Sending a clean team to the Beijing Olympic Games, China is facing a determined-to-win but difficult battle.
Some 200 days to the opening of the Beijing Games, a senior China anti-doping official let out his concern during their efforts to keep the Chinese athletes from doping.
"It is an Olympic Games on home soil. It will be more difficult in terms of doping control," said Jiang Zhixue, head of Science and Education department of the State General Administration of Sport (SGAS). Science and Education Department is in charge of doping control of Chinese athletes in the Chinese sports governing body.
"If the athletes go abroad for competition, language barrier and strange environment will work against their desire to dope if there is any. But once they competing at home, there are so many things and people that can influence them, which is bad news from our point of view," Jiang explained.
"It doesn't mean the familiar environment and their friends, relatives or coaches will give them any help. It is just that there is room for possible loopholes in terms of doping control," he added.
"We are going to try our best. We are determined to catch those who dare to cheat and won't hesitate to punish them," Jiang said.
"But first of all, we need to do everything to prevent," Jiang said.
China has been increasing the number of tests, from 165 in 1989 to last year's 9,424 with 74 percent conducted out of competition.
As the Olympic Games is drawing closer, China made even bigger steps in their fight against doping, especially in 2007.
At the beginning of the year, SGAS signed agreements with provincial sport bureaus to hold them responsible if athletes from their provinces are tested positive in doping tests.
China's fight against doping also got strong backing from the central government.
In May, the state council approved to set up the China Anti-Doping Agency, which serves as an independent government anti-doping department more emphasizing on conducting tests and scientific researches and will carry out about 4,500 tests during the Beijing Olympics in its state-of-art lab.
The central government called a meeting in August, aiming to combine efforts from 11 major government departments to combat doping more effectively.
The coordination group, chaired by SGAS director Liu Peng, consists of experts and officials from ministries including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Health, China Customs, the State Industrial and Commercial Bureau, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the State Food and Drug Administration, and the Legislative Office of the State Council, as well as the Organizing Committee of Beijing Olympic Games.
"We are aware that effective doping control is not confined within the sport arena, but needs the efforts by all government and social departments as well as cooperation from the international community," said Duan Shijie, vice director of SGAS, at November's World Conference on Doping in Sport in Madrid.
Education is another way to help prevent doping.
Jiang said they held anti-doping exhibitions, gave lectures and organized anti-doping exams among young athletes to let athletes understand harms of doping.
"I always think education is a powerful weapon in our anti-doping fight," he said.
China's efforts were recognized by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Dick Pound, the then WADA president who once accused China of inadequate doping tests, said during his September trip to China and then at the world anti-doping conference that China had become a "vanguard" of anti-doping in the world.
(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2007)
