THE opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, held in Beijing on Friday evening, has once again demonstrated China’s determination and capability to tackle challenges, experts worldwide have said. They also expressed their confidence that the Games, held as scheduled, will boost the confidence of people all over the world in working together to overcome difficulties and make progress, as the grand event fully manifests such concepts as unity, cooperation, the pursuit of peace, and environmental protection. The splendid organization of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics has given the world hope that humanity can overcome the COVID-19 pandemic together, Battogtokh Usukhbayar, an education specialist from the Mongolian National Olympic Committee, said Saturday. “Olympism is the most important expression of the idea of global unity, peace, and the protection of the environment. In this sense, I am confident that the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games will rekindle the confidence of everyone to overcome obstacles together,” he noted. Beijing provided a grand and incredible Winter Olympics opening ceremony for the whole world, Benyamin Poghosyan, chairman of the Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies in Armenia, told Xinhua on Friday. “It is a genuine successful opening ceremony both athletically and culturally, which provides an excellent opportunity for the world to unite and make efforts towards the shared future,” he said, stressing that despite all obstacles, China, by offering such a magnificent opening ceremony, has proved its ability to unite humanity around shared values. The opening ceremony fully demonstrated the mental outlook and Olympic spirits of the winter athletes, said Pui Jeng Leong, a media veteran in Brunei. China has accumulated experience in hosting large-scale international events with routine anti-pandemic efforts, said Pui, noting that China’s successful approach against the pandemic has secured the smooth holding of the Winter Olympics. Yu Hong, senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, hailed the countdown featured with traditional Chinese solar terms before the opening ceremony as “impressive” and a vivid demonstration of Chinese culture. For Giray Fidan, an academic at the Ankara-based Haci Bayram Veli University, one of the most interesting factors of this Olympics is the use of renewable energy and eco-friendly technologies that would reveal China’s contribution to global low-carbon development. “Climate change doesn’t just affect one place. It is an issue that involves the whole world, humanity, and beyond humanity, all of nature. That’s why it’s very important that such an issue is underlined in the Olympics,” Fidan told Xinhua. (Xinhua) | 