China opens Games, pledges disabled rights

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing opened the Paralympic Games in spectacular fashion on Saturday, an event China's leaders hope will show them in a compassionate light.

The crowd roared its approval in the main Bird's Nest stadium at the lavish performance put on to welcome the Games, overseen by renowned Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, which featured the incorporation of sign language into dance.

Particularly well received was a ballet performance by a young girl who lost a leg in May's massive Sichuan earthquake, and an athlete who hoisted himself up a rope -- along with his wheelchair -- to light the Paralympic flame.

"The Chinese people uphold the spirit of self-reliance and perseverance, and they are proud of their virtue of supporting and helping people with a disability," chief Games' organizer Liu Qi said in a speech.

Chinese President Hu Jintao told an official lunch earlier in the day that the government was dedicated to improving the lives of the country's 83 million disabled citizens.

"We stand for equality, oppose discrimination, care for the vulnerable and respect human rights," Hu said, according to state media.

"We have adopted a range of policies and measures to encourage public care and support for people with a disability and actively promote their overall well-being, and our achievements have been recognized by all."

To ensure stadiums will not be half-empty after a successful Olympics, the Communist Party will use its mobilizing power via omnipresent neighborhood committees to entice people to come.

Incentives offered include free T-shirts, baseball caps, bottled water, lunch boxes and 30 yuan ($4.40) each to spectators to cheer Paralympic athletes.

"The leadership has decided to host a high-profile Paralympics," a source with ties to the leadership told Reuters, referring to the government's focus on an event normally totally overshadowed by the Olympics.

An unprecedented 6,000 reporters have registered to cover the September 6-17 event, organizers said. More than half are Chinese.

RIGHTS PROBLEMS

While there is applause in some quarters for China's efforts to tackle stigma associated with being disabled, and to improving access by adding elevators for wheelchairs in Beijing's subway for example, rights groups say the picture is not so rosy.

That includes harassment of some activists, Human Rights Watch said.

"Until the Chinese government tolerates a civil society which operates without threat of official repression and improves ordinary citizens' access to justice, its commitments on paper to people with disabilities will remain limited," said Sophie Richardson, the group's Asia advocacy director.  Continued...