A long-distance race by compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits is scheduled to be held from June 16 to 30 this year to support Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

Participating in the race are some noted athletes from the mainland and Taiwan Province of China including gymnasts Li Xiaoshuang and Li Dashuang and Olympic champions of table tennis players Lu Lin and Qiao Hong from the mainland; 80-year-old marathon champion Peng Hongnian, Wang Han who has swum across 12 straits of the world, taekwondo player Chen Yi'an and weight lifter Ni Jiaping from Taiwan. "Iron man" Yang Chuanguang will be the head of the Chinese Taipei Delegation.

Ji Zheng, initiator of this activity and honorary chairwoman of the Chinese Taipei Track and Field Association, said that Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games is not only a matter that concerns only the Beijingers, but also the common expectation of all the compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and all the Chinese across the world. While piously praying for success in Beijing's Olympic bid every day, she initiates this race in the hope that compatriots across the Straits will exert joint efforts for Beijing's Olympic bid with their actual deeds, so as to make July 13 the most important day of the Chinese all over the world.

(People's Daily 05/14/2001)