Winter Paralympics represents equality: China Daily editorial

"Courage, determination, inspiration and equality" are the values of the Paralympic Games, and the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics, which opened on Friday, is committed to honoring those values.

By converting the three athletes' villages for the Winter Olympics to ensure they have barrier-free facilities and routes for the Winter Paralympics and providing 640 barrier-free buses to transport athletes to different events, the organizers have created an ideal setting for the elite athletes with disabilities to showcase their extraordinary abilities and skills, as well as their determination to overcome all odds.

In the coming nine days, hundreds of Paralympic athletes from various countries will compete in 78 events of six ice and snow sports. To ensure the athletes can compete in the best of facilities and atmosphere, Beijing has been preparing the venues for the past six years.

The 96 athletes of the Chinese delegation who will compete in 73 events of all the six ice and snow sports embody the spirit of sports. For example, Zhang Haiyuan, the senior-most member of the delegation, is a veteran alpine skier who incidentally competed in the Summer Olympics, too, and broke her own T42 long jump world record at the Athens Summer Paralympics in 2004, the year veneer skier GengYanhong, the youngest of the delegation, was born. The spirit carries on.

Creating barrier-free facilities should not be confined to the Winter Paralympics, however. The goal should be to build a barrier-free society where equality is the norm, so that the 85 million people with disabilities in the country get the inspiration, courage and determination to overcome all challenges.

Persons with disabilities in China have been enjoying equal rights since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, with their needs drawing greater attention of the authorities in the new era. According to a white paper, "China's Parasports: Progress and the Protection of Rights", released by the State Council Information Office on Thursday, the participation rate in grassroots cultural and sports activities for people with disabilities in China increased from 6.8 percent in 2015 to 23.9 percent in 2021, and by the end of 2020, a total of 10,675 disabled-friendly sports venues had been built nationwide.

Persons with disabilities are equal members of society. So development needs to be disability-inclusive, for without it, we cannot achieve several of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, especially goal No 1: no poverty.

There is enough reason, though, to believe the Winter Paralympics will inspire more people with disabilities to take up sports and promote better understanding between the Chinese people and their counterparts around the world.