Special Olympics 2007

The special olympics 2007 is here. And this time, Special Olympics will be held in Shanghai.Almost 7,500 athletes from more than 160 nations will compete against each other in a variety of sports from October 2 until October 11.

"The central government has declared the Special Olympics in Shanghai and the Olympic Games in Beijing as the most important sports events of the next two years," said Tang Xiaoquan, vice president of China's Association for the Physically and Mentally Impaired.

China's international reputation has recently suffered considerably because of a lack of press freedom, reports of hacker attacks originating from the country and hazardous products.


Furthermore, China has been heavily criticised about its treatment of citizens with intellectual disabilities, who are often confined in psychiatric facilities and sedated with medication.

Pictures of labourers, some of them mentally impaired, being practically enslaved in Chinese brick factories were distributed around the globe.

Now China is apparently striving to correct this gruesome impression.