HONG Kong's disabled athletes are backing Beijing's bid for the Olympics - because they believe China has the commitment to host a high-quality Paralympic Games. ''Beijing is hosting the Far East and South Pacific Games for the disabled next year, so they would have some good facilities in place already,'' said Calvin Ng, the executive secretary of the Hong Kong Sports Association for the Physically Disabled. ''The important thing is that the host city should have the genuine desire to host the Paralympics Games - which are not a money-spinner, but which are still an important part of the sporting calendar.'' He said that when Atlanta made its winning bid for the 1996 Games, the organisers initially tried to back out of hosting the 10th Paralympics for business reasons, but were shouted down by the rest of the world. At last year's Paralympics in Barcelona, Hong Kong athletes brought back three gold medals, four silvers and four bronze medals: an impressive haul for a small population. Table-tennis player Wong Yin-bui was one of the gold medallists. Wong, who had polio when he was two, took up the sport 15 years ago. ''To compete in the Olympics is the dream of every athlete, and we can only hope that the city that wins the bid has a serious - and sporting - attitude to the Paralympics as well,'' Wong said. ''Australia is one of the best countries in the world for disabled sports - but rather disappointingly we are not seeing a very strong commitment to the Paralympic Games from Sydney,'' he said. ''So I would definitely support Beijing.''
