Jiang poised for glory if China wins

Beijing is favorite to win the 2008 Games

By Willy Wo-lap Lam
Senior China Analyst CNN Senior China Analyst

(CNN) -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin is tipped to deliver a congratulatory message to the nation on live TV Friday night if Beijing wins the Olympics bid.

A senior Chinese source said that while Jiang was still making final decisions on the TV appearance, he was leaning toward accepting his aides' idea that he addresses the nation on the significance of hosting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

A Jiang speechwriter has already finished the first draft of the TV address, which will play up the fact that the Olympics victory would help the leadership usher in a "new Chinese century."

The Jiang speech will also link the Olympics bid to China's accession to the World Trade Organization, both of which mark, it says, the country's successful integration with international norms.

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It will pile praises on the ability and foresight of not only the Beijing bid committee but also the central leadership with Jiang as its "core."

The Beijing source said a couple of Jiang advisers had originally asked the president to go to Moscow earlier this week to personally present Beijing's case to the International Olympic Committee.

Jiang is due in Moscow on Sunday for a long-scheduled mini-summit with counterpart Vladmir Putin.

The president's handlers, however, said he would only go to Moscow before the Friday announcement when it was 100 percent certain that Beijing would win.

A diplomatic analyst said Jiang was ecstatic that the Olympics victory was coming at a time when he was engineering a mass propaganda and education campaign on Jiang Zemin Theory.

"The Olympics bid, if successful, will be used to illustrate Jiang's success in integrating China with the Western world," the analyst said.

"Jiang is said to be happy that the victory falls within his tenure. Some Jiang aides have indicated that if Beijing had won the bid in 1993, the credit would have gone to Deng Xiaoping and not Jiang."

It is understood Jiang has already asked his personal think tank to study ways that Beijing can use the Olympics status to improve relations with the U.S. -- and to boost "united front" tactics toward Taiwan.

For example, Beijing can boost its national reunification policy by inviting Taiwan athletes to play a role in the organization of the games. A few sports events may even be held in Taiwan.

Jiang has personally approved the tens of billions of US dollars that will have to be spent on infrastructure and other organizational efforts for Beijing.

He indicated privately that for China, hosting the games was a matter of national pride and whether money could be made was not an important consideration.