The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
Reporter from Germany
Will you take further steps to control air pollution? Would you take further traffic restrictions? Will you shut down more factories if the air will not improve in the next one or two weeks? What other measure do you have at hand to improve the air quality?
Du Shaozhong
First of all, we have some backup plans but I would like to say here that the plan for the air quality and other plans for environmental protection are based on the work we have done in the past 9 years. Also we have to consider measures we have adopted since this year. It is a long term job for us. Because we have worked very hard for the past 9 years. Actually, 70% of the days of the first half of this year have satisfied the requirement and standard of China. We have controlled some of the vehicles from other provinces. We have limited the access of vehicles from other provinces. Since the July 20th, we have measures for the locals. We have stopped the construction site in Beijing,. For the heavy pollutant factories, they have to reduce the pollutant emission by 30%. Also, we have stopped and limited some operations in Beijing. Based on the measure, the total pollutants will be reduced significantly. Based on all the jobs we have done in the past, we can guarantee the air quality during the Olympics. The so called extreme weather condition is the weather condition like these days which are not favorable on the control of the pollutants. On that extreme weather conditions, we will take tougher control measures to guarantee the air quality. We are on the track of air quality control.
Australia Channel Seven
It is probably a question for Mr. Tan. I am just wondering given the recent issues we had in the last couple of days, with the increase of terrorists threats, are you 100% confident of the structures and the planning, the design and the finish of the Olympic venues and particularly the athletes village? Are you 100% confident of the security measures that has been built in those venues?
Wang Hui
I think I should answer this question. As you know, we tried to offer safe Olympics for all of you. We have taken different measures. Terrorist threat is one of the biggest challenges for any Olympic Games. We will strengthen our security system to offer a very safe environment and a very safe period of time for all the people from different countries.
Reporter from Australia
My question regards the internet. Why is the internet so slow? My technicians have advised me that since we arrived here, that it is ten times slower than in Sydney. What can you do about the internet ? And how quickly can you solve this problem which is vital for the working in media.
Sun Weijia
I am not sure if you mean the internet access in the MPC or in the venues or in other places in the hotels, or access to certain website, or generally speaking, it is very slow. I think in this building, MPC, all the facilities are being established under our calculations and estimation of the number of media. According to our expectation, it can satisfy the needs of many media working together in the building. So, I don't know how slow it is, the fix line or wireless. I don't know the details but anyway, we will take measure to fix your problem. If convenient, would you please come to me after this press conference so we can find the technical staffs in this building and solve the problem for you after this press conference.
KBS
My question goes to Mr. Tan. During the Olympic Games, some temporary measures will be taken. Since many people will be visiting Beijing, not only the athletes but also the tourists, what are the additional measures that you are going to take?
Tan Xuxiang
In terms of the public transportation during the Games, we try to take the Games as our priority. Of course, we will offer services to the tourists and local citizens. In terms of planning, on top of the big transportation system, we have some additional transportation services. We will try to offer very good public transportation systems to all the guests you mentioned. We have high quality software. For instance, we will add more vehicles and add more taxis on the streets. We have taken different measures, services not only for the athletes but tourists and local citizens. According to our estimation and calculation, the efficiency has been improved. I am confident that the system will satisfy needs.
Wang Hui
On Tuesday, we will have a press conference on transportation. If interested, you can come to attend again.
Wall Street Journal
I am from Wall Street Journal. This is a follow-up question about the internet for Mr. Sun.
I know in April when the IOC was here conducting some final reviews. They said they were assured by BOCOG that the internet will be open for all the journalists trying to cover the Games. I'm here online right now in the MPC on the WLAN, but I can't log on the website of BBC Chinese nor Apple Daily, both of which I believe are accredited media to cover the Games. Why is it?
Sun Weijia
As far as I understand, I asked a lot of media friends at MPC or other places, internet access is not a problem. I don't know if this is an individual problem. You can talk to me later. But when I question a lot of journalists, they don't have this problem.
Kyodo News
I am from Japan Kyodo News. I would like to ask Mr. Sun. We have encountered some technical problems like other journalists have mentioned. For some Chinese sites, we can only see the first page but we can not see the articles. I would like to ask why.
Sun Weijia
I think I have already given you an answer already. We would like to provide you a very good internet access. As far as technology is concerned, I don't think there are any problems. Regarding to this specific websites or webpages, I don't think there are any problems if you want to connect to any media website. According to the information we have received, there is no problems. So I am not quite sure about the specific website that you mentioned. Maybe we can talk about it later.
Reporter from Australia
The environment here is a lot cleaner than it had been. But I've been to the opening of the Village this morning. If you look outside, I'm not sure if it's the pollution or the weather conditions, but in the Olympic Village, you can't see from one end of the Village to the other. I mean, you've talked about how many days of clear air you've had so far. The point is, will the air be clear during the Games? How confident are you? It does not matter about all the statistics. If you look at there, it's clear air?
