Asian and Latin American leaders look forward to celebration of Olympic spirit

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games offer a chance for the world to stand together in harmony and celebrate the Olympic spirit, according to observers, officials and business leaders from Asia and Latin America.

"Every member of the Olympic family, including Thailand, is very confident of this Winter Olympics," said Korn Dabbaransi, president of the Thai-Chinese Friendship Association and a former Thai deputy prime minister.

Though Thailand is a tropical country with no snow or frozen lakes, Korn said it still sends athletes to participate in the Winter Olympics for the sake of the Olympic spirit.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said recently that the Winter Games are "very important for the world and for the development of the different winter sports disciplines".

Argentina is one of the few countries in South America with a snowy winter, and its people have high hopes for the Games.

Vicente Teruggi, sports coordinator at the Argentine-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said the Games will strengthen the strategic partnership between Argentina and China.

"We believe these will be remarkably interesting Games," he said.

Colombian President Ivan Duque has stressed that the Beijing Games can help build global peace.

"These Olympic Games are very important for the world. Sports are something that unites," Duque said in a recent interview with China Global Television Network."We consider that these games, in the midst of the pandemic, are also a demonstration that the world is looking ahead with enthusiasm and with a clear sentiment of recovery."

David Castrillon, research professor at the School of International Relations at Externado University of Colombia, said,"The vast majority of the international community recognizes that the Olympic Games are an opportunity for all countries to come together in an environment of healthy competition and a time to highlight the things that unite us as humanity, including healthy competition among countries."

The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean "have emphatically and consistently declared their support for these Olympic Games, which are expected to be splendid and safe, even in a context of continuing pandemic", Castrillon said.

As the host of the previous Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018, South Korea has said it will not join the United States and a few other countries in a "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing Games, noting the country seeks not only to promote a free and open Asia-Pacific region, but also a harmonious relationship with China.

"It is a very meaningful thing to hold the Olympic Games, the goal of which is to pursue harmony," said Woo Su-keun, president of the Korea-China Global Association in Seoul.

As the world has become increasingly divided by conflict, Woo said it is important for South Korea to support Beijing and make the Games "the most awesome, most glorious, and most successful" Olympics.

And it is necessary for the international community, which is heading toward division and confrontation, to unite at the Games in Beijing to find a way for reconciliation and concord against the backdrop of the Olympic spirit, he said.

South Korea is sending 61 officials and 63 athletes to compete in six sports. The government delegation is led by Hwang Hee, the country's minister of culture, sports and tourism.

Vietnam, with a team of six bobsleigh athletes, will join Saudi Arabia and a number of other nations in making its Winter Olympics debut in Beijing.

"One of the most important things to me is that Vietnam eventually qualified to compete at the Winter Olympics," team leader Nguyen Dan An was quoted as saying by Viet Nam News."It is such a good thing, and I am very happy with that."

Mohamad Norza Zakaria, president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, told a news conference on Jan 19 that the motto for the Beijing Games－"Together for a Shared Future"－shows the core value and vision of Olympic sports and the goal of pursuing unity, peace and development.

Sergio Held is a freelance journalist for China Daily.