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I arrived in the Olympic host city of Beijing on Valentine's Day 2004 — an auspicious date in that it was the start of my love for China.Born in London, I studied at Cambridge University and was a television presenter in Hong Kong before joining the news team at China Central Television's English-language channel, CCTV-9. I remember watching the Olympics for the first time in 1984. I was seven years old. Ironically, it was also the first time China entered a team after a break of many years and its women went on to win the volleyball competition. But I also remember the distinctive red-white-blue tunics of the American athletes, Carl Lewis and his gold medals, plus the man who flew into the skies above Los Angeles to light the Olympic flame. I've learnt a lot over the past four years living in Beijing. Not because I'm smart. But because I didn't know much before and because I have so much more to know still. Of all the lessons I'm beginning to understand, the most valuable is that we cannot generalise what it means to be‘Chinese’— with 1.3 billion people and millions more living and working overseas, we represent what it truly means to be‘diverse'. The reason I mention this is because the same is true of the world. No matter where we are from (and no matter where we are going to), we are part of a huge global family that, despite our wars and conflicts, is fundamentally bonded by the same fears and the same dreams. My hope is that for the fifteen days of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, we will be reminded that we are members of the same family and that, as such, we have a responsibility to each other. It's a lesson for all countries, all generations and all peoples. I'm not a great sportsman. If anything, I'm most‘successful' at fencing and rifle shooting — both of them sports that I picked up as a teenager and both of them disciplines that only come into the limelight every four years. But,‘failure' or‘success',‘minority' or‘majority', I know I share the same hopes as the men and women competing next year. You won't see me up on the medal podium in 2008 (in fact, I'll probably be in the studio reading the news) but I hope you will see me representing your dreams and your hopes as part of the Olympic torch bearing team — and as part of our huge global family. Applications for torchbearers opened nearly a month ago, so I'm starting the‘race' somewhat late. But as all Olympians are reminded: it's not‘how you start', but‘how you finish'. Help me cross the finishing line by making my dream come true. Thank you. James Website www.james-chau.com Blog www.james-chau.com/blog
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