French parliamentarian: Beijing to host outstanding Olympics
Source: China Daily
Date: 07/20/08
PARIS – Beijing will host an outstanding Olympic event, said Bernard Debre, a member of the French National Assembly, in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Debre, who will accompany French President Nicolas Sarkozy to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics scheduled for August 8, said the International Olympic Committee made a very good decision to choose Beijing as the host city for the Games, which come at a good time when China keeps opening itself up to the outside world.
He voiced his indignation at those attempts to disrupt the Olympic torch relay in Paris and some other cities, calling them “shameful” acts and said “politicization of the Olympic Games means the death of the Olympic spirit.”
The lawmaker also expressed his appreciation of China’s preparation for the upcoming Games, and particularly the venues’ architecture.
Debre, who is also an excellent urologist and visited the earthquake-hit Sichuan province of China in early June, recalled his past tour, saying he was both shocked and moved.
“When the earthquake struck Sichuan, I thought I should go to the spot to do something for the quake victims either out of the professional humanitarianism or our friendship. The seed for this sentiment was planted in the times of my father who was the first prime minister in the De Gaulle administration and was dedicated to promoting the French-Chinese friendship,” said Debre.
As one of the first Western doctors that entered the disaster-hit zone, he still vividly remembered what he saw in the quake area.
“Everything was going on in an orderly way. People were no more panicky although they still wore painful expressions. I saw many soldiers and volunteers were working selflessly. Psychologists arrived in the disaster zone about three weeks after the quake to carry out psychological intervention. Many ordinary people drove their private cars to send medicine and food to the quake victims. In a way, the entire China was mobilized… as a doctor, I have taken part in the disaster relief efforts in many countries, but none was as united and touching as the one in China,” he recalled emotionally.
After he returned to China, he wrote an article entitled “I saw China was back on foot,” in which he gave a full account of the touching details he experienced in Sichuan.
“I love China, and I love the Chinese people even more,” he repeated these words several times during the interview. He also expressed the hope that he could raise more money in France to help the people in Sichuan.
Debre, who served as the country’s cooperation minister in the 1990s, comes from a distinguished family. His grandfather Robert Debre was a world famous pediatrician who participated in the founding of the United Nations Children’s Fund.
His brother Jean-Louis Debre is the president of the French Constitutional Council, a significant political body in the country which is responsible for examining whether a law draft is in accordance with the Constitution and to observe the presidential and parliamentary elections.