Du Shaozhong
As a process of improving the air quality in Beijing, I have talked about it. I hope you can take a closer look at the material we distributed. The problem you mentioned is about the visibility. I think it's very easy to answer the question. Visibility involved the weather conditions and the pollutants. What we are trying to do is to reduce greatly the pollutants. As for the visibility, it is very normal in the country because sometimes the visibility during autumn is very good. It's very normal in a lot of countries. In August 8, autumn is going to start and it's a very good season. I believe the air quality will definitely be improved during the Games.
Sydney Morning Herald
This question is for Mr. Sun. You mentioned earlier that there are 6 areas for sightseeing, two dedicated areas for news coverage. Can I interpret from that statement that the rest of Beijing is not permitted for news coverage? Are you restricting access specifically for that? Can you please explain that?
Sun Weijia
I think this is the interpretation problem. We are talking about the convenience for media; we tried to satisfy the needs of the accredited media in Beijing. We have 6 areas to provide to the major broadcast institutions. This is what we called the beauty camera. The beauty camera will provide 24-hour coverage of broadcasting. In the broadcasting, we can use the panoramic view during the programs. The other 2 places, we call them the reporting of the center positions. This follows the tradition of the Olympic Games. According to BOB, contractor and the major broadcasting companies, we set this up. It does not mean that in other areas in Beijing, the accredited media or the broadcast company can not broadcast in these places. There is a big difference when we talk about his spot and the standing places where we plan for them. Beijing, as the host city, is open to all the accredited media, broadcast companies or the print media when they come to Beijing. According to the Chinese laws and the Beijing Olympic preparation, the foreign journalists reporting in China, as stated in the regulation promulgated in January 2007, any unit or reporter, as long as they have the permission, they can go anywhere to do reporting and there is no restriction. This is my explanation.
China Radio International
In the past few days, a lot of reporters are working at MPC and IBC. They find that the services here are very good. But they found three problems. First, the food prices are quite high. Second, the temperature is quite low here. They have to put on a jacket. Third, they found out that the volunteers do not know the directions. Sometimes they point out the wrong directions. I want to know what kind of measures will you take to solve these problems.
Sun Weijia
The first question is for the food prices. I would like to explain here. The restaurant or the food services for the reporters are comprehensive. We provide the tea, snacks, main courses and other related food services. Starting this week, IBC and MPC will be operating 24/7 and so are the food services. You will notice that in the morning and in the afternoon, we will provide the registered accredited reporters free snacks. This is a precedent in the Olympic history. So that means in a set timeslot in accordance to your need of food, we will provide the free snacks for you. I don't know if you have noticed that. Beside the free snacks, other food services are fee-based. The prices are in accordance to the Olympic traditions and also according to the agreement signed by BOCOG. We actually submitted the quota to the top. The food prices that we have implemented are approved by the IOC.
I will be talking about the quality of the food and the food prices. There are different levels of the food prices. When we were setting up the menus, we also considered the different needs of the different reporters. We also considered the different budgets of the reporters.
When we provide the menu, we have these 3 different levels: the high, medium and low prices. That is based on the individual choices; you can actually pick the economical low-priced food service or the high price service. In terms of food services, we can satisfy those with low budget. We have received information from the reporters about the food prices outside MPC or IBC. You can actually make a comparison. They are quite comparable such as the coffee price. The small cup of coffee is 5 RMB and the big cup of coffee are 8 RMB. These prices are comparable outside MPC or IBC. Prices of some food might be higher if you compare them with the prices outside MPC and IBC. But then we stressed the high quality of the food from the source, manufacturing, and transport. All the links have strict measure that is why it is a little bit high. I would like to point out that you should not only consider about the food prices but think about the quality.
The second question is about the low temperature here. Some parts of the building have a lower temperature. We are still making adjustments. Before all the media arrive, we keep adjusting so that by the time everybody gets here. We won't have the situation that the temperature is too high or too low but just right. During this adjustment period, you may notice that some parts of the building have a lower temperature. We have noticed this situation and are trying to adjust.
The third question you mentioned is about the volunteers not knowing the right directions. In our arrangements, the transportation and the information desk are in charge of the direction. The reporters will not only go to the transportation information desk to ask for directions, they can go to other information desk to ask for the transportation problem. So I think this involved the volunteer training problem and we also have provided professional training to the volunteers. But maybe we have not provided the details to them. In that past few days, we have gathered all the questions from the volunteers. After we gather all these information everyday, we will pick up the useful information and distribute to them again. These volunteers will also be familiar with the questions that are not in the area where they are in charge of. So I'm sure that the situation you mentioned will be improved.
Wang Hui
Before we conclude this press conference, I want to make a notice. Tomorrow, we are going to have a press conference on the same time. We will talk about all the cultural activities during the Olympic Games. This is the end of the press conference. Thank you.
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