CRI听力：Chinese Foreign Ministry Open Day: Beijing Olympics and Diplomacy

Anchor:
On Sunday, over a hundred people were invited to a one-day tour of China's Foreign Ministry on the ministry's second open day this year.

The theme of the open day was "China's Diplomacy and the Beijing Olympics." Among the participants were British and Greek ambassadors to China, Chinese athletes and public representatives from 18 provinces across the country.

CRI's Yao Yongmei has the details.

Reporter:
According to the foreign minister Yang Jiechi, the Olympic Games mean a lot more than just sports, and organising the Olympics is a way to practice diplomacy.

"The Olympics are the single biggest and most influential sports and cultural event in the world. It is also a perfect opportunity for China to practice diplomacy, and to communicate with the rest of the world. With this opportunity, we will be able to send the message that China is a democratic, peaceful and highly civilised country."

As a perfect demonstration of this theme, the most exciting part of the day was the hosting of a special table tennis game.

Standing together on one side of the table were Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and former Olympic champion Deng Yaping, their opponents were two students from a prestigious Chinese university, Tsinghua. The foreign minister's table tennis skills amazed the audience and his partner.

Deng Yaping expressed her excitement after the game.

"Sports diplomacy is a nice way to facilitate non-government diplomacy. People from different countries can easily find common ground and enjoy themselves by participating in sporting events like this."

British Ambassador to China, Sir William Geoaffrey Ehrman, said that as the organiser of the next Summer Olympics the Organising Committee for the London Olympic Games would love to maintain a good relationship with their counterpart in Beijing.

"The Olympic idea extends to all parts of society. We certainly hope to learn from the success of BOCOG, for example, how it has encouraged over 750,000 applications to be Olympic and Paralympic volunteers. May I wish the Beijing Olympics every success next year."