(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-09 07:32

We should not consider the wish of a South Korean star to sing for the Beijing Olympics as some sort of "cultural invasion", says an article in Sanqin Metropolis Daily. The following is an excerpt:

Once the word was out that South Korea's superstar Rain planned to sing the theme song of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, opposing voices were deafening.

Some netizens showed their strong opposition in their blogs, believing that it undermined our country's prestige. Many hoped the theme song of the 2008 Olympics should be performed by Chinese singers.

The fact is, it is not that important who sings that song. As history showed, quite a number of foreign singers have performed the theme song for the Olympic Games, including the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics.

If we think about the big picture, we can see that China's successful bid for the Olympics was closely linked to the country's continued opening up and reform over the past 30 years. There is no doubt that on the Olympic stage, we will keep telling the world that China has an open, cooperative, joint advancement attitude, and will fully practice what we preach according to the Beijing Olympics mantra, "One World; One Dream".

The Beijing Olympics belongs more to the world than China; it is a grand event for people around the globe to compete athletically and join hands in cultural exchange.

China is but the host country and we should not mistake this Olympics in Beijing as the Olympics of China.

We should also adopt the same approach to other hot issues such as whether China can win the first gold medal at the Games, or whether China can grab the most gold medals.

It is a good thing that a superstar from South Korea has shown his sincerity and desire to sing the Olympics theme song. It is both a friendly signal to China, and a symbol of China opening up even more.

(China Daily 01/09/2008 page8)