The Mayor of Beijing yesterday urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to assess the city's bid for the 2008 Games on its sporting merits rather than its human rights record.
Mr Liu Qi made his appeal as members of an IOC team began to arrive in Beijing for the start of an intensive inspection tour before a decision on the games is made in July.
In an interview with Xinhua news agency, the mayor said China was "firmly opposed to any attempts to foil Beijing's bid on the excuse of human rights".
Mr Liu, who is also president of Beijing's Olympic bid committee, said China's size and sporting accomplishments set it apart from its 2008 rivals, Osaka, Toronto, Paris and Istanbul.
"We are a sports superpower of 1.2 billion people who passionately love the Olympics movement but have never hosted an Olympiad," Mr Liu said.
The visit of the Olympic committee is overshadowed by China's harsh crackdown on the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
The crackdown has intensified since January 23rd when five alleged members of the movement set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square.
Yesterday, the inner square, normally crowded with tourists, was practically empty as security was tightened to coincide with the IOC visit.
The 17-member IOC inspection team will start their survey of Beijing tomorrow and finish on Saturday.
They will write a report on their findings, which will be considered by delegates voting for the host city for the 2008 Olympics.
Many factories in Beijing will not be working this week to keep the pollution level at a minimum. There were also reports that work has stopped on several construction sites for the duration of the inspection.