China exploded jubilantly with fireworks after Beijing...

China exploded jubilantly with fireworks after Beijing won the vote to host the 2008 Olympics, but long-time critics said it would have to improve its human rights record between now and then.
In New Delhi, the decision drew immediate condemnation from the camp of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader and focal point of criticism of China's communist rulers."We deeply regret that Beijing is awarded the 2008 Olympic Games," spokesman for the India-based Central Tibetan Administration, Kalon T.C. Tethong, said in a statement."This will put the stamp of international approval on Beijing's human rights abuses and will encourage China to escalate its repression," he said.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International, which has criticised China consistently for its use of the death penalty and alleged persecution of religious and ethnic groups and labour activists, also quickly sounded a cautionary note."The Chinese government must prove it is worthy of staging the games by upholding the Olympic spirit of fair play and extending respect for universal, fundamental, ethical principles to the people of China," it said in a London statement.Amnesty said Chinese authorities had executed more people in the past three months than the rest of the world put together in the last three years. It estimated that 1,700 alleged criminals had been put to death since April.
Taiwan "hopes communist China can abandon the use of force in both the Taiwan Strait and the Asia Pacific region in the pursuit of world peace," government spokesman Su Tzen-ping said.
In France, Francois Loncle, the head of parliament's foreign affairs committee, saw parallels with the decision to hold the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany."The decision by the IOC goes towards justifying a repressive political system that each day flouts freedom and violates human rights," said Loncle, a member of French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Socialist party."Following the example of Nazi Germany in 1936 and the Soviet Union in 1980, Communist China will use (the games) as a powerful propaganda instrument destined to consolidate its hold on power," Loncle said in a statement.
In Germany, Interior Minister Otto Schily said the decision should help promote democracy in China. "I am convinced that the Olympic Games will have a positive effect on China's democratic development," he said in a statement.
The Chinese Minister of Sport Yuan Weimin tacitly acknowledged that China had faced legitimate international criticism over its human rights record. Hosting the Games would benefit economic development, social progress, healthcare, education and sport," he said. "There will be corresponding progress in human rights," he added.