Austrlian top officials to attend Beijing Olympics
29/7/2008 18:04
The Australian government will be coming at a very high level led by Prime
Minister Kevin Rudd, said Australian Ambassador to China Geoff Raby in Beijing
today.
Raby attended a news conference together with Johan Coates, president
of the Australian Olympic Committee at the Olympic Main Press Center Tuesday
morning, reassuring that they were confident with the security arrangements the
Chinese government has put in place.
"The Prime Minister will be arriving on
August 7 and will stay for a few days after the end of the opening ceremony on
August 8," said Raby.
The Prime Minister will be joined by Sports Minister
Kate Ellis, who will stay for much of the Games to support the Australian
athletes and the Governor General will arrive towards the end of the Games and
will attend the closing ceremony.
Australia finished fourth at the previous
two Olympic Games and is looking forward to another top-five placing in Beijing
with a strong squad of 434 athletes.
According to Raby, who arrived in
Beijing last February, the Chinese government has been putting a very big effort
to improve the security environment, as people can see obvious security
tightness at airports, railways and bus stops recently.
In terms of travel
advisory cautions, the Australian government put China in level two, with the
highest up to level five. "Level two is similar to what we have for Canada,
Germany, the United States and France," said Raby.
"We've got great
confidence in the Chinese government's capacity to ensure this is a secure and
safe Games," Raby said.
Xinhua
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