-finished Olympic venues, the second day of his three-day visit to the Chinese capital.
    Ban was shown around an exhibition centre in the Olympic park where he inspected miniature models of the ultra-modern "Bird's Nest"
    stadium, the new National Stadium, and "Water Cube", the National Aquatic Centre.
    Speaking to reporters outside the "Bird's Nest", Ban urged the international community to work together to promote peace and mutual understanding during the August Games.

    "Let us work together so that the whole international community will be the gold medallist through this Olympic Games, through demonstrating friendship, co-operation and mutual understanding," Ban said.
    The Beijing Summer Games will start on August 8.
    Also on Wednesday, Ban held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in the capital's Diaoyutai Guest House.
    Ban, on an Asian tour, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday (July 1). Upon his arrival, he gave a speech at Beijing's Foreign Affairs University, during which he called on China to be a bigger peacemaker.
    In the speech, Ban urged China to match its growing economic and political clout with more funding and troops for peacekeeping operations to assist in dealing with international crises.
    China, a relative latecomer to global peacekeeping, has about 1,800 peacekeepers deployed abroad, making it the second largest contributor after France from among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
    The U.N. chief, who will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao later on Wednesday (July 2), told Chinese journalists he hoped Beijing would be "more proactive" on other global issues ranging from food security to climate change, the China Daily said.
    asia/jrc
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