The following is an article by H.E. Mr. Zhang Ming, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Kenya, to commerate the success of the Beijing Paralympic Games. An edited version is appeared in The Standard on 18th September, 2008. See http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?mnu=details&id=1143995149&catid=15

I found myself the happiest man when Samuel Wanjiru was awarded his Marathon Gold medal and the national anthem of Kenya was played inside the Bird’s Nest during the closing ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games three weeks ago in Beijing. Kenya impressed the world by winning 5 Gold, 5 Silver and 4 Bronze medals in Beijing, ranked 15th in the world and 1st in Africa in the medal table, with Pamela Jelimo the first ever Kenya woman to capture an Olympic gold medal. As China’s Ambassador to Kenya, I am deeply proud of Kenyan people. In fact, I have received many SMS messages to congratulate me from Kenya over China’s glory as well as from China over Kenya’s glory.

Today I am writing to salute the Paralympic competitors for their excellent performance in Beijing during the 13th Paralympic Games, which was just concluded on September 17th. Following the excellent performance of their counterparts to the Olympic Games, the Kenya Paralympic competitors won great achievements with 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze, only second to South Africa in Africa. Congratulations again, Kenya. And special congratulations to Mr. Henry Kirwa who has bagged 3 Gold medals, in Men’s 1500m (T13/12), Men’s 5000m (T13/12) and Men’s 10000m (T12).

“Two Games, Equal Splendor.”Indeed, the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games is a great success just as the Beijing Olympics was. With one shared dream of “transcendence, integration and equality”, a record 4,000-plus Paralympics competitors from 147 countries and regions including Kenya and China, 10 times the figure at the Games' debut in Rome 1960, gathered in Beijing and participated the Games.

The Beijing Paralympics is first and foremost a grand sports event for the Paralympians. It is also a glorious event for each and every person all over the world. The Paralympic Movement inspires people both with and without disabilities to interact in the same global family, enjoy equal rights in society.

“Spirit in Motion” is the motto of the Paralympic Movement. By participating in the Games, Paralympic competitors displayed self-esteem, self-confidence, self-improvement and self-support. The whole world has been deeply moved by their performance and spirit.

China’s Paralympic competitors ranked 1st in both gold and total medal table with 89 Gold medals and 211 total medals in the Beijing Paralympic Games just ended in Beijing. The Chinese Paralympic competitors even made greater achievements than the Olympic team of China, by winning more gold and total medals. It is a reflection of the efforts and the great importance attached by the government and the whole society of China to safeguard the equal rights and promote the development of undertakings of the people with disabilities. In China, as a People’s Republic, we follow the principle of putting people first and advocate a humanitarian spirit, stand for equality, oppose discrimination, care for the vulnerable and respect human rights.

China has come a long way in promoting the well-being of its people with disabilities. Among the world's disabled population of over 600 million, some 82.96 million live in China, which constitutes 6.34% of the China’s total population.

The undertaking of the persons with disabilities has become one of the priorities of Chinese social development and has been integrated into the framework of the all round strategic development plan of China. Over the past two decades, the Chinese Government has promulgated the Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, and Regulations on the Education of Persons with Disabilities and Regulations on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities. 20 years ago, the China's Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) was established to coordinate the undertakings for the people with disabilities and ensure their rights in China. We also have specific government organs in the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and Ministry of Civil Affairs, which focus on promoting the well-being of the persons with disabilities.

In the field of medical and physical treatment, China has nearly 20,000 rehabilitation institutions, where key projects and community-based programs have been carried out such as the cataract removals surgeries, language training for the deaf children, prevention and rehabilitation for mental diseases.

In the field of education, we have established 1,667 special education institutions, and 14 institutions of higher learning for persons with disabilities. The school enrollment rate for the deaf and blind and intellectually retarded children has reached 80.7%. Nearly 20,000 persons with disabilities have been enrolled in institutes of higher education with those without disabilities. Over 7 million persons with disabilities have received vocational training.

In the field of social welfare, all of the persons with disabilities in China have been included in the social security system. Poverty relief activities have been provided for the basic necessities of over ten million households with persons with disabilities.

In the field of employment, according to government regulations, all the working units have to recruit persons with disabilities over 5% of their total staff, or choose to donate money for the employment fund for persons with disabilities. By the end of 2007, 4.337 million and 16.966 million persons with disabilities have been employed in the urban areas and rural areas respectively. A large number of accessible facilities for them have been put in place.

Though China has made notable progress in the undertakings for the people with disabilities, we are fully aware that China still has a long way to go, taking into consideration that China has the largest number of people with disabilities in the world and China is still a developing country.

The Beijing Paralympic Games is an opportunity for my country to further promote the humanitarian spirit, protect the rights and interests of people with disabilities and ensure that they share the benefits of economic and social development as equal members of the society. Through hosting the Beijing Paralympic Games, the whole society will have a better understanding of the life of the people with disabilities, and make intensified efforts to respect, take care of and help them. Through the Paralympics, we can also draw experience from the rest of the world, including Kenya, promote cooperation among countries in this challenging and glorious task and do even better job in seeking benefits for the people with disabilities.

My late father, with a hearing handicap, was among the persons with disabilities in China, who passed away three months ago. The last thing he did was to donate his cornea. Though unable to see the glory of the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics by himself, he would be more than happy to enable some people else to watch the equal splendor of the two Games and be cheered up with his cornea.