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SCMP Reporter

TYCOON Dr Henry Fok Ying-tung can be forgiven for thinking China owe some of their sporting success to him.

  Dr Fok is, after all, China's single biggest sports contributor with donations of more than $284 million - and that's for China alone.

  Without his generosity, China would have struggled to build their swimming pools, stadia and facilities and there might not have been the Deng Yapings, Li Nings or even Qian Hongs that we have come to know.

  It was, he says, for the good of the sport - his massive donations that is.

  He has donated more than US$12 million towards the building of the Beijing sports centre swimming stadium and another US$5.8 million towards the Beijing China sports museum and wushu centre.

  He formed the Fok Ying-tung Foundation in 1984 with assets of $1 billion to provide for the advancement of education, athletics, medical and social welfare and tourism in China, Hong Kong and Macau.

  He was the first to build a golf course in China in Zhongshan and even promised to build a stadium which could seat 100,000 for the opening and closing ceremonies if Beijing had won its bid for the 2000 Olympics.

  But Dr Fok, 70, who recently received an honorary doctorate from the Springfield College in Massachusetts, has always been a huge supporter of sport and still holds numerous key positions in Hong Kong whether it is in badminton, soccer or volleyball.

  His list of titles in the business community has made him part of Hong Kong folklore.

  He is one of the territory's wealthiest men and chairman and chief executive officer of 60 companies encompassing real estate, marine engineering, ship building, shipping, hotels, restaurants, department stores and petroleum.

 The Hong Kong billionaire is also chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, vice-chairman of the Political Consultative Committee of China and a committee member of the National People's Congress of China.

  China, his great friend, sees him as a knight in shining armour, a philanthropist who has helped lift a country of a billion from a miniscule sporting nation to a near sporting superpower.

  His personal contribution to sport in Hong Kong, China and abroad amounts to more than $358 million - and it's steadily growing.

  But Dr Fok would argue that China would not have made the progress it has in the past 20 years had it not been for Deng Xiaoping's ''open policy''.

  It was this policy which opened the gateway to China after decades of isolation.

  ''It's quite misleading to think that I had only supported China and not Hong Kong. Even before China's open policy, I have always been a supporter of Hong Kong sport,'' said Dr Fok.

  ''It was after the Gang of Four that Deng adopted an idea of one country, two systems so that China could become a member of all sporting federations with Taiwan competing as Chinese Taipei.

  ''China maintained this isolation until then. They did not even accept donations from outside.

  ''They had very limited resources at that time. They did not even accept donations when they suffered natural disasters. They didn't want any assistance.

  ''I even remember a time when Hong Kong got into trouble with FIFA for playing an unauthorised game against China in the 1960s. That was how isolated they were at the time,'' he said.

  When China first competed in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, they were ridiculed as the ''sick man of Eastern Asia'' because they were so far behind the rest of the sporting world.

  Fifteen years after Deng's open policy was enacted, China won 15 gold medals in the same city in the 1984 Olympics.

  It was the start of a sporting revolution which would change the face of the world's most populous nation from also-rans to gold medal winners.

  ''China has already become the number one sporting nation in Asia. They were ranked fourth last year in the Barcelona Olympics. They have made great strides in swimming and in particular, track and field. Never before had China reached the last 16 in swimming events.

  ''Now there are multiple gold medal winners.''   Like the rest of the world, Dr Fok was most surprised by the emergence of China as a very strong track and field nation.

  ''Coach Ma Junren has surprised everyone with his success. It's no mean feat for Asia. Look at India.

  ''India has a population of 800 million yet they couldn't managed to win even one gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics.

  ''Ma has trained these youngsters to become world-class athletes in not just one event but several events,'' said Dr Fok.

  Dr Fok cannot see Hong Kong achieving a fraction of China's success - even after 1997 when the territory reverts to Chinese sovereignty.

  ''It is so difficult in a place like Hong Kong. An athlete has to give up their whole life for hard training, otherwise they would never win medals.''   Despite China's dizzying success, Dr Fok also sees disappointments.

  China still lags behind the rest of the world in a sport they really should excel in - soccer.

  The world's most populous nation could not qualify for the World Cup finals this summer in the United States. A fact Dr Fok puts down to China's lack of facilities, lack of direction and organisational and administration problems.

  An avid sportsman himself, Dr Fok, who has three sons and two daughters and 11 grandchildren, never misses a workout in the pool.

  He also keeps himself fit and trim by playing all kinds of sports ranging from soccer to tennis.

  His sporting achievements include being a six-time Hong Kong tennis doubles veteran champion. He also got his name in the 1974 Wimbledon's ''gentleman'' list for winning the veteran doubles tournament.

  ''I've taken part in all kinds of sport. I have tried everything. I may be no good at it, but I'm willing to try something that I would enjoy. I love sport and it has become part of my life,'' said Dr Fok.



Father of a sporting revolution