{"id":7103,"date":"2023-09-23T18:53:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T18:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/chinas-president-xi-declares-biggest-ever-asian-games-open\/"},"modified":"2023-09-23T18:53:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T18:53:06","slug":"chinas-president-xi-declares-biggest-ever-asian-games-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/chinas-president-xi-declares-biggest-ever-asian-games-open\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s President Xi declares biggest-ever Asian Games open"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the 19th Asian Games in a colourful ceremony in Hangzhou on Saturday, launching a two-week sporting extravaganza that boasts more athletes than the Olympics.<\/p>\n

After being delayed by a year because of China\u2019s now-abandoned zero-Covid policy<\/a>, more than 12,000 competitors from 45 nations and territories will battle it out in 40 sports.<\/p>\n

In front of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other visiting leaders, Xi officially opened the Games at the 80,000-capacity Hangzhou Olympic stadium, also known as the \u201cBig Lotus\u201d.<\/p>\n

Xi was given a rapturous reception by spectators waving mini Chinese flags.<\/p>\n

Assad, on his first visit<\/a> to ally China since the civil war erupted in Syria in 2011, stood up and applauded as his country\u2019s team entered the arena and the crowd cheered when his image flashed up on a big screen.<\/p>\n

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach was also among the dignitaries. Leaders from Cambodia, Kuwait and Nepal, among others, had all been expected to attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally we can gather for the 19th Asian Games,\u201d Raja Randhir Singh, acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), told the crowd to more cheers. \u201cThe one-year postponement was unprecedented in OCA history,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The theme of the ceremony was water and it also celebrated Hangzhou\u2019s ancient history and landscape, while giving a nod to the city\u2019s reputation as the unofficial home of China\u2019s tech industry.<\/p>\n

A \u201cdigital torch bearer\u201d strode into the stadium and was projected onto a large screen behind the Games cauldron at the climax.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very happy and excited,\u201d a 35-year-old woman spectator surnamed Zhang said. \u201cI feel it\u2019s a great honour for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jung-Woo Lee, sport policy expert at the University of Edinburgh, told AFP<\/em> that the Games were \u201cChina\u2019s post-pandemic soft-power exercise\u201d.<\/p>\n

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