A number of news stories from around the world focusing on how the Paralympics may help change the embedded prejudice and exclusion of people with disabilities in China.
As The Age in Melbourne, Australia reported: "Never mind the prospect of a swimmer competing in the butterfly who has only one leg or a long jumper who is blind. To Zhou Rong, it was miraculous enough when she saw a report showing a disabled person in Beijing navigating a wheelchair onto a public bus. 'I was so happy,' said Ms Zhou, a wheelchair-bound lawyer who works in the southern city of Changsha for the Hunan Province Disabled Federation. 'I'd never seen anything like that in my life.'"
Other stories:
- The Independent in the UK writes about prejudice and the Paralympics.
- USA Today on the how the Paralympics may change Chinese views on disability.
- People's Daily Online in China on how the Paralympics honor people with disabilities.
- China Daily on how China will learn more about disability issues from the Games.
- And the much positive media coverage of the China and the Paralympics from television stations in South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Cambodia, Germany and many other countries, which broadcast the opening ceremony live, according to Xinhua.
- The Observer in the UK says opening ceremony spectacular was a warm welcome to disabled athletes.
